questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "how British parents accept the truth of teenagers owning a mobile phone"
},
"options": [
"how British parents accept the truth of teenagers owning a mobile phone",
"British kids have good relationship with their parents",
"Br... | LONDON----"Everyone else has one!" Lucy declared to her parents, trying to get a mobile phone as a gift for her 14th birthday. Her parents gave in.
Curious to know her daughter would use the phone, Jane Bidder, the mother, followed Lucy to the school bus in the morning. The bus seats 20, of whom half have a mobile phone. One rings and several adolescent owners fumble in their bags.
Many parents have just come to realize that the mobile phone is no longer for traveling businessmen ----it is as likely to be found in school bags.
The mobile phone seems to have become something essential for today's teens in Britain, according to a survey published last week, by NOP, a leading market research company in Britain. Research found that 66 percent of 16-year-olds now have access to a mobile phone.
The mobile phone has been turned into a secret messaging service by teen users. When they are talking on the mobile, their parents are not able to _ on the second line.
The interview with 2,019 young people aged 7 to 16 found that they favour the text messaging services because they offer a secret way of keeping in touch. The days of secret notes in the classroom are dying out.
For example, "cul"means "see you later"; "lol" means "laugh out loud"; and 2nite is the abbreviation of "tonight". All these are based on shorthand phrases on the Internet.
Many schools have banned students using mobile phones. But they are not very successful. Still phones ring in the class and disturb study. Besides, people are worried about the health risk to kids using mobile phone.
Scientists believe children are especially vulnerable to mobile radiation. | high23292.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the child may misbehave"
},
"options": [
"the child may misbehave",
"the ability may fade away",
"the child may lose interest",
"the parents may become anxious"
],
"question": "If a child's musical ability is no... | How to deal successfully with a child who shows outstanding musical ability?It's not always clear how best to develop and encourage his gift.Many parents may even fail to recognise and respond to their children's need until frustration explodes into difficult or uncooperative behaviour.And while most schools are equipped to deal with children who are specially able in academic subjects,the musically gifted require special understanding which may not always be available in an ordinary school--especially one where music is regarded as a secondary activity.Such children may well benefit from the education offered by a specialist music school.
The five music schools in Britain are a relatively recent introduction.They aim to provide an environment in which gifted children aged between seven and eighteen can develop their skills to the full under the guidance of professional musicians.
Children at specialist music schools spend between one third and one half of an average day on musical activities,for example,individual lessons,orchestras,chamber groups,voice training,conducting and theory.They also spend several hours a day practising in properly equipped private rooms,sometimes with a teacher.The rest of their time is taken up with the subjects:English,maths,basic sciences and languages.All five British specialist schools are independent,classes are small by normal school standards,with a high teacher/pupil ratio .Most children attending specialist schools tend to be boarders,leaving home to live,eat and sleep fulltime at school.
What are the disadvantages?An obvious problem is the cost;the fees are high(PS12,000PS17,000 a year for boarders).However,each school will make every effort with scholarships and other forms of financial assistance,to help parents of outstandingly gifted children to find the necessary fees.Secondly,not all parents want to send their children to boarding school,especially at a very early age.Almost all the directors of the specialist schools express doubts about the wisdom of admitting children as young as seven into such an intense and disciplined environment.They stress,however,that their main aim is to turn out "rounded and wellbalanced" individuals.
There is little doubt that setting musically gifted children apart from an early age can cause stress.Early signs of musical ability may disappear in their teenage years,while natural competitiveness and the pressure to succeed can lead to a deep sense of failure.But all specialist schools do keep a close watch on the progress of individual pupils,and offer help and advice if needed. | high6179.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A new type of cash machine"
},
"options": [
"A new medical instrument",
"A new type of talking machine",
"A new type of cash machine",
"National Cash Register"
],
"question": "What does this passage mainly talk ... | To get cash out in the 21st century, you won't need a bank card, a PIN or even have to move a finger. You will simply have to look the cash machine straight in the eye, declares National Cash Registers, a multinational company that makes automated teller machines, or ATMs. NCR has shown its first example machine that is believed to be the future of banking. Instead of asking you for your PIN on a screen, the Super Teller-Stella for short, asks you orally through a loudspeaker to look straight ahead while an infrared camera turns to your head, then your eye, and finally takes an infrared photograph of your iris . For identification purposes, an iris picture is better than a fingerprint, with around 256 noticeable characteristics compared with 40 for fingerprints. This means that the chances of someone else being recognized in your place is about 1 in 1020. Once you've been identified, Stella greets you by name and says: "Would you like cash or a statement?" An infrared port allows the machine to send a bank statement straight to your pocket computer. | high5470.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "was a process that had already taken 12 months"
},
"options": [
"was a process that had already taken 12 months",
"was in the charge of the headman.",
"should have been finished more than a year ago",
"was an artistic c... | The First Hello
The man from the telephone department got off the bus, and made his way to the tea stall, wiping the sweat off his head, face, then slipping his handkerchief under his shirt to wipe his neck and back. It was a year ago that the phone line had been installed, six months later men from the public works department had come to put up the phone booth -- a neat box-like structure, with a glass window, and wooden ledges, yellow in colour. And days after that, a painter had taken an entire day to colour in broad, black brushstrokes, the words: STD Booth, local and STD allowded.
No one could tell that the last word had been misspelled. Besides, he had taken the entire day. After he had a cup of tea, he had left, waving cheerfully. And now months later, someone else was here again.
Everyone watched the man as he sat on the bench. No one said a word, and soon the sound of him slurping his tea filled the hot afternoon. A few leaves fell, heavy in the heat, and sometimes a car passed, on its way to the main city farther away.
When the man had finished, he made to pay but the tea shop owner who sat behind his steaming kettle and the washed upturned cups, waved him away.
"You are our guest here."
So the man took his handkerchief out again and wiped his face.
They crowded around him as he shut himself up in the phone booth. When the children pressed their nose against the glass, he shooed them away, as he took out a shiny black instrument and placed it on the narrow shelf. A sigh of satisfaction passed through everyone that soon changed to an excited yell as they saw him dial a number, pressing a finger into the ringed dialer of the phone and letting it go all the way in a half-circle. A while later, they hear him say into the mouthpiece, "Hello."
"Hello, " the children around the booth took up the cry, the teashop owner broke into a smile and the men waiting for a bus smiled and said hello to each other. The sadhu who sat under the banyan tree nodded wisely. As the sound carried, more hellos were heard. The women winnowing grain giggled as they tried the word tentatively, the shepherds feeding their flocks called out to their sheep, laughing as they used the word.
"It's a big occasion," said the headman, in an awed voice.
"It is, " agreed those around him. The telephone man emerged and handed over a small chit of paper to the headman. "This is the telephone number."
The headman looked at it reverently as if it were a mantra . The others around him read out the numbers slowly, digit-by-digit.
The telephone man was now too tired to notice the cheering around him. He knew he had to wait long before the bus to take him back arrived. As he sipped his second cup of tea, he remembered something else.
"Oh, you can't start using the phone now. The minister will come next month and inaugurate it."
No one said a word. No one was surprised. They had waited so long; a month more did not really matter. | high18204.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The game warden."
},
"options": [
"The Department of Fish and Game.",
"The game warden.",
"A person unmentioned in the passage.",
"The auction organizers."
],
"question": "Who wrote a letter to the writer tellin... | Having driven almost thirty hours, I decided to stay in South Carolina for a few days. The next morning, I purchased a three-day fishing license and bait before heading to the lake.
Opening my trunk, I carefully took out my fishing gear , put it on the lake's edge, baited up and began to fish.
"Good morning," said someone, walking up from behind me.
Turning around, I saw a game warden with a clip-board.
"Good morning," I said, nodding my head.
"Catch any fish?" he asked.
"No sir, just relaxing and killing time."
"Can I see your fishing license?"
I handed him the license I had purchased at the bait shop.
"Can I see your driver's license, too?" he requested.
"I see the name on the driver's license is spelled Kiser and the name on the fishing license is Kaiser," said the warden.
"The gentleman at the bait shop must have written it wrong," I told him.
"Well, I'm afraid I'll have to write you up for fishing with an invalid license and take away your fishing gear."
"You've got to be kidding," I responded, with a surprised look on my face.
Sure enough I was written up and my fishing gear taken away. I was told that I would have to pay a fine and that my stuff would be sold at auction .
I stood there almost in tears as he drove away. Those rods and reels were very special to me. I had used them over twenty years, fishing with my friends, who were now all dead.
After returning home in Georgia, I telephoned South Carolina trying to explain the situation, but no
one would listen. I was told that the Department of Fish and Game had a "zero tolerance" for fishing and hunting violations. Finally, in tears I paid the fine and gave up the fight.
Nine months later, I received a letter. I had no idea who it was from as there was no return address. On a plain piece of notebook paper was written "Auction for the Department of Fish and Game held this Saturday at 11:00 am."
On Saturday, at six in the morning I headed to South Carolina. By ten o'clock I had found the auction. There were numerous boats and piles upon piles of fishing equipment. All at once, there it was--my wonderful stuff all thrown in a pile as if it was worth nothing.
As the auction began I took my seat. In my wallet was twenty-seven dollars. For more than an hour I waited for my property to be brought to the auction block.
"We have three rods and reels here. I guess we will sell this as a unit," said the auctioneer.
"50 dollars," yelled someone in the crowd.
"51 dollars," yelled another man.
I rose from my seat and walked out of the auction.
"66 dollars," I heard as the bidding continued.
"100 dollars," came another bid. The auction became silent.
"100 dollars once, 100 dollars twice, 100 dollars three times. Sold for 100 dollars," went the auctioneer.
I walked to my truck, got in and just sat there. Suddenly I heard something hit the side of my truck. Turning around, I saw the back of a man putting my three rods and reels into my truck. It was the same game warden who wrote me the ticket almost a year ago!
As I got out of the truck he stuck out his hand and said, "I wasn't wrong. _ "
I shook his hand, thanked him and drove away. I cried as I crossed the South Carolina Georgia state line. | high10658.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To increase domestic demand in the face of the global financial crisis."
},
"options": [
"To increase domestic demand in the face of the global financial crisis.",
"To enable students to use them in local stores and supermarkets, o... | Coupons to spend
"How did you spend your coupons?"
On their first day back to school, many students in Hangzhou greeted each other this way.
The coupons referred to the 100 yuan coupons each student received form the city government before the Spring Festival holidays. Over 260,000 primary school and middle school students were given coupons. They could use them in local stores and supermarkets, or to see movies and buy books.
The same coupons have also been given to low income families in Hangzhou. Other cities, including Chengdu and Nanjing, also gave coupons to their citizens. More cities are expected to follow their lead.
Why are local governments doing this?
These programmes are all part of a broader effort in China to increase domestic demand in the face of the global financial crisis.
The crisis has seriously affected China's exports and investments . Many factories in southern cities have been closed down. Some companies are laying off workers or reducing their pay. The stock market and real estate market have been falling.
In a time of financial crisis, people usually respond by saving money. They are uncertain about the future and are afraid that more difficult times may be ahead. Now many people are choosing not to spend money carelessly. Major chain stores have seen a sharp slowdown in sales, analysts say.
But spending keeps an economy healthy. If people don't spend, there will be too many products in the market. Then shops will stop buying products from factories. When factories receive no orders, they close down. The workers there accordingly lose their jobs. Also, if people don't spend, the service industry suffers. The total result is that the whole economy breaks down.
Issuing coupons is a practical and effective way to increase domestic demand in the current situation, said Jiang Zengwei, vice-minister of China's Ministry of Commerce. Hangzhou reported a rise in customers in local markets during Spring Festival holiday.
However, issuing coupons is only a temporary measure. To increase consumers' confidence, the government needs to establish a sound secure social system in the long term. When people don't have to worry about education, health care and their pension, they will be more willing to spend instead of saving. | high11546.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "About 11 years."
},
"options": [
"About 5 years.",
"About 11 years.",
"About15 years.",
"About 20 years."
],
"question": "How many years is it since the electronic cigarette was first invented according to the p... | Since around the later part of the 1950s, society started to realize that tobacco cigarettes caused health problems. As research progressed along with increasing numbers of people that developed lung cancer, emphysema, and other smoking related illnesses, cigarette smoking has become less accepted and popular. Unfortunately, the nicotine contained in cigarettes is one of the most addictive substances on the planet and makes quitting smoking one of the hardest things to do. In 2003, Chinese pharmacist, Hon Lik invented the electronic cigarette as a safer, and cleaner way to breathe in nicotine after his father, a heavy smoker, passed away from lung cancer attributed to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
Hon Lik applied for his first patent on the electronic cigarette in 2003 and afterwards introduced e-cigs to the Chinese market in the following year through his employer, Golden Dragon Holdings. Golden Dragon Holdings later changed the company's name to "Ruyan" in order to better match the company's name(Ruyan means "almost like smoke")to the new product. Since the renaming, the Ruyan company has continued e-cigarette development and grown to be one of the largest global e-cig manufactures.
Dr.Sam Han, CEO of Cixi E-CIG Technology, Inc, Ltd. also has a number of e-cig related inventions, including four patents in the United States and two in China that are electronic cigarette and e-liquid technology related. Similar to Hon Lik's father. Dr. Han was a heavy smoker for more than 40 years before beginning to work on electronic cigarette technologies in order to help himself and others make the shift to vapor smoking. Dr.Han continues to market and conduct R&D in e-cig related techonologies to this date.
After the successful deployment of Ruyan and Cixi E-CIG electronic cigarettes in China and Asia, the products started to be sold in significant quantities on the Internet. | high10880.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The number of tourists to the Antarctic is over 5 times as large as that of 17 years ago."
},
"options": [
"Antarctica tourism has a history of about 17 years",
"The number of tourists to the Antarctic is over 5 times as large as t... | Ship tourism to Antarctica is on the rise: More than 35,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctic this summer. In 1992-1993, 6,750 visited Antarctica, according to the Antarctica Treaty. All of this tourism, however, is putting both tourists and the environment in great danger.
Among the tourist ships that visit the continent, the Explorer, a Canadian ship, was one of the first. Put to use in 1969, it was built to carry tourists to Antarctica. Last week, however, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink beneath the waters. Fortunately, all of the passengers and crew members were rescued from the ship. However, the sunken ship endangered the Antarctic's fragile environment. The ship was estimated to be holding 48,000 gallons of fuel.
The accident was not unexpected. Both the US and UK had warned a conference of the Antarctic Treaty member countries in May that the tourism situation in this area was a potential disaster. The US said in a paper, people "should take a hard look at tourism issues now, especially those related to ship safety." Although the Antarctic seas are relatively calm, floating ice causes a potential threat to ships. The owner of the Explorer blamed the sinking on a fist-like hole in the ship created by ice.
Many of the other large ships now visiting Antarctica are not designed especially against thick ice. Such ships generally can only come to the continent in summer. But the tourist rush is pushing ships into dangerous situations. "The increasing number of ships operating in Antarctic means that the ship are under great pressure to get there in time for the key visiting sites," the British government wrote in a paper at the meeting of member countries.
As a natural frontier, Antarctica is in a messy legal situation. There are no obvious answers as to who is responsible for dealing with the threat that tourist may cause to human life and the environment.
There is no coast guard for Antarctica. Do we want it to become Disneyland, or do we need some controls? | high16229.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to respond to the complaints about rising postal rates"
},
"options": [
"to reduce the cost of printing 2-or 3-cent stamps",
"to help save the consumers' cost on first-class mailing",
"to respond to the complaints about risin... | Mail carriers will be delivering some good news and some bad news this week.
The bad news: Stamp prices are expected to rise 2 cents in May to 41 cents, the Postal Regulatory Commission announced yesterday. The good news: With the introduction of a "forever stamp,"it may be the last time Americans have to use annoying 2-or 3-cent stamps to make up postage differences.
Beginning in May, people would be able to purchase the stamps in booklets of 20 at the regular rate of a first-class stamp. As the name implies, "forever stamps" will keep their first-class mailing value forever, even when the postage rate goes up.
The new "forever stamp" is the United States Postal Service'(USPS) answer to the complaints about frequent rate increases. The May increase will be the fifth in a decade. Postal rates have risen because of inflation ,competition from online bill paying, and the rising costs of employee benefits, including healthcare, says Mark Saunders, a Spokesman for USPS.
The USPS expects some financial gain from sales of the "forever stamp" and the savings from not printing as many 2-or 3-cent stamps. "It's not your grandfather's stamp," says Mr. Saunders. "It could be your great-grandchildren's stamp."
Other countries, including prefix = st1 /Canada,England, andFinlanduse similar stamps.
Don Schilling, who has collected stamps for 50 years, he's interested in the public's reaction. "This is an entirely new class of stamps," Mr. Schilling says. He adds that he'll buy the stamps because he will be able to use them for a long period of time, not because they could make him rich-the volume printed will be too large for collectors. "We won't be able to send our kids to college on these," he says, laughing.
The USPS board of governors has yet o accept the Postal Regulatory Commission's decision, but tends to follow its recommendations. No plans have been announced yet for the design of the stamps. | high21485.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "At the front."
},
"options": [
"At the back.",
"At the front.",
"In the middle.",
"On the right."
],
"question": "According to the passage,where do women likes to stand in the lift?",
"question_type": null
... | According to new research,there could be a social hierarchy attached to where people stand in the lift.More senior men stand at the back,young men in the middle and women of all ages at the front.
Most people know that awkward feeling when you shuffle into an elevator with other people and try not to make eye contact.
But new research suggests it may be down to a subconscious power struggle being played out as you make your way up or down.
A study found that people decide where they stand based on a micro social hierarchy,established within seconds of entering the lift.
Rebekah Rousi,a Ph.D.student in cognitive science,conducted all ethnographic study of elevator behaviour in two of the tallest office buildings in Adelaide,Australia.
As part of her research,she took a total of 30 lift rides in the two buildings,and discovered there was an established order to where people tended to stand.
In a blog for Ethnography Matters,she writes that more senior men seemed to direct themselves towards the back of the elevator cabins.
She said,"In front of them were younger men,and in front of them were women of all ages."
She also noticed there was a difference in where people directed their gaze half way through the ride.
Men watched the monitors,looked in the side mirrors(in one building)to see themselves,and in the door mirrors(of the other building)to also watch others.
Women would watch the monitors and avoid eye contact with other users(unless in conversation)and the mirrors,she writes.
The doctorate student concluded it could be that people who are shyer stand toward the front,where they can't see other passengers,whereas bolder people stand in the back,where they have a view of everyone else. | high5464.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a parent"
},
"options": [
"a parent",
"a famous professor",
"a student",
"a famous headmaster"
],
"question": "The passage is most probably written by_.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"ans... | On the whole, it's not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it.Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.And this year, as always,the Easter holidays will be peak time for tutor demand.
"My husband and I tried to tutor her at home,but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen.We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting exams for different boards . On the whole we think one-two-one tuition works best and it is worth the money.In our case,Preeta is a bit like an elder sister to Zarreen and that's the most important,"says Ashan Sabri from London, whose daughter Zarreen,18,is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer.
In fact,Preeta Datta is only six years older than her pupil and she is happy to provide extra tuition through mobile phone."Maybe Zarreen will call me two or three times a week with a question about biology or chemistry, and that's fine to me,"says Datta.
The real question is:does tutoring do any good?
"It's not the magic bullet,"says Professor Judith Ireson.'It's still up to the child to do the learning.If he or she isn't interested,then sending them to a private tutor won't do any good."
In which case,surely it's time to break open the Champagne ?Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell,head of the Rowans School.
"While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn't English,we don't encourage it for the others,"says Tyrrell."With the level of education they get here,children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. Besides, our biggest worry is that they might just get in with the help of last-minute tutoring,but,once they actually get to that school,they won't be able to manage."
It's a point worth considering.After all,who would want their child to stay at the bottom of the class? | high17123.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Look at how technology will change the world."
},
"options": [
"Look at how technology will make people happy.",
"Look at how technology will change the world.",
"Make technology work better for themselves.",
"Make smal... | World Future Society
People
People may live for up to 120 years and use new technology to help when people go blind, deaf and have other problems. The number of people over a hundred years old could go from 135,000 today to 2.2 million people by 2050. By 2015 people think that 100 million workers will be able to work from home for a company in a different country by using the Internet.
Money
Worldwide e-business will become even more successful with online shops that sell special products for each person, which will be brought to their house the next day.
Environment
The technology for making energy from wind and the Sun is growing very quickly. In the future wind and Sun energy could become much cheaper and many more countries could use it. This would be very useful in poor countries. The air in big cities would also become much cleaner and healthier as a result.
Society and culture
The Internet will help to create more worldwide friendships. Families may spend more time together as people will be able to do 24-hour online banking and shopping.
Technology
The new science of "nanotechnology" (very small robots or machines) will make all sorts of products smaller and lighter. Very, very small machines could take away rubbish, make things in factories, and help inside the human body by taking away fat. By 2012 people will be able to wear these small machines that look like watches, which will give them lots of information about their body and keep them healthy. | high20957.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The worker enjoyed his work very much."
},
"options": [
"The author passed by the toll booth every day.",
"The worker enjoyed his work very much.",
"Only western people like to spend their holidays in the Berkeley hills.",
... | If you have ever gone through a toll booth , you know that your relationship to the person in the booth is not the most intimate you'll ever have. It is one of life's frequent affairs: You hand over some money; you might get change; you drive off.
Late one morning in 1984, headed for lunch in San Francisco, I drove toward a booth. I heard loud music. It sounded like a party. I looked around. No other cars with their windows open. No sound trucks. I looked at the toll booth. Inside it, the man was dancing.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm having a party," he said.
"What about the rest of the people?" I looked at the other toll booths.
He said, "What do those look like to you?" He pointed down the row of toll booths.
"They look like......toll booths. What do they look like to you?"
He said, "Vertical coffins. At 8:30 every morning, live people get in. Then they die for eight hours. At 4:30, like _ from the dead, they reemerge and go home. For eight hours, brain is on hold, dead on the job. Going through the motions."
I was amazed. This guy had developed a philosophy, a mythology about his job. Sixteen people dead on the job, and the seventeenth, in precisely the same situation, figures out a way to live. I could not help asking the next question: "Why is it different for you? You're having a good time."
He looked at me. "I knew you were going to ask that. I don't understand why anybody would think my job is boring. I have a corner office, glass on all sides. I can see the Golden Gate, San Francisco, and the Berkeley hills. Half the Western world vacations here......and I just stroll in every day and practice dancing." | high3015.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The brain controls the body."
},
"options": [
"The human brain works very fast.",
"The largest brain is not always the best brain.",
"The brain controls the body.",
"The best brain is the largest brain."
],
"que... | As we know, Human beings each have unique brains. The brain is of the greatest importance to the body. It is the boss of the body.Your eyes,ears,nose,and skin tell your brain what is going on around you.Other parts of your body tell your brain what is going on inside of you.Your brain takes in the signals.It tells your body what to do with them.When you touch fire,your skin tells your brain that your finger is too hot.Your brain tells you to move your finger.All these happen very fast.Your brain also controls your breathing,blinking,and heartbeat.It controls your feelings and thoughts too.
Humans have the most developed brain of all animals.Yet it is not the largest brain.The human brain weighs three pounds.The brain of an elephant weighs 11 pounds.So the largest brain is not always the best brain.In people,a larger brain does not mean a clever person. | high10894.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The color1 of the universe"
},
"options": [
"Research made by two astronauts",
"The color1 of the universe",
"Mistakes made by scientists",
"A mistake in the computer"
],
"question": "The best title of the passa... | What is the color1 of the universe? Astronomers had not answered this question, until two months ago. That is when two American astronomers reported on their study of all the light in the universe. They said that the universe would appear to the human eye to be a light greenish color1, called turquoise .
Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, reported their finding in January. They presented the research at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society. They said that finding the color1 of the universe was not part of their serious scientific research. They did it for fun.
However, earlier this month, the scientists admitted to making a mistake. They said their finding was much more color1ful than it should have been. They now say the light from our universe is closer to white. It is more like a milky or creamy white color1.
Their study attempted to show what people might see if they could observe the universe from far away. The scientists found the average color1 by combining light from about two-hundred-thousand star systems. Their information came from an observatory in New South Wales, Australia.
These scientists and color1 engineers attempted to reproduce the result. Mark Fairchild of the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York was the first person to identify a mistake. He discovered a mistake in the computer software program used by the Johns Hopkins scientists.
When the mistake was corrected, the results changed. The new color1 of the universe is much less color1ful. It is very close to white. The scientists have apologized for the mistake. They are now working with the Rochester Institute of Technology to produce more images of the color1 of the universe. They also asked for suggestions for a name for the new color1 of the universe. | high21491.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "have poorer academic performances"
},
"options": [
"have poorer academic performances",
"be more likely to hurt others",
"enjoy better school lives",
"are less likely to use alcohol and tobacco"
],
"question": "... | Students who date in middle school have significantly worse study skills, are four times more likely to drop out of school and report twice as much alcohol and tobacco use than their single classmates, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
"Romantic relationships are a symbol of adolescence , but very few studies have examined how adolescents are different in the development of these relationships." said Pamela Orpinas, study author and professor in the College of Public Health.
Orpinas followed a group of 624 students over a seven-year period from 6th to 12th grade. Each year, the group of students completed a survey indicating whether they had dated and reported the frequency of different behaviors, including the use of drugs and alcohol. Their teachers completed questionnaires about the students' academic efforts. He found some students never or hardly ever reported dating from middle to high school, and these students had the best study skills according to their teachers. Other students dated infrequently in middle school but increased the frequency of dating in high school.
"At all points in time, teachers rated the students who reported the lowest frequency of dating as having the best study skills and the students with the highest dating as having the worst study skills," according to the journal article. Study skills refer to behaviors that lead to academic success such as doing work for extra credit, being well organized, finishing homework, working hard and reading assigned chapters.
"Dating a classmate may have the same emotional complications of dating a co-worker," Orpinas said, "When the couple break up, they have to continue to see each other in class and perhaps witness the ex-partner dating someone else. It is reasonable to think this could be linked to depression and divert attention from studying."
"Dating should not be considered a ceremony of growth in middle school."Orpinas concluded. | high8140.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "80%"
},
"options": [
"80%",
"60%",
"56.5 %",
"41.2%"
],
"question": "According to the passage _ of the buyers are NOT content with their houses.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer... | Buying a house for most of the people is a once in a lifetime decision, which means people decide to do so only after coming across the ideal house. Surprisingly, eight in every 10 home buyers are unhappy with their houses.
A survey conducted by the Beijing Consumers' Association (BCA) recently shows about 80 percent of the 2,315 respondents in 23 residential complexes of Beijing are dissatisfied with the soaring house prices.
They think the reasonable price in Beijing should be between 3,000 yuan and 7,000 yuan per square meter.
The quality of the buildings, the surrounding environment and traffic and property management are the other factors that play a role in people's decision to buy a house.
The BCA has suggested strict sales regulations and contracts to ease house-owners' sufferings. It has urged the authorities to impose severe punishment on developers found violating building and other rules and joining hands with others to bid up property prices, About 41.2 percent of the respondents have complained that their house have defective designs, while nearly 40 percent say the lighting and ventilation are far from satisfactory.
The landscapes in the residential areas are a source of unhappiness for 43.2 percent of the respondents, and about one-third say they were "
" into buying "third grade" house. And more than half are not satisfied with the sport and entertainment facilities in their neighborhood.
Property management in the buildings, 56.5 percent of the respondents say, is way below standard compared to the high fee charged by the complexes.
60 percent of the consumers doubt the contents of developers' advertisements, with only 6.3 percent being satisfied.
Experts have suggested consumers gather thorough knowledge about a developer and their work before deciding to buy a house from it. They should check the day-light conditions and ventilation in different weather conditions in advance, if possible. | high15734.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He had worked with his colleague long enough."
},
"options": [
"He had worked with his colleague long enough.",
"His colleague's handwriting was so beautiful.",
"His colleague's handwriting was so terrible.",
"He still ... | I had in my hand a sheet of paper with handwritten instructions on it for some sort of editorial task.It occurred at first that I did not recognize the handwriting,and then I realized whose it must be.I finally became aware of the fact that I had been working with this colleague for at least a year,maybe two,and yet I did not recognize her handwriting at that point.
It was a very important event in the computerization of life--a sign that the informal.friendly communication of people working together in an office had changed from notes in pen to instant messages and emails.There was a time when our workdays were filled with little letters,and we recognized one another's handwriting the way we knew voices or faces.
As a child visiting my father's office,I was pleased to recognize,in little notes on the desks of his staff,the same handwriting I would see at home in the notes he would leave on the fridge-- except that those notes were signed"dad"instead of"RFW".
All this has been on my mind because of the talk aboutThe Rise and Fall of Handwriting,a book by Florey.She shows in her book a deep concern about the fall of handwriting and the failure of schools to teach children to write well,but many others argue that people in a digital age can't be expected to learn to hold a pen.
I don't buy it.
I don't want to see anyone cut off from the expressive,personal associations that a pen still promotes better than a digital keyboard does.For many a biographer,part of really getting to know their subjects is learning to read their handwriting.
What some people advocate is teaching one of the many attractive handwritings based on the handwriting of 16th--century Italy.That may sound impossibly grand--as if they want kids to learn to draw by copying classical paintings.However,they have worked in many school systems. | high22198.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the jacket and the boots"
},
"options": [
"the wool snow pants and the jacket",
"the jacket and the boots",
"the jacket and the hat",
"the boots and the gloves"
],
"question": "According to the passage,the littl... | It was the first mow of winter -- an exciting day for every, child but not for most tether. Up until now, l had been able to dress myself for recess , but today I would need some help. Miss Finlayson, my kindergarten teacher at Princess Elizabeth School near Hamilton, Ontario, had been through first snow days ,tony times in her long career, but I think struggled still remember this one.
I managed to get into my wool snow pants. But I straggled with my jacket because it didn't fit well. It was a hand-me-down from my brother, and it made me wonder why I had to wear his ugly clothes. At least my hat and matching scarf were mine, and they were quite pretty. Finally it was time to have Miss Finlayson help me with my boots. In her calm, motherly voice she said, "By the end of winter, you will be able to put on own boots. " I didn't realize at the time that this was more a statement of hope than of confidence.
I handed her my boots and stuck out my foot. Like most children, I expected the adult to do an the work. After mush wiggling and pushing, she managed to get first one into place and then, with a sigh, worked the second one on too.
I announced,"They're on the wrong feet."With the grace that only experience can bring,she struggled to get the boots off and went through the joyless task of putting them on again.Then I said,"These aren't my boots.you know."As she pulled the offending boots from my feet,she still managed to look both helpful and interested.Once they were off.I said,"They are my brother's boots.My mother makes me wear them,and I hate them!" Somehow,from long years of practice,she managed to act as though I wasn't an annoying little girl.She pushed and shoved.less gently this time,and the boots were returned to their proper place on my feet.With a great sigh of relief,seeing the end of her struggle with me,she asked,"Now,where are your gloves?''
I looked into her eyes and said."I didn't want to lose them.so I put them into the toes of my boots." | high7273.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "local news used to be the only source of information"
},
"options": [
"local news used to be the only source of information",
"local news still takes a significant place",
"national news is becoming more popular",
"inte... | Clearly if we are to participate in the society in which we live, we must communicate with other people. A great deal of communicating is performed on a person-to-person basis by the simple means of speech. If we travel in buses, buy things in shops, or eat in restaurants, we are likely to have conversations where we give information or opinions, receive news or comment, and very likely to have our views challenged by other members of society.
Face to face contact is by no means the only form of communication and during the last two hundred years the art of mass communication has become one of the dominating factors of contemporary society. Two things, above others, have caused the enormous growth of the communication industry. Firstly, inventiveness has led to advanced imprinting, telecommunications photography, radio and television. Secondly, speed has revolutionized the transmission and reception of communications so that local news often takes a back seat to national news, which itself is often almost eclipsed( ) by international news.
No longer is the possession of information confined to a privileged minority. In the last century the wealthy man with his own library was indeed fortunate, but today there are public libraries. For years ago people used to flock to the cinema, but now far more people sit at home and turn on the TV to watch a programme that is being channeled into millions of homes.
Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information. The modem communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by allowing access to information, education and entertainment. The printing, broadcasting and advertising industries are all involved with informing, educating and entertaining.
Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very valuable to the individual and to the society of which he is part, the vast modem network of communications is open to abuse . However, the mass media are with us for better, for worse, and there is no turning back. | high1602.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a computer"
},
"options": [
"the robotic arms",
"the dairy farmers",
"the cows themselves",
"a computer"
],
"question": "Under robotic milking systems, _ decide(s) whether a cow is suitable to be milked.",
... | Technology is making life easier for some dairy farmers. They use robotic systems to milk their cows. These systems are designed to reduce labor and increase milk production.
Cows are trained to follow a series of paths that lead to the milking stations. Only one cow at a time can enter the station. Once inside,the cow is rewarded with food. As the cow eats,a robotic arm cleans and connects the animal to the milking machine. A few minutes later,the milking is completed. The gate is lifted. The cow leaves and the next cow enters. The robotic systems are designed to operate twenty four hours a day. Cows are milked on average about three times a day. Some are milked four to six times a day. The cows wear collars around their necks that identify them to the system. A computer keeps records on their eating and milking. A cow is released from the station if the computer decides it should not be milked. The system also measures the temperature and color of the freshly produced milk. Milk is thrown away if it does not pass the tests. Cows need two to four weeks to learn to use the robotic milking systems. Once trained,the cows no longer require human assistance,unless something goes wrong.
Professor Plaut heads the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University. She believes the systems will attract especially the next generation of farmers who are more interested in technology and less interested in working all the time on the farm. Still,she says the price of robotic milking systems will continue to limit their use. Doug Suhr has more than one hundred milking cows on his farm. Last year it became the fourth farm in southeast Minnesota to get a robotic milking system. A recent story in a local agricultural newspaper said the first robot cost $175,000 and the second cost $150,000.Doug says the increase in milk production reaches a high of more than 6kg per cow per day. | high13345.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "forbids selling alcohol to people under 16"
},
"options": [
"aims to keep Italy's sipping culture alive",
"is welcomed by Italian adult people",
"has reduced the number of underage youths getting drunk",
"forbids sellin... | Italians like to say that when it comes to alcohol, they have a sipping culture rather than a drinking culture. That means that while Italians may enjoy a glass of wine or beer, they don't usually get very drunk.
That's not true anymore. The new study by the Italian National Health Institute found that 63 percent of Italians under age 18 get drunk on the weekends. Now, the city of Milan has created a law that will stop anyone under 16 from buying alcohol. Anyone who sells or gives alcohol to a person under 16 can be fined up to $700.
Young people who feel that the new law is unfair should go to the US for some perspective. The US has the highest drinking age in the world: It's illegal for anyone under 21 to buy alcohol, and stores or restaurants that are caught selling alcohol to people under the legal age risk losing their licenses.
Many young Americans complain that the drinking laws are unfair: They are allowed to vote in elections and join the military at age 18, so why wait another three years just to buy a bottle of beer?
These young people have found help in an unusual place. Last year, more than 100 presidents of US universities joined together to ask lawmakers to consider changing the drinking age. They argued that the law doesn't stop underage college kids from getting drunk - it just makes them want to drink more.
For now, the law seems unlikely to change. But US teenagers who want alcohol can go north to Canada, where the drinking age is 18-19, or south to Mexico where the legal age is 18. Throughout much of Asia, Africa and Europe, the legal drinking age ranges 16-18.
In plenty of places though, the official drinking age is ignored, and even young children can buy alcohol if they have the money to pay for it.
No matter how old you are, you should always be responsible with alcohol. Teenagers in Milan are now learning that their reckless drinking behavior may come at a high price. | high23286.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to see a patient"
},
"options": [
"to clean the floor",
"to please the nurse",
"to see a patient",
"to surprise the story-teller"
],
"question": "When she took a mop from the small room what Mum really wanted to... | We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book.Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down.While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold.She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop .She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors." "Yes, I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them," the nurse answered.She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working late?"
Mum just pushed harder, each swipe of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall.I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.After a long time Mum came back.Her eyes were shining.
She quickly put the mop back and took my hand.As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you."
Outside, Mum told me "Grandma is fine.No fever."
"You saw her, Mum?"
"Of course.I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow.Dad will stop worrying as well.It's a fine hospital.But such floors! A mop is not good.You need a brush." | high9538.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Toyota will have a worldwide recall of Lexus LS430 sedans."
},
"options": [
"Chinese customers are not satisfied with Toyota Lexus LS430 sedans.",
"Chinese car market has seen car recalls three times so far.",
"Toyota will ha... | Toyota Motor Corp, Japan's biggest carmaker, said on Friday it will recall 1,489 Lexus sedans sold in China. "It will take us some time to ship the fuel tanks and vent pipes to China to change those in these Lexus sedans for customers free of charge, if problems are found," said Yang Hongjian, a spokes- woman of Toyota's China representative office.
The expected recall will affect Lexus LS430 sedans made in Japan from July 29, 2003 to January 14, 2004, the representative office said in a statement. Toyota has not received complaints from Chinese customers, according to the statement. The move will be part of Toyota's global recall of 18,200 Lexus LS430s. It will be the third car recall in China in two weeks. Although automobile recall is a common practice in developed markets, it remains new to Chinese customers. The Chinese government published long-awaited automobile recall rules on March 15, which will be officially carried out at the beginning of October.
China's auto market is forecast to reach 10 million units by 2010. Automakers, especially Chinese producers, will face greater pressure from automobile recalls, which could be very costly sometimes, and should be in full preparations, according to the expert. The Japanese carmaker sold 1, 549 Lexus vehicles on the Chinese mainland during the first five months of this year, according to Yang. Lexus sales on the mainland reached 4,000 units last year, up from 1,600 units in 2002. (China Daily July 3, 2004) | high1164.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Aerosols caninfluence each other in various ways."
},
"options": [
"Aerosols caninfluence each other in various ways.",
"All the aerosols will cool the earth.",
"Aerosols can add nutrients to human beings.Ks5u",
"Any ki... | Nowadays, there is a heated debate on whether pollutants should be cleaned in the air. Cleaning up the air, while good for our lungs, could make global warming worse. And the pollutants still go up around the air, along with carbon dioxide.
These pollutants are called aerosols and they include soot as well as mixtures of nitrogen and sulfur and other stuff into the air. Natalie Mahowald, a climate researcher at Cornell University, says so far, scientists have mostly tried to understand what those aerosols do while they're actually in the air.
"There are so many different kinds of aerosols," she says. "Some warm and some cool. But in fact, humans are giving out a lot of extra aerosols, and they tend to cool for the most part."
The aerosols reflect sunlight back into space, or keep us cool. But it turns out that's not all they do. These aerosols also influence how much carbon dioxide gets drawn out of the air by plants on land and in the sea.
"They can add nutrients, for example, to the oceans or to the land," Mahowald says. "But also while they're in the atmosphere they can change the climate, and thus that also can influence the amount of carbon, the land or the ocean can take up. So there are quite a few different ways that aerosols can act on each other."
Mahowald's results suggest that reducing those pollutants could be an even bigger problem than realized, when you consider that aerosols help remove carbon dioxide from the air by encouraging plant growth. Hard numbers on this effect are highly uncertain at the moment, but this could turn out to be quite significant.
And studying it is not easy because the effects aren't well understood. For example, nitrogen can be a fertilizer , but it can stop plant growing when nitrogen comes out of the air in acid form.
Right now it seems like we're much more likely to clean up aerosol pollution, while increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the air. So scientists, unfortunately, may have a chance to see whether this experiment on our planet should continue or not. | high22826.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is related to the American Student Union."
},
"options": [
"The ISC table can be visited at weekends.",
"It mainly offers help to American students.",
"It is related to the American Student Union.",
"It's a club focu... | International Students Club (ISC) is a friendship club organized by the American Student Union (ASU) for all international students. Visit the ISC table on the Tempe Main Campus from 9:30am to 12:30pm Monday -- Thursday to get information, practice speaking English, meet new friends and sign up for ISC activities.
Our goal is to help all international students during their time here in the USA through practical help, social activities, trips, conversational English classes and Bible studies.
International Graduates & Scholars
A free dinner is held weekly on Friday nights at the Peterson home at 6:30pm. Transportation is provided from the ASU Bookstore at 6:10pm on Friday nights for free. Every year in June we have special activities -- summer camps. Want to make new friends or practice your English? Join us! For more information on activities for graduates and scholars, contact Nancy Peterson at 480-540-1518 or nancyp 310@cox.net.
International Undergraduates
If you're an international undergraduate hoping to meet new friends, join us at the Rita House on Friday nights, 7:00pm for a free meal, fellowship and Bible discussion. On Friday nights we offer free transportation from the ASU Bookstore at 6:45pm. Join our Facebook page at "ISC Undergraduates" for more specific information or you can contact Charles Boyle at 480-686-0561 or charles.boyle@asu.edu.
African Students
All African students are invited to join us in our monthly activities designed for them to encourage one another and some club members also participate in the activities. This month we're meeting on April 18th at 4:00pm. Some of our club leaders will join them for student interaction and cultural exchange. For more information, contact Emmanuel Chijindu (from Nigeria) at 480-248-5121 or echijindu@isionline.org.
ISC Leaders & Staff
If you want to become our club member, contact one of our student leaders or campus staff members.
Caroline Tao
wtao6@asu.edu | 480-326-5135
Nigel Pinto
nigel.pinto791@gmail.com
Nancy Peterson
Charles Boyle (staff)
Emmanuel Chijindu (staff) | high13423.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it has thousands of big and small islands"
},
"options": [
"Japan is a small country",
"it is on the Pacific Ocean",
"it has thousands of big and small islands",
"Japan has hundreds of small islands"
],
"questio... | Japan is an island country in the Pacific Ocean. As the Japanese students already know, four main islands and more than 3,000 small ones stretch from north to south for about 1,300 miles. As for the climate of the country, well, it's hot and humid in summer, but it is quite cold and wet in Japan during winter. Typhoons, which are violent tropical storms, often threaten Japan during the fall. That's, of course, during the harvest season.
The population of Japan is about 110,5 million. It may seem hard to believe, but the average population density of the country is about 678 persons per square mile.
About two thirds of the entire population lives in Japan's cities. The other one third lives in the suburbs or in the countryside. No other country in southern or eastern Asia has such a large urban, or city population. Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, is the most density-populated city in the world. At last count there were more than 11.5 million people living in Tokyo. | high8626.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because he sang for guests while he worked as a cook."
},
"options": [
"Because he was a cook at a country-music club.",
"Because he sang for guests while he worked as a cook.",
"Because he often sang while cooking.",
"... | I grew up in a small town. My father raised chickens and ran a construction company. I was barely 10 years old when my dad gave me the responsibility of feeding the chickens and cleaning up the stable. He believed it was important for me to have those jobs to learn responsibility. Then, when I was 22, I found a job in Natchbill at a country music club called the Natchbill Palace, I washed dishes and cooked from 4: 00 pm to 9: 00 pm and then went on stage and sang until 2:00 in the morning. It wasn't long before I became known as a singing cook. I had been rejected so many times by record companies that it was hard not to be discouraged. One night, a woman executive from a company named Warner Brothers Records came to hear me sing. When the show was over, we sat down and talked and after she left, I said to myself it was one more rejection. A few weeks later, my manager received a phone call -- Warner Brothers wanted to sign me to a record deal. Soon after, I released my first record in June 1986. It sold over 2 million copies. My best efforts had gone into every job I've ever held. It was the sense of responsibility that made me feel like a man. Knowing that I had done my best filled me with pride. I still feel that way today, even though I have become a well-known singer. | high7515.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It isn't effective because it doesn't focus on specific exams."
},
"options": [
"It's expensive but worthwhile because it works the best.",
"It confuses students because the knowledge taught in it is out of date.",
"It isn't ... | On the whole, it's not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.
"It's expensive, but worth it," says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. "My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best."
The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?
"It's not the _ ," says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. "It's still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn't interested, sending them to a private tutor won't do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor."
In which case, surely it's time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.
"While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn't English, we don't encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won't be able to cope."
But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.
"In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality," says Curtis. "We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn't as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place." | high11234.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "get rid of shyness forever"
},
"options": [
"get to know more friends",
"learn more than you do alone",
"work in an organized way",
"get rid of shyness forever"
],
"question": "Group projects can give you a chan... | Few of us act alone in the real world. Most things are done with the help or ideas of other people. Group projects are great practice for high school, college, and real life, when you will probably have a job that requires working with others. Right now, group projects can be fun and they often allow you to do a bigger, more interesting project than you could alone. With group work, you can actually learn more in less time.
Group projects also give you a chance to get to know kids you might not otherwise know or talk with. Group projects are also a great way to practice skills you're not so sure of. For example: working on a deadline, staying organized, or being patient. And if you're a little nervous talking in front of a group, a joint project can help you become more comfortable with it. Maybe your group will pick you to tell the whole class about your project. If so, you'll know your whole group is _ you!
One of the most important things about group work is talking and meeting together. It's a good idea to continually check with everybody on their progress to see if anyone needs help. You might think the first step is to figure out who will do what, but actually it's getting to know another a little. Take a few minutes to chat. Even if you know each other well, it can help to take a minute to think about your skills and share your strengths and weaknesses. The second step is to go over ground rules from your teacher and any that you want to create together as a group. | high3773.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Beijing's air pollution"
},
"options": [
"a programme to improve Beijing's air quality",
"progress made in Beijing's air quality",
"Beijing's air pollution",
"the difference between Hainan and Beijing"
],
"quest... | While students in Hainan are quite used to clear skies, Beijing teenagers are not so
lucky. As another warm winter approaches, the city can expect the normal clouds of smoke
caused by air pollution.
But things could start to get better soon. The government is co-operating with a US-
based environmental protection agency to update existing buses and trucks with clean fuel
technology. The new technology could reduce air pollutants in existing diesel vehicles (
) by 40 per cent. The programme will begin by testing buses in Beijing to see if the
technology can be applied to them.
"We encourage the development of public transportation. But at the same time we need
to reduce pollution from them," said an official.
Efforts are being made to improve the capital's environment with tighter controls on
emissions . Some heavily polluting factories and construction sites, such as those
owned by the steel giant Shougang Group, have been asked to cut production in November
and December or be closed. Beijing was the third polluted city in the world at the end of
last century, according to the UN. But thanks to recent measures, the capital has made
some progress. Last year 224 clear days were rated as having good air quality. In 1998
the air quality index gave just 100 days as good.
"I am glad to see an improvement," said a Senior 1 boy living in the northwest of
Beijing. "Compared to other places, the air quality of Beijing is still worrying though.
I hate the pollution. Once I was riding my bike in the morning when I almost had a traffic
accident because I couldn't see a car only metres away from me in frog."
In early October, the skies were covered by such a thick fog that a display show by
the visiting French air force was called off.
Rapid development, industry, traffic fumes and sandstorms from the desert all
contribute to the city's bad air. | high18576.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Both good habits and bad habits"
},
"options": [
"Good habits",
"Bad habits",
"Both good habits and bad habits",
"Neither good habits nor bad habits"
],
"question": "are formed little by little.",
"question_... | Habits,whether good or bad,are gradually formed when a person does a certain thing again.He is driven by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly, and then a habit is formed.Once a habit is formed,it is difficult,and sometimes impossible,to get rid of.It is therefore very important that we should pay great attention to the formation of habits.Children often form bad habits, some of which remain with them as long as they live older. Persons also form bad habits lasting as long as they live,and sometimes become ruined by them.
There are other habits which,when formed in early life,are of great help.Many successful men say that much of their success has something to do with certain habits in early life,such as early rising,honesty and so on.
Among the habits which children should not form are laziness,lying,stealing and so on.These habits are all easily formed.Unfortunately older persons often form habits which could have been avoided.
We should keep away from all these bad habits,and try to form such habits as will be good for
ourselves and others. | high17645.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "how you build up your sleep debt"
},
"options": [
"how you build up your sleep debt",
"how you can pay off sleep debts at weekends",
"why you need enough sleep every night",
"why you should drink coffee to stay energeti... | Let's do some sleep math. You lost two hours of sleep every night last week because of a big project due on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday, you slept in, getting four extra hours. On Monday morning, you were feeling so bright-eyed, and you only had one cup of coffee, instead of your usual two. But don't be cheated by your energy: You're still carrying around a heavy load of sleepiness, or what experts call "sleep debt".
Sleep debt is the difference between the amount of sleep you should get and the amount you actually get. It's a _ that grows every time we remove some minutes off our nightly sleep. "People get more and more sleep debt without noticing it," says William Dement, founder of the Stanford University Sleep Research Centre. Studies show that such short-term lack of sleep leads to a foggy brain, worsened eyesight, and trouble remembering. Long-term effects include obesity, and heart disease. A survey reports that we're losing one hour of sleep each night--more than two full weeks of sleep each year.
The good news is that, like all debts, sleep debt can be paid off with some work. Adding an extra hour or two of sleep a night is the way to catch up. For the long-term lack of sleep, take it easy for a few months to get back into a natural sleep pattern . Go to bed when you are tired, and allow your body to wake you in the morning naturally (no alarm clock allowed).
As you pay off sleep debt, your body will come to a rest at a sleep pattern that is particularly right for you. Sleep researchers believe that although the exact genes remain to be discovered, genes do determine our individual sleep patterns. That probably means you can't train yourself to be a "short sleeper" and you're fooling yourself if you think you've done it, so earn back that lost sleep and follow the orders of your inner sleep needs. When you put away sleep debt, you become a superman. | high11963.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "something about Qixi and Valentine's Day"
},
"options": [
"two moving romantic stories",
"something about Qixi and Valentine's Day",
"why young people prefer Western festivals",
"how Qixi is different from European Vale... | Chinese Valentine's Day is on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar . It is a traditional festival for Chinese people. It comes from a romantic ancient Chinese story. Niu Lang and Zhi Nv, two lovers who got separated by the Queen Mother of the Western Heavens, can only meet that night. Thanks to this touching story, Chinese people regard the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar as Chinese Valentine's Day. In China people also call it "Qixi".
Meanwhile, February 14 of the solar calendar is European Valentine's Day. It is related to a moving story too. The story goes that, there was a cruel king in ancient Rome whose name was Claudius. He forbade the youth to get married during the wars, which made the lovers angry. There was a monk named Valentine who was very angry at the rule and the king. One day a couple of lovers came to his temple to ask for help to get married. Valentine helped them. Later, many couples got married with Valentine's help. But Claudius knew it soon. He put Valentine to death cruelly. And that day was February 14, the year of 270.
Compared with European Valentine's Day, Qixi is less popular in China though it is a traditional Chinese festival. There may be many reasons. First of all, the lunar calendar is not easy to remember for most of the young people who are used to the solar calendar. Secondly, to many businessmen, European Valentine's Day is not only a festival for lovers but also a good chance to make money. Most of the flower shops can sell their flowers at a good price on European Valentine's Day while the business drops in Qixi, because on European Valentine's Day lovers know more about how to enjoy it. They exchange cards, flowers and go out to date. But most of them don't know the culture of Chinese Valentine's Day or how to celebrate it. | high20566.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she felt it normal not to have children"
},
"options": [
"she could adopt one",
"her life and career were unbelievably rich without children",
"she felt it normal not to have children",
"she was too busy"
],
"qu... | As a solo artist,Brightman has sold 26 million albums and two million DVDs in 34 countries. Her musical styles put opera, pop and jazz together. She is popular in the States but not here(Britain)--the image of her and her second husband, Andrew Lloyd Webber(he much older, she his muse) seems for ever frozen.
The 47-year-old singer talks about the new album Symphony that came out of a "very dark time", including her decision to give up trying to have children. "People have suggested I could adopt," Brightman says. "But work is central to my life now. And so I am going to put it to one side. After a while not having children becomes the normal and perhaps that might sound alarming, to parents especially, but I have never known anything different. I'm not hurt by not having children. My life and career are incredibly rich."
Talking about growing up in a large family in Berkhamsted (father a property developer who later committed suicide), she says: "I was gifted as a child, and very musical. I seemed to be good at anything to do with the arts. At 5 I understood the music I was dancing to and had an eye for costume." She first appeared in a West End musical at 11 and hated boarding school.
Brightman led the saucy dance troupe Hot Gossip and had her first hit with I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper in 1978. At 18 she married a music manager called Andrew Graham Stewart. "I was probably in love but I can't remember. Girls change such a lot between 18 and 22. It didn't really work out." In 1981 she was _ by Lloyd Webber. She became his leading lady in Song and Dance, Requiem and Phantom of the Opera. They married in 1984.
Brightman says she felt hostility "from the beginning. I haven't tried to understand it. I've done very well everywhere else, especially the UK, where I now live. I just accept it for what it is. The more you are away from Britain, the more you appreciate it. But I don't miss it, although I miss my family. Our profession can be uncomfortable but I enjoy what I do. I get on with it." | high4593.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He wanted to be with people who he knew and loved when he died."
},
"options": [
"He had been cured by the doctors.",
"He got better and better.",
"He missed his friends and teachers.",
"He wanted to be with people who ... | Chuck was thirteen when he came home from the hospital. He came home not because he was getting better but because he wanted to be with people he knew and loved when he died. I came by the house to visit him and his family several times a week during his treatment. On most of my visits, Chuck was very weak. But the last time I saw him alive, he was awake. "I have got something for you." He pulled out a piece of crumpled paper from under his pillow. "I want you to give this to my mom and dad after I die. You'll know when it's right, I guess, won't you?"
"What is it?" I asked. "It's a list of all the fun we had, and all the happy time when we laughed." I almost gasped in great surprise.
"Like what?" I asked quietly, trying to regain my calmness.
"Like the time when Mom, Dad, Chrissie, Linda and me were dressed up as fruits and Dad was driving us to a costume party. Dad was a bunch of grapes and I was an apple, and the others were different things like bananas and pears."
And a policewoman _ for speeding. When the policewoman came up to the car, she looked and started laughing so hard that she could hardly stand up. And we all started laughing and she said, "Where are you all heading -- a salad bar?" Dad said he was sorry to be speeding, but his kids were getting so ripe that they were starting to draw flies. And she laughed till she had to take off her dark glasses and wiped tears from her eyes."
Chuck laughed and so did I. The list was full of laughing and fun. What a wonderful gift, I thought. | high21678.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "tend to talk more and listen less"
},
"options": [
"actually lose the ability to listen",
"seldom chat constantly with each other",
"feel frightened when they are alone and silent",
"tend to talk more and listen less"
... | In Africa, listening is a guiding principle .It's a principle that' been lost in the constant chat of the Western world .From my own past experience , I noticed how much faster I had to answer a question during a TV interview .It is as if we have completely lost the ability to listen .We talk and talk , and we end up frightened by silence .
Everywhere, people on the African continent write and tell stories. Even the nomads who still live in the Kalahari Desert are said to tell one another stories on their daylong wanderings, during which they search for roots and animals to hunt.
A number of years ago I sat down on a stone bench outside the Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique, where I worked as an artistic consultant. It was a hot day, and we were taking a break, hoping that a cool gentle wind would move past. Two old African men were sitting on that bench, but there was room for me, too. In Africa people share more than just water. Even when it comes to shade, people are generous.
I heard the two men talking about a third old man who had recently died. One of them said, "I was visiting him at his home. He started to tell me an amazing story about something that had happened to him when he was young. But it was a long story. Night came, and I decided that I should come back the next day to hear the rest. But when I arrived, he was dead."
The man fell silent. I decided not to leave that bench until I heard how the other man would respond to what he'd heard. Finally he, too, spoke. "That's not a good way to die--before you've told the end of your story."
What separates us from animals is the fact that we are storytelling creatures and we can listen to other people's dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats--and they in turn can listen to ours.
Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing. Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening.
Many words will be written on the wind and the sand, or end up in store. But the storytelling will go on until the last human being stops listening. Then we can send the great record of human out into the endless universe.
Who knows? Maybe someone is out there, willing to listen... | high5855.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "study science in a free way"
},
"options": [
"study science in a free way",
"play games with other members",
"watch scientific experiments",
"attend Scientific educators' class"
],
"question": "In Discovery Spac... | Museum Visit and Discovery Space
When you visit the museum in the Sciencenter, your class can also have a visit to Discovery Space. It is hosted by a Sciencenter educator. Discovery Space provides school-age kids with a place to explore the world of science the way they like. Students will have self-directed independent learning experiences as they try to find the truth about science through activities, games and experiments.
A Sciencenter educator can help you find the discovery boxes that are suitable for your school subjects and class interests.
Ticket price
The Sciencenter welcomes your school group and is pleased to offer discounted tickets to schools for field trips of 10 or more students. For groups smaller than 10, there is no discount.
September 1 - February 28: come early and SAVE!
Museum Visit Plus Discovery Space: $3.50 per student
March 1 - August 31
Museum Visit Plus Discovery Space: $4.50 per student
Duration
Discovery Space reservations last about 30 minutes. Sciencerter educators will divide large groups into small ones. Each group has 20 persons at most.
Please Note
Individual Sciencenter memberships are not to be used by school groups for the purpose of cutting school field trip costs.
Questions and Reservations
For more information or reservations, contact Shannon McSurely, Educator Program Manager, at 607-272-0666 ext. 23 or smcsurely@sciencenter.org. | high22371.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "I was not careful with English idioms"
},
"options": [
"I didn't have the slightest interest in them",
"English idioms are not important",
"My teacher didn't emphasize the importance of them",
"I was not careful with En... | A year ago, I paid no attention to English idioms, though my teacher stressed the importance again and again. But soon, the importance of English idioms was shown in an amusing experience.
One day, I happened to meet an Englishman on the road, and soon we began to talk. As I was talking about how I was studying English, the foreigner seemed to be astonished. Gently shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, he said, "You don't say!" "You don't say!" I was puzzled. I thought, perhaps this is not a proper topic. "Well, I'd better change the topic." So I said to him, "Well, shall we talk about the Great Wall? By the way, have you ever been there?" "Certainly, everyone back home will laugh at me if I leave China without seeing it. It was wonderful." He was deep in thought when I began to talk like a tourist guide. "The Great Wall is one of the wonders in the world. We are very proud of it". Soon I was interrupted again by his words:"You don't say!" I couldn't help asking, "Why do you ask me not to talk about it?" "Well, I didn't request you to do so," he answered, greatly surprised. I said, "Didn't you say 'you don't say'?" Hearing this, the Englishman laughed to tears. He began to explain, "'You don't say' actually means 'really?' It is an expression of surprise. Perhaps you don't pay attention to English idioms." Only then did I know I had made a fool of myself. Since then I have been more careful with idiomatic expressions.
Always remember: what the English teachers say is always right to us students. | high619.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Smart shoes deciding on television time."
},
"options": [
"New Shoes and watching TV in the UK.",
"A newly-invented type of shoes in the UK.",
"Smart shoes deciding on television time.",
"The problem of children's obesi... | Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has done enough exercise to ensure time in front of the television have been invented in the prefix = st1 /UK.
The shoes--dubbed Square Eyes - contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day's efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to combat the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, said Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University in London. " We looked at current issues and childhood obesity really stood out," she told New Scientist. "And I wanted to tackle that with my design.
Once a child has used up their daily _ gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time. | high24066.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "stay under the desk"
},
"options": [
"read documents in the office",
"stay under the desk",
"run out of the room quickly",
"catch the falling debris"
],
"question": "When the earthquake struck, Jens Kristensen d... | At 4:53 pm. on January 12, United Nations aid worker Jens Kristensen was at his desk reading documents on the third floor of the Christopher Hotel, which served as UN headquarters in PortauPrince, when he felt a tremor . Four seconds later, the earthquake hit.
"In a split second, I considered whether to run for the door or hide under my desk," says Kristensen, 48. "The door was closed, and I thought that maybe it was too far and I would be caught under falling debris , so I hid under the table." A bookshelf topped onto his desk, protecting him from being crushed by rubble and trapping him in a tiny pocket. "I was confined as if in a small coffin," he says. It was so dark, and it didn't matter if his eyes were open or closed. He used the light from his mobile phone to see around him. He found, among other items, a jar of instant coffee. "I had no food or water, only the coffee to suck on if I needed it."
At about 6:30 am. on January 17, an oil leak silenced the building's generators, and Kristensen was able to hear muffled voices above where he was buried. "I thought, I was too tired to bang and shout. But then I realized, I had to take every chance. This could be one." So he called out. Six hours later, Kristensen saw his rescuers' faces. "It was so amazing. I felt I had received a second birthday," he recalls.
Dehydration and pains but with only a bruise and a scratch, Kristensen took three days to recover. The UN lost more than 90 people in Haiti. But Kristensen says that the outpouring of love helps heal the pain: "The genuine happiness of people toward me here has been wonderful. You feel part of a larger family." | high7924.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To tell us a story about Noah."
},
"options": [
"To show the problems of foster parents.",
"To give a warning to foster parents.",
"To tell us a story about Noah.",
"To blame foster parents."
],
"question": "Wha... | When Sara and Nathan Jones were training to become foster parents , their son, Noah, learned a tough thing or two about foster care. For instance, nearly 600 local foster kids changed families every year, and they carried their belongings from one home to the next in black garbage bags.
Noah, then ten, couldn't imagine squeezing his clothes, favorite toy, and soccer ball into a trash bag and dragging it to a new house in the middle of the night. "Packing kids' belongings into garbage bags is like telling them that their stuff has no more worth than trash," says Noah.
So with help from his parents and younger sisters, Macy, then nine, and Molly, then seven, Noah began to collect suitcases and duffel bags from friends and extended family; he received more than 100 bags in less than two weeks. He then sent letters to churches and put ads in local newspapers and on radio stations asking for donations. Within a few months, the family was collecting about 500 bags a week, which they stored briefly in their spare bathroom and downstairs hallway before giving them to foster care caseworkers at the Department for Community Based Services.
In addition to suitcases, Noah now provides foster kids with backpacks containing shampoo, soap, a journal, and a toy--all donated. "My hope is that by giving the children things that are just theirs, they will feel a little control in the midst of the chaos," says Noah. Noah's group, A Case for Dignity, collects and distributes hundreds of bags a year. He recently convinced foster care managers from 15 Kentucky counties to pledge to use his bags instead of trash bags. "I've been so inspired by him," says his mom. "If a ten-year-old can see a problem and create a solution, how much more can we do as adults?" | high23709.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It doesn't bring other users trouble."
},
"options": [
"It doesn't bring other users trouble.",
"It is popular with the poor people.",
"It is supported by Microsoft.",
"It is advertised through the Internet."
],
... | It seems that all your friends' names on MSN have added a little green "I'm" symbol overnight. If you ask what is going on, someone will tell you it's a charity activity.
Though this charity program has not yet officially begun for Chinese users, this little green symbol has proven popular among Chinese Windows Live Messenger users.
Windows Live Messenger's official blog announced on March 1 that Microsoft was beginning an "I'm" program in the United States. Every time someone starts a conversation using "I'm", Microsoft shares a part of the program's advertising income with nine organizations devoted to social causes. With every instant message a user sends, it helps deal with things one feels most interested in, including poverty, child protection, disease and worsening environment.
One only has to add a certain code next to one's name for the organization one would like to support. "*red'u" is for the American Red Cross, "*bgca" is for Boys & Girls Clubs of America and "*unicef" stands for the American branch of UNICEF.
After a Chinese blogger named "hung" introduced this program on his blog on March 2, "I'm" entered the Internet in China with no actual support from Microsoft.
Beijing-based Youth Weekend reported that famous IT blogger Keso regarded this program's rapid spread as a successful virus marketing case. He thinks that the success of the "I'm" program is because it's spread by users without being a bother to others. This answers why "I'm" has spread so rapidly across the Internet like a virus with almost no advertisement.
However, Feng Jinhu from the press center for Microsoft China toldYouth Weekendthat the "I'm" project is only for Messenger users in the United States. Instant messages sent by Chinese users would not count.
This has not affected Chinese Messenger users' interest in the little green symbol. These users hope their instant messages will actually contribute to charitable organizations someday. | high81.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They are willing to laugh."
},
"options": [
"They have a sense of humor.",
"They are amused by jokes.",
"They are willing to laugh.",
"They can't help laughing a lot."
],
"question": "Why do people practicing La... | Laughter Yoga is a unique technique invented by Dr Kataria, a doctor from India, by which you can learn to "Laugh for No Reason". You don't even need a sense of humor, no funny jokes or comedy programs -- just a willingness to laugh -- and in the present climate everyone needs to laugh more.
Laughter Yoga is a combination of Laughter Exercises and Yogic Breathing, so that you increase the amount of oxygen in your body while being playful, resulting in you feeling healthier, energetic and alive. This actually changes the physical conditions of your body so that you start to feel happier.
Laughter Yoga is generally done in groups although it can be practiced alone. When you make eye contact with someone and you're both willing to laugh, the laughter is increased. However, we do say that you can "Fake it, fake it till you make it" because the body doesn't know the difference between fake and true laughter; as long as you're willing to laugh you'll experience the same health benefits.
Laughter Yoga started in a park in Mumbai in 1995 with just 5 participants, and now there're over 6,000 laughter clubs in 60 different countries -- showing the willingness of the world to laugh together.
In the UK, Julie was one of the first people to train as a Laughter Leader with Dr Kataria in June 2002. In 2006 she was awarded Laughter Ambassador for her selfless service to promote Laughter Yoga.
"Yoga has been part of my life for 30 years but 7 years ago my life changed when I discovered Laughter Yoga. I believe laughter and yoga are both good for your health," says Julie. | high22417.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "9"
},
"options": [
"10",
"9",
"8",
"7"
],
"question": "How many characters are mentioned in this passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A ban... | Doctor Manette had suddenly disappeared. Everything was done to discover some trace of him, but in vain. The loss of her husband caused his wife such pain that she decided to bring up her little daughter, Lucie, in ignorance of her father's fate, and when in two years she died she left little Lucie under the guardianship of Mr. Lorry.
After eighteen years, strange news concerning the doctor had just come from Paris. Mr. Lorry,
told Lucie, "your father has been found. He is alive, greatly changed, but alive. He has been taken to the house of a former servant in Paris, and we are going there."
On arrival, the banker and Lucie were taken to an attic, where a haggard , white-haired man sat on a low bench, making shoes. He was sheltered by a man by the name of Defarge who, with his wife, kept a wine-shop in the district of St. Antoine.
Charles Darnay was of noble birth; but his ancestors had for many years so cruelly oppressed the French peasants that the name of Evremonde was hated and looked down upon. Unlike them in character, this last descendant of his race had given up his name and wealth and had come to England as a private gentleman, eager to begin a new life. Sydney Carton was a young English lawyer. _ soon became frequent visitors at the small house in Soho Square, the home of Doctor Manette and his daughter. Through Lucie's care and devotion, the doctor had almost completely recovered from the effects of his long imprisonment, and it was only in times of strong excitement that any trace of his past foolish behaviors could be discovered. The sweet face of Lucie Manette soon won the hearts of both the young men, but it was Darnay to whom she gave her love. They married.
The French Revolution had actually begun and in 1792 Mr. Lorry and Charles Darnay landed in Paris, the former to protect the French branch of Tellson & Co. and the latter to help an old family servant -Gabelle-who had begged his help. Not until they had set foot in Paris did they realize what a caldron of fury they had been involved in. Mr. Lorry, on account of his business relations, was allowed his freedom, but Darnay was hurried at once to the prison of La Force, there to wait for his trial. The reason given for this outrage was the new law for the arrest of all returning French emigrants , but the true cause was that he had been recognized as Charles Evremonde. Doctor Manette, going to France with Lucie, gained a promise that Darnay's life should be spared.
At last came the terrible year of the Reign of Terror. The sympathy which at first had been given to Doctor Manette had become weakened through the influence of Mrs. Defarge. Also, there had been found in the ruins of the Bastille a paper which contained Doctor Manette's account of his imprisonment, and pronouncing a curse upon the House of Evremonde and their descendants, who were responsible for his eighteen years of misery. Charles Darnay's fate was sealed. "Death within twenty-four hours."
To Sydney Carton, who had followed his friends to Paris, came an inspiration. He once promised Lucie that he would die to save a life she loved. He managed to gain admission to the prison; Darnay was removed unconscious from the cell, and Carton sat down to wait for his fate.
Along the Paris streets six tumbrels were carrying the day's wine to La Guillotine. In the third car sat a young man with his hands tied. As the cries from the street arose against him, they only move him to a quiet smile as he shook more loosely his hair about his face.
Crash! A head is held up. The third cart came up, and the supposed Evremonde came down. His lips move, forming the words, "a life you love." | high13812.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He eventually showed up when his hide-and-seek game ended."
},
"options": [
"He practiced the \"never talk to strangers\" rule.",
"He hid from the rescuers to avoid possible abduction.",
"He eventually showed up when his hide... | Never Talk to Strangers?
"Never talk to strangers." Many children are taught this simple rule as a precaution against abduction . In June, 2005, an 11-year-old boy was lost in the Utah wilderness for four days. During that time, he stayed on the path. He saw people searching for him but deliberately hid from them, afraid someone might "steal" him. Eventually, the unfortunate game of hide-and-seek ended and he was found. According to the Canada Safety Council, this alarming incident shows how unwise it is to instill a fear of strangers in children. The "stranger danger" message can prevent children from developing the social skills and judgment needed to deal effectively with real-life situations. In a difficult situation, a stranger could be their lifeline to safety.
To have a child go missing is a parent's worst nightmare. The threat of abduction by a stranger is minimal when compared with other possible reasons for a disappearance. In 2004, there were 67,266 missing-children cases in Canada. Only 31 involved abduction; in most of those cases the abductor was a relative, friend, or person known to the family. There were 671 cases of children wandering off, and 332 cases of abductions by a parent. Almost 80 percent of all cases were runaways. These statistics cast doubt on the idea that children should never talk to strangers. Wandering off is more common--but a lost children may have to call upon a stranger for help, and must develop the ability to judge what kind of people to approach. The "never talk to strangers" rule does not protect children in the situations they are most likely to face. On top of this, it can be confusing. Adults do not model the behaviour; they often talk to strangers. A child may not know how to tell who is a stranger, and who is not.
For young children, nothing replaces close supervision . Pre-schoolers do not understand risk and tend to act without thinking. Children need to develop habits and sttitudes that will protect them from the real threats and dangers they may face. The Canada Safety Council encourages parents to give their children age-appropriate positive messages about safety, bearing in mind how youngsters may understand their world. | high9909.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "An ordinary car cannot run more than 15 miles with one gallon of gas."
},
"options": [
"An ordinary car run a lot more than 10,000 miles with 650 gallons of gas.",
"An ordinary car cannot run more than 15 miles with one gallon of g... | There are more than 100 million cars in the United States. An ordinary car gets less than 15 miles from each gallon of gas. It travels about 10,000 miles each year. In that time, it uses about 650 gallons of gas. In all , automobiles use up some 70 billion gallons of gas a year. That comes out to be four-and-a-half million barrels a day.
The importance of saving gas, then, cannot be stressed too much. Let's say, the fuel used by each car could be cut back just 15 percent. This could be done by making fewer trips each day. It could be done by keeping the automobiles in good shape. It could be done through better driving habits. If these were done, the nation's use of fuel would fall by close to two-thirds of a million barrels per day.
Everyone can help to save gas. One way is to ride buses. Some could walk to work. Others could ride their bikes. Another way is to share a ride. People could share cars. About one-third of all cars are used for going to and from work. You can go shopping with a friend from time to time. If two people use a car instead of two, they all save. Driving stress would be less, too, with fewer cars on the road. The savings on gas around the nation would come to more than one-half million barrels a day. Still another way to save is by cutting out trips one does not need to take. Can you find one car trip per week that could be done by telephone? Can you combine trips? If each car travelled 10 miles less each week, they could save three-and-a-half billion gallons of gas a year. This comes to nearly 5 percent of the total passenger cars demand for gas.
The way people drive decides how much fuel they save. Careful drivers may get 20 percent more miles per gallon than ordinary drivers. They obey the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit. If just one gallon of gas were saved each week for each car in the country, a total of five-and-a-half billion gallons could be saved a year. | high18947.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "45"
},
"options": [
"30",
"40",
"45",
"60"
],
"question": "How many classes does an American student have to attend each term to get a credit?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Normally a student must attend a certain number of courses in order to graduate, and each course that he attends gives him a credit, which he may count towards a degree. In many American universities the total work for a degree consists of thirty-six courses, each lasting for a term. A typical course consists of three classes per week for fifteen weeks; while attending a university a student will probably attend two terms a year. It is possible to spread a period of work for the degree over a longer period. It is also possible for a student to move between one university and another during his degree course, though this in fact is not done as a regular practice.
For every course that he follows a student is given a grade, which is recorded and available for the student to show employers. All this imposes a constant pressure and strain of study, but in spite of this some students still find time for great activities in student affairs. Elections to positions in the student union arouse great interests. Students who are qualified usually perform the effective work of the student union. With the big numbers of students, the operation of the system does involve a certain number of activities. A student who has held one of these positions in the union is much respected and it willbe of benefitto him. | high19481.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Chickens -- the first to travel between Polynesia and South America."
},
"options": [
"It was difficult for ancient people to travel between Polynesia and South America.",
"The first people who lived in Chile and Polynesia.",
... | These days, it's easy to fly across oceans for vacation. Centuries ago, however, crossing the open seas required thorough and accurate planning, handmade boats, and courage. Scientists and historians have long been looking for clues to explain who crossed which oceans first. When it comes to the trip between Polynesia and South America, chickens may have been among the first ocean voyagers, according to new evidence.
After studying an ancient chicken bone, anthropologists from the University of Auckland in New Zealand now say that people and chickens traveled from Polynesia to what is now Chile by about 620 years ago. By then, the Inca people were already living in South America, but the Polynesians would have been the first to get there by sea. Previous theories claimed that European explorers and their chickens sailed to South America first -- but those voyagers didn't arrive until about a century later.
In 2002, archaeologists dug up 50 chicken bones from a site in Chile called El Arenal. The team from New Zealand analyzed one to these bones. According to their calculations, the bone is about 650 years old.
The researchers also compared the genetic material, or DNA, from the South American chicken bone with DNA from 11 chicken bones that had been found on the Polynesian islands of Tonga and American Samoa. These islands are 6,000 miles west of Chile. The bones found on the Polynesian islands are been 600 and 2,000 years old.
Results of the comparisons showed that the chicken bones from both the Polynesian and South American sites had part of DNA in common. The researchers found the same part of DNA in feathers of two living chickens in Chile that belong to a modem breed that lays blue eggs. That DNA evidence suggests a close relationship among the chickens.
"However, the weight of scientific evidence is now behind the hypothesis that it was seafaring ( ) Polynesians who sailed from the islands to South America and returned," says archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch of the University of California, Berkeley. | high20200.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "College Enrollment up in a Down Economy"
},
"options": [
"The Falling American Economy",
"College Enrollment up in a Down Economy",
"Colleges Have More Students Than Before",
"Going to College Is No Longer Difficult"
... | Nearly 600,000 Americans lost their jobs this past month, pushing the nation's unemployment rate to 7.6 percent. But not all of those fired workers are sitting at home, reading the job advertisements and waiting for the phone to ring. Thousands of people are returning to school, making public colleges and universities among the few bright places in the disappointing US economy.
At a time when many Americans have had their work hours cut or have even lost their jobs, Sherian Huddleston is working overtime. She works at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) where she oversees the enrollment of new students. The university's population grew by 800 students this term --an increase of 4 percent over last spring's enrollment. Huddleston says seeing the enrollment rise in a failing economy is not unexpected. "When people are out of work," she points out, "they will ask 'What else can I do?' or 'What other careers can I follow?' They will often return to school if they have not completed a degree before."
Older returning students aren't the only ones increasing the enrollment at MTSU. Huddleston says she's also seeing an increase in student transfers . "Students who went out of state, or even within the state, to more expensive schools are transferring to public schools to make use of the lower cost of going to school here," she explains. | high2684.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "suicide problems in Korea"
},
"options": [
"suicide problems in Korea",
"how to reduce suicides in Korea",
"desperation",
"the relations between life and suicide"
],
"question": "The passage is mainly about .... | An increase in the number of suicides in prefix = st1 /South Korea, has led policeman Yoo Byoung-jong to a new job. He patrols Seoul's bridges to stop desperate people from throwing themselves into the river.
According to South Korea's health ministry, suicide rates have doubled in a decade and are now the leading cause of death for people in their 20s and 30s.
The country has the fourth-highest suicide rate among the 30 industrialized countries in the Organization for Co-operation and Development (OECD). It recorded 22.8 suicide deaths for every 100,000 people in 2003. That's lower than Hungry, Finlandand close neighbourJapan. But the number is growing by about 1 percent each year, faster than for all other OECD nations.
In a move to cut suicides by a fifth by 2010, the health ministry is running a television ad campaign. It opens with a lonely man walking on a bridge. A voice over says: "Think five minutes more before you give it all away. Don't forget you have a loving family."
Other ministry plans include setting up more hotlines and training more suicide counselors. Authorities are also limiting websites that provide suicide methods and sometimes even sell toxic chemicals.
Distressed individuals range from students worried about poor grades to people in debt as well as disgraced politicians.
Experts say the rising toll in some way can be blamed on media coverage of recent high-profile suicides. These include top business leaders and celebrities who apparently lead a number of people to copy their actions.
"We saved 50 lives this year when people turned to bridges as a place to die after news reports of such deaths by 'big shots'," said the 38-year-oldYoo, in December.
Last July, the government and civil associations urged media to avoid reporting specific methods and locations of suicides. But it is difficult to clearly give reasons for the suicide increase. | high19495.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the old man and the auctioneer were good friends"
},
"options": [
"the old man and the auctioneer were good friends",
"no art collectors wanted to buy Mr. Cooper's collection of art",
"John was a successful art collector and ... | Years ago, there lived a wealthy man named Mr. Cooper who, with his dearest young son John, loved art collecting. Together they traveled around the world, collecting the finest art treasures.
One winter, war came to the nation, and John left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram reading that John had died while saving a fellow soldier. Filled with sadness, the old man cried. On the coming Christmas morning, a soldier called on him and gave him a picture of John.
The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to his will, all of his works of art would be auctioned on Christmas Day, when he had received _ of his life. The day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to buy some of the world's greatest paintings. The auction began with a painting of the old man's son. "Who will open the bidding with $100?" the auctioneer asked. Minutes passed, but no one spoke. Finally, a neighbor of the old man's spoke. "Can I take the painting for ten dollars? It is all I have, and he is a good man."
"Will anyone go higher?" called the auctioneer. After more silence, the auctioneer said, "Going once, going twice, gone." The gavel fell. "Now we can get on to the real treasures," someone shouted angrily. But the auctioneer said that the auction was over. Someone asked, "It's over? We didn't come here for a picture of some old guy's son. There are millions of dollars worth of art here!" The auctioneer replied, "It's very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son ... gets all." | high7930.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They probably had wide knowledge of plants."
},
"options": [
"They probably had wide knowledge of plants.",
"They clearly divided knowledge into separate fields",
"They did not enjoy the study of botany.",
"They placed ... | Botany, the study of plants, plays a strange role in the history of human knowledge. For many thousands of years it was one field about which humans had little knowledge. It is impossible to know today just what our Stone Age Ancestors knew about plants, but from what we can observe of preindustrial societies that still exists, a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be very ancient. This is reasonable. Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things, even for other plants. They have always been greatly important to the good of peoples, not only for food, but also for clothing, weapons, tools, medicines, housing, and a great many other purposes. Tribes living today in the woods of the Amazon recognize hundreds of plants and know many properties of each. To them botany, as such, has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of knowledge at all.
Unfortunately, the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct relation with plants, and the less clear our knowledge of botany grows. Yet everyone comes unconsciously on a surprising amount of botanical knowledge, and few people will fail to recognize a rose or an apple. When our New Stone Age ancestors, living in the Middle East about 10 000 years ago, discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer production the next season, the first great step in a new connection of plants and humans was taken. Grains were discovered and from them flowed the _ of agriculture: planted crops. From then on, humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants, rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the collected knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and close relations with plants in the wild would begin to disappear. | high24072.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "recommend some different tours in England"
},
"options": [
"advertise some popular English attractions",
"recommend some different tours in England",
"tell readers how to save money while traveling",
"describe different... | Visit one of the most outstanding prehistoric sites in the United Kingdom, and enjoy amazing historic English attractions. Please notice that every tour starts and ends in London. Have a tour with Visiting Britain.
Stonehenge Direct Tour
Visit one of the most outstanding prehistoric sites in England and in the world: Stonehenge.
Duration: 1 day
Price: Adults PS29.99, Children PS28.99
Stonehenge and Bath Tour
Enjoy a late breakfast before heading to the Stonehenge site and end your day with an original visit of the Roman Baths.
Duration: 10 hours (departure 10:30 am return 8:30 pm).
Price: Adults PS64, Children PS60
Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor Castle Tour
Explore three of England's most popular sites to visit: Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and the Roman Baths.
Duration: 1 day (return 8:30 pm)
Price: Adults PS64.80, Children PS61.20
Stonehenge, Lacock and Bath Tour
Come and feel the warmth of Bath, see the pleasant village of Lacock, and solve the mystery of Stonehenge.
Duration: 1 day (return 6 pm)
Price: Adults PS85, Children PS78
Stonehenge, Windsor and Oxford Tour
Choose Stonehenge, Windsor and Oxford Tour and enjoy ancient mysticism, royal history and illustrious knowledge.
Duration: 1 day
Price: Adults PS72, Children PS68
Stonehenge, Bath and Stratford Tour
Take a tour to make the most of the English historic attractions: the Stonehenge site, Bath and Stratford, the birthplace of playwright William Shakespeare.
Duration: 1 day (return 8 pm)
Price: Adults PS79, Children PS68 | high95.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It leads to weight gain."
},
"options": [
"It comes from dust.",
"It leads to weight gain.",
"It can help get rid of dust.",
"It only appears in human bodies."
],
"question": "What do we know about PPAR-gamma 1?... | Dust on furniture may be bad news for waistlines . But it's far too early to add dusting to a weight-loss plan. Dietary fats and other materials that make up indoor dust can send a signal to human fat cells, telling them to grow. That process, in turn, might slow the body's rate of burning energy. Such changes could add to any weight problems a person might have.
"We don't know what that means to long-term health and certain diseases yet," says Heather Stapleton, one of the study's authors. But she notes that her team's findings also raise a question of whether pollutants in dust might play some role in the growing, global problem of obesity .
Stapleton and her colleagues collected dust from homes and offices. Studies found that some materials in the dust could turn on a protein called PPAR-gamma 1. It's found in many human tissues. Turning this protein on can cause fat cells to grow. Researchers think this protein may be involved in obesity. But a second study now finds evidence that certain fats are mostly to blame. Cooking oils may send out some of these fats into the air, where they eventually find their way into house dust. Or, the authors say, the fats might enter house dust as part of the hair or skin cells shed by people or pets.
"While the findings are amazing," says Mitchell Lazar, another study author, "these findings need to be taken as very limited." Indeed, he adds several cautions about how the findings should be understood. "For one thing, people eat these fats in foods all of the time. That is likely to be a lot more than would be consumed from indoor dust," he said. | high13806.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "negative"
},
"options": [
"negative",
"positive",
"approving",
"indifferent"
],
"question": "According to the professor, many people's attitude towards American colleges is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_qu... | As a professor I have grown accustomed to the opinion regarding American education. We are repeatedly told that American schools are failing, that colleges are not teaching, and that the students of today are not as good as the students of the past.
There are, of course, problems with the education system. Because of economic inequality some schools are significantly better than others and the ideas of equality of education and equality of opportunity are cruel jokes. However, the mere fact that there are some serious problems does not mean that all the _ claims are true.
One stock claim is that America has fallen behind the world in education in terms of performance on various tests. While the fact that America is behind other countries is a point of concern, there are at least three points worth considering here. The first is the above-mentioned economic inequality which will tend to result in poorer performance when taking the average for America. The second is that many countries have put considerable effort into improving their education systems and hence it is worth considering that America's decline is also due to the improvement of others. The third is the matter of the measures-- do they, in fact, present an accurate picture of the situation? I am not claiming that the data is bad. I am merely raising a reasonable concern about how accurate our picture of education is at this time.
Another stock claim is that American students are doing badly on standardized tests. While there is clearly value in assessment, it is reasonable to consider whether or not such tests are a proper and adequate measure of education. It is also worth considering whether the puzzle with these tests is itself causing damage to education. That is, as teachers teach for the test and students learn for the test, it might be the case that what is being taught is not what should be taught and what is being learned is not what should be learned. | high6390.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they felt it impossible for him to succeed"
},
"options": [
"Because they didn't like him",
"Because they wished he could be successful as a writer",
"Because their teacher laughed, too",
"Because they felt it i... | When I was fifteen, I announced to my English class that I was going to write and illustrate my own books. Half the students sneered. The rest nearly fell out of their chairs laughing. "Don't be silly, only geniuses can become writers," the English teacher said, "And you are getting a D this semester." I was so humiliated that I burst into tears.
That night I wrote a short sad poem about broken dreams and mailed it to the Capri's Weekly newspaper. To my astonishment, they published it and sent me two dollars. I was a published and paid writer. I showed it to my teacher and fellow students. They laughed. "Just plain dumb luck," the teacher said. I tasted success. I'd sold the first thing I'd ever written. That was more than any of them had done and if it was just dumb luck, that was fine with me.
During the next two years I sold dozens of poems, letters, jokes and recipes. By the time I graduated from high school, with a C minus average, I had scrapbooks filled with my published work. I never mentioned my writing to my teachers, friends or my family again. They were dream killers and if people must choose between their friends and their dreams, they must always choose their dreams.
I had four children at the time, and the oldest was only four. While the children slept, I typed on my ancient typewriter. I wrote what I felt. It took nine months, just like a baby.
A month later Crying Wind, the title of my book, became a best seller, was translated into fifteen languages and Braille and sold worldwide. I appeared on TV talk shows. I traveled from New York to California and Canada on promotional tours. My first book also became required reading in native American schools in Canada.
People ask what college I attended, what degrees I had and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is: "None." I just write. I'm not a genius. I'm not gifted and I don't write right. To all those who dream of writing, I'm shouting at you: "Yes, you can. Yes, you can. Don't listen to them." I don't write right but I've beaten the odds. Writing is easy, it's fun and anyone can do it. Of course, a little dumb luck doesn't hurt. | high5699.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "positive"
},
"options": [
"negative",
"neutral",
"positive",
"questioning"
],
"question": "The author's attitude toward the development of nuclear power is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | In the early days of nuclear power, the United States make money on it. But today opponents have so complicated its development that no nuclear plants have been ordered or built here in 12 years.
The greatest fear of nuclear power opponents has always been a reactor "meltdown". Today, the chances of a meltdown that would threaten U.S. public health are very little. But to even further reduce the possibility, engineers are testing new reactors that rely not on human judgment to shut them down but on the laws of nature. Now General Electric is already building two advanced reactors in Japan. But don't expect them even on U.S. shores unless things change in Washington.
The procedure for licensing nuclear power plants is a bad dream. Any time during, or even after, construction, an objection by any group or individual can bring everything to a stop while the matter is investigated or taken to court. Meanwhile, the builder must add nice-but-not-necessary improvements, some of which force him to knock down walls and start over. In every case when a plant has been opposed, the Nuclear Regulation Commission has ultimately granted a license to construct or operate. But the victory often costs so much that the utility ends up abandoning the plant anyway.
A case in point is the Shoreham plant on New York's Long Island. Shoreham was a virtual twin to the Millstone plant in Connecticut, both ordered in the mid-60s. Millstone, completed for $101 million, has been generating electricity for two decades. Shoreham, however, was singled out by antinuclear activists who, by sending in endless protests, drove the cost over $5 billion and delayed its use for many years.
Shoreham finally won its operation license. But the plant has never produced a watt power. Governor Mario Cuomo, an opponent of a Shoreham start-up, used his power to force New York's public-utilities commission to accept the following settlement: the power company could pass the cost of Shoreham along to its consumers only if it agreed not to operate the plant. Today, a perfectly good facility, capable of servicing hundreds of thousands of homes, sits rusting. | high20572.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because the case was related with race, self-defense laws and gun control."
},
"options": [
"Because George Zimmerman was very cruel when he killed Trayvon Martin.",
"Because Trayvon Martin's father was a famous lawyer.",
"Be... | George Zinunerman's first court appearance before a Florida judge came on Tuesday inconnection with the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The case has caused a national debate in the United States about race, self-defense laws and gun control. It was the first time the public had gotten to see and hear from George Zimmerman. The judge said he had found probable cause to move ahead with the case and told Zimmerman he would be formally charged on May 29th.
Zimmerman turned himself into authorities on Wednesday night,just before special prosecutor Angela Corey announced the charge against him. Corey told reporters she would fight for Trayvon Martin"
"It's the victims and justice that we work tirelessly for,"Corey said
Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense after spotting the teenager in a gated com-munity where Martin's father lives. He told police Martin attacked him during a conflict. The
shooting caused a national cry led by Martin's parents who insisted their son was murdered
They also accused Zimmerman of targeting their son because he was black.
"We just wanted an arrest and we got it."Trayvon Martin's mother Fulton said.
Many in SanforD.Florida-the city where the shooting took place-welcomed the charge.
"All of us were wanting this to move on and get to this process where it is now into the justice system."one man said
"It~long overdue and I am glad they decided to do something,"another said.Police did not initially charge Zimmerman with a crime because of a Florida law that says a person has a right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force. Prosecutor Coreysays,"I'm prepared to argue the issue if Zimmerman uses the self-defense law in count."
Mark O'MarA. Zimmerman's lawyer, would not make his plan publiC. but he said hisclient was worried about the trial. "If found guilty of the second-degree murdercharge, Zimmerman could face up to life in prison,"O'Mara said | high4587.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "None of the participants earned more than $4 an hour in previous jobs."
},
"options": [
"None of the participants earned more than $4 an hour in previous jobs.",
"89 of the participants got a $1 wage raise for their high productivi... | How do you design a pay plan that motivates people to do their best work? A new study by three Harvard researchers suggests a novel answer: Shortly after you hire new workers, give them a raise.
"Previous research has shown that paying people more than they expect may elicit reciprocity in the form of greater productivity," notes Deepak Malhotra, a Harvard business-administration professor who worked on the study. What he and his colleagues found, however, was that the connection between more pay and extra effort depends on presenting the increase "as a gift--that is, as something you've chosen to do purely as a nice gesture, with no strings attached."
Malhotra and his team studied 267 people hired by oDesk, a global online network of freelancers, to do a one-time data-entry project for four hours. All of the new hires were people in developing countries, for whom hourly wages of $3 and $4 were higher than what they had been making in previous jobs.
The researchers split the group up into three equal parts. One group was told they would earn $3 an hour. A second group was initially hired at $3 an hour but, before they started working, they got a surprise: The budget for the project had expanded unexpectedly, they were told, and they would now be paid $4 an hour. The third group was offered $4 an hour from the start and given no increase.
Even though the second and third groups were eventually paid the same amount, the second group worked harder and produced more--about 20% more--than either of the other two. People in the second group also showed the most _ , maintaining their focus all the way through the assigned task and performing especially well toward the end of the four hours. Interestingly, the more experienced employees in the high-performing group were the most productive of all, apparently because their previous work experience led them to appreciate the rarity of an unexpected raise.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, Malhotra points out that higher pay, in and of itself, didn't promote productivity: People who made $4 an hour from the beginning worked no harder than those who were hired at $3 and were then paid $3.
To get the most impact from their pay plans, he adds, companies might consider not only what to pay new hires, but when to pay it.
"The key thing is how you present [the reason for an increase]," he says. Doling out extra money could promote productivity most "if you make it clear that the pay raise is something you're choosing to do just because you can. Our theory is that people will reciprocate. If you do something nice, they'll do something nice back." | high5841.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "where girls could get advanced education"
},
"options": [
"where teaching was a profession only open to women",
"where girls could get advanced education",
"to train women to be teachers and nurses",
"to accept women on... | How Women Were Freed From Their Homes
As late as 1800, a woman's only place was in her home. Women in business were unheard of. No respectable woman would dream of entering what was strictly a "man's world". Even if she would, what could she do? Men were sure that no woman could do a job well outside her home. This was a widely-accepted idea. When the famous Bronte sisters began writing books in 1846, they had to resort to using men's names as aliases.
Teaching was the first profession opened to women, soon after 1800. But even that was not easy for women to take because most high schools and colleges were open only to men. Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college in America to take in women.
Nursing was regarded as a respectable profession for women only after Florence Nightingale won high credit for her nursing career and became famous. Miss Nightingale opened the first training school for nursing in 1860 in England.
The invention of typewriters in 1867 helped to bring women out of their homes to join the business world. Because women are careful and have nimble fingers, businessmen found that they were well suited to this kind of work.
By 1890, tens of thousands of women were working in schools, hospitals, shops, offices, and factories both in England and the States. Some even managed to become doctors or lawyers. The idea of women working in business and other circles was accepted. | high14827.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They could help solve the puzzle about black holes."
},
"options": [
"They could help solve the puzzle about black holes.",
"They has solved the mystery of \"black holes\".",
"We can now know what is going on inside \"black h... | After almost 30 years of arguing that a black hole swallows up everything that falls into it, British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking moved backward last week.
The world-famous writer of "Brief History of Time" said he and other scientists had got it wrong. "I've been thinking about this problem for the last 30 years, and I think I now have the answer to it," said Hawking. "A black hole only appears to form but later opens up and set free information about what fell inside. So we can be sure of the past and can predict the future." The findings could help solve the "black hole information paradox ", an important puzzle in modern physics.
A black hole is an area in space where matter is under such pressure that even light can not escape from its gravitational pull . But, exactly what happens there has long puzzled scientists.
Black holes occur when a powerful star burns up its nuclear fuel and gravity forces it to break down in on itself. The great weight of the star's outer layers moves in towards its center. The force of gravity keeps nearly all light from escaping and nothing inside can be seen from the outside. The star actually disappears from the universe into a point of infinite density . That is a place where the laws of general relativity that govern space and time break down.
Hawking has devoted most of his life to studying these questions.
At the beginning, _ believed the holes were like a "universal vacuum cleaner", sucking up everything in their path.
Hawking revolutionized the study of black holes when he proved, in 1976 that, under the strange rules of quantum physics , when black holes form they send out energy and lose mass in the process.
In thinking up this so-called "Hawking radiation", the prefix = st1 /Cambridgemathematician also created one of the biggest puzzles in physics.
These particles , he said, contained no information about what has been occurring inside the black hole, or how it formed. Under his theory, once the black hole disappears, all the information within it is lost. | high23053.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He didn't agree with her correction."
},
"options": [
"She gave him the wrong papers.",
"He thought her report was very bad.",
"He wanted her to check them again.",
"He didn't agree with her correction."
],
"que... | Jack threw the papers on my desk. "Next time you want to change anything, ask me first," he said. I had changed a long sentence and corrected its grammar -- something I thought I was paid to do.
Several days later, he made me angry again. I went to his office, prepared to lose my job if need be, but not before I let the man know how I felt. "What?" he said nervously. Suddenly I knew what I had to do. "Jack, the way you've been treating me is wrong. And it's wrong for me to allow it to continue," I said. "I want to make you a promise. I will be a friend." The next day I brought some cakes to Jack's office. Every time I saw Jack in the hall, I smiled at him. After all, that's what friends do.
One year after our talk, I was told that I had breast cancer . When I was in hospital, my friends tried to find the right words to say, but no one could. The last day of my hospital stay, the door opened and Jack walked over to my bed. "Tulips ," he placed some bulbs beside me and said, "If you plant them when you get home, you'll be there to see them when they come up." Tears filled my eyes. In a moment when I prayed for just the right words, a man with few words said the right thing. After all, that's what friends do. Now, I have seen those tulips push through the soil every spring for over ten years. | high13190.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To arouse the interest of readers"
},
"options": [
"To arouse the interest of readers",
"To puzzle Italian scientists",
"To answer the questions himself",
"To make fun of French officials"
],
"question": "Why do... | ROME: The legend of Leonardo da Vinci is covered in mystery: How did he die? Are the remains buried in a French castle really those of the master? Was the "Mona Lisa" a self-portrait in disguise ?
A group of Italian scientists believe the key to solving those puzzles lies with the remains, and they say they are seeking permission to dig up the body to conduct carbon and DNA testing.
If the skull is undamaged, the scientists can go to the heart of a question that has fascinated scholars and the public for centuries: the identity of the "Mona Lisa." Recreating a virtual and then physical reconstruction of Leonardo's face, they can compare it with the smiling face in the painting.
"We don't know what we'll find if the tomb is opened. We could even just find grains and dust," says Giorgio Gruppioni, an anthropologist who is participating in the project. "But if the remains are well kept, they are a biological record of events in a person's life, and sometimes in their death." Silvano Vinceti, the leader of the group, said that _ in charge of the said burial site at Amboise Castle early next week.
Leonardo moved to France at the invitation of King Francis I, who named him "first painter to the king." He spent the last three years of his life there, and died in 1519 at age 67. The artist's original burial place, the palace church of Saint Florentine, was destroyed during the French Revolution and remains that are believed to be his were eventually reburied in the Saint-Hubert Chapel near the castle.
"The Amboise tomb is a symbolic tomb; it's a big question mark," said Alessandro Vezzosi, the director of a museum dedicated to Leonardo in his hometown of Vinci. Vezzosi said that investigating the tomb could help identify the artist's bones with certainty and solve other questions, such as the cause of his death. He said he asked to open the tomb in 2004 to study the remains, but the Amboise Castle turned him down.
The group of 100 experts involved in the project, called the National Committee for Historical and Artistic Heritage, was created in 2003 with the aim of "solving the great mysteries of the past," said Vinceti, who has written books on art and literature.
Arguably the world's most famous painting, the "Mona Lisa" hangs in the Louvre in Paris, where it drew some 8.5 million visitors last year. Mystery has surrounded the identity of the painting's subject for centuries, with opinions ranging from the wife of a Florentine merchant to Leonardo's own mother.
That Leonardo intended the "Mona Lisa" as a self-portrait in disguise is a possibility that has interested and divided scholars. Theories have existed: Some think that Leonardo's taste for tricks and riddles might have led him to hide his own identity behind that puzzling smile; others have guessed that the painting hid an androgynous lover.
If granted access to the grave site, the Italian experts plan to use a tiny camera and radar to confirm the presence of bones. The scientists would then exhume the remains and attempt to date the bones with carbon testing.
At the heart of the proposed study is the effort to discover whether the remains are actually Leonardo's, including with DNA testing.
Vezzosi questions the DNA comparison, saying he is unaware of any direct descendants of Leonardo or of tombs that could be attributed with certainty to the artist's close relatives.
Gruppioni said that DNA from the bones could also eventually be compared to DNA found elsewhere. For example, Leonardo is thought to have rubbed colors on the canvas with his thumb, possibly using saliva , meaning DNA might be found on his paintings.
Even in the absence of DNA testing, other tests could provide useful information, including whether the bones belonged to a man or a woman, and whether the person died young or old.
Even within the committee, experts are divided over the identity of the "Mona Lisa."
Vinceti believes that a tradition of considering the self-portrait to be not just a faithful imitation of one's features but a representation of one's spiritual identity may have resonated with Leonardo.
Vezzosi, the museum director, dismissed as "baseless and senseless" the idea that the "Mona Lisa" could be a self-portrait of Leonardo. He said most researchers believe the woman may have been either a wife of the artist's sponsor, the Florentine nobleman Giuliano de Medici, or Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a rich silk merchant, Francesco del Giocondo. The traditional view is that the name "Mona Lisa" comes from the silk merchant's wife, as well as its Italian name: "La Gioconda." | high143.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It can cause him to suffer from poor health"
},
"options": [
"It can make him very tired of himself.",
"It can leave him in conflict with others.",
"It can lead to him being very independent.",
"It can cause him to suff... | New research has shown that loneliness may affect ants to a greater extent than many other living creatures.
It has long been known that loneliness can lead to a shorter life. In humans, it has even been found to be a driver of high blood pressure, sleep disorder, and depression that's independent of factors like age, race, gender, weight and economic status.
However, loneliness has never been identified as a factor that can cut human lifespan by more than a small part of the average. Ants, on the other hand, appear to be far more sensitive to this stress, with loneliness leading to a surprising 91 percent reduction in lifespan.
That's at least according to a study that details how "lonely" ants only live up to six days on average. Ants living in a community, on the other hand, were found to live up to about 66 days.
In a series of experiments where ants were picked from their colonies and separated, they were found to continuously walk without rest,consuming far more energy than they could ever.
The reason for the behavior is that an isolated ant is simple trying to get back to its colony at all costs, and doesn't know what to do without its nest mates. After all, many entomologists would argue that an ant colony is far more a single living entity than its members.
If you were to take a single part from a clock, it would simply move aimlessly as well, running without a purpose. However, while there is a difference between aimlessness and loneliness, the researchers found that the latter affects lonely ants more directly.
The study indicated that ants can't even eat alone, as they normally collect some of the food they gather in the field in a specialized organ called a crop.This crop is normally shared with other ants back at a nest,but as for a single ant, it simply just sits there, undigested and useless. | high10499.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Earth Lab Workshops"
},
"options": [
"Earth Lab Workshops",
"Darwin Centre",
"Hands-on Activities",
"Self-led Activities"
],
"question": "If you're interested in British geology, you'd better choose _ *",
... | School Activities
Our school activities are suitable for all ages and levels including foundation>> primary, secondary and A-IeveL We offer workshops, hands-on activities and a teacher support service to help you get the most out of your visit.All school services are free, but must be booked in advance.Earth Lab Workshops
This activity is designed for KS3 and KS4 students.Packed with fascinating fossils ,minerals and rocks.Earth Lab is where students can dig deep into the exciting and varied world of British geology using specialist microscopes and geologist tools.
Darwin Centre
Find out who you really are and where you come from in our interactive films about evolution, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
Hands-on Activities
Get up close and personal with the Museum in these hands-on activities, where you can handle real specimens from our collections.Hundreds of real,natural history specimens for students to touch and explore are in our hands-on science centre.
Self-led Activities
Pupils can engage with specimens through role-play in a self-guided explorer challenge through the Museum.
The Great Debate Schools Program
Students are introduced to the history of the debate during a lively tour.They are then divided into groups and use exhibits to prepare presentations representing the views of the debated key characters.
Booking
All school activities must be booked in advance by calling the schools booking line: 44 (O) 20 7942 5555. | high21644.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a drink"
},
"options": [
"a dish",
"a drink",
"a bar",
"a candy"
],
"question": "The earliest chocolate was most probably _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_in... | When most of us hear the word chocolate, the verb that comes to mind is probably "eat", not "drink", and the most proper adjective would seem to be "sweet". But for about 90 percent of chocolate's long history, it was strictly a beverage , and sugar didn't have anything to do with it.
The Origin of Chocolate
Many modern historians have estimated that chocolate has been around for about 2000 years, but recent research suggests that it may be even older.
In the book The True History of Chocolate, authors Sophie and Michael Coe prove that the earliest linguistic evidence of chocolate consumption dates back three or even four thousand years.
Valuable and Fashionable Chocolate Beverage
It's hard to discover exactly when chocolate was born, but it's clear that it was cherished from the start. For several centuries in pre-modern Latin America, cacao beans were considered valuable enough to use as currency. 100 beans could purchase a good turkey hen, according to a 16th-century Aztec document.
Sweetened chocolate didn't appear until Europeans discovered the Americas and sampled the native cuisine. Chocolate didn't suit the foreigners' taste at first -- one described it in his writings as "a bitter drink for pigs" -- but once mixed with honey or cane sugar, it quickly became popular throughout Spain. By the 17th century, chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe, believed to have nutritious, medicinal functions. But it remained largely a privilege of the rich until the invention of the steam engine made mass production possible in the late 1700s.
The Birth of Solid Chocolate
In 1828, a Dutch chemist found a way to make powdered chocolate. His product became known as "Dutch cocoa", and it soon led to the creation of solid chocolate. In 1847, Joseph Fry created the first modern chocolate bar. By 1868, a little company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England. Milk chocolate hit the market a few years later.
Prosperous Chocolate Industry
In America, chocolate was so valued during the Revolutionary War that it was used instead of wages. Even now, statistics show that the humble cacao bean is still a powerful economic force. Chocolate manufacturing is a more than 4-billion-dollar industry in the United States, and the average American eats at least half a pound of the stuff per month. | high5869.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "prevent the mobile phones signals from being received"
},
"options": [
"have the same functions as mobile phones",
"cause the biggest problem theatres have to face",
"prevent the mobile phones signals from being received",
... | It is not a good idea to stop the actor Richard Griffiths in the middle of a play.During the past year he has stopped performances many times at the National Theatre when mobile phones rang, and he threw out one member of the audience because she failed to turn off her phone.
So when a mobile rang out for the third time during his performance in Alan Bennett's The History Boys, he spoke angrily to the theatergoer , "I am not going to compete with these electronic devices ."
Griffiths' actions led to a debate in the UK theatre world over whether phones should be forbidden by law from British theatres, too.Actors have already asked the government to legalise the use of an electronic device that stops mobile phone signals in theatres.
Technology companies have "stopping" devices that send out a high-powered signal on the same frequency as a mobile phone, stopping the mobile phone signal.
However, these are forbidden in many countries because they might stop emergency calls from being made.
Rosemary Squire, president of the Society of West End Theatre, said, "Phones are one of the biggest problems theatres face.We should look at equipment that could stop phones or make a London-wide theatre rule."
Nick Allott, the managing director of Sir Cameron Mackintosh's theatre group, said, "We would all welcome some ways of stopping ringing phones but doctors and emergency workers need to be connected in a theatre and we mustn't stop that." What can we do to solve the problem? | high11787.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "present the result of a study"
},
"options": [
"present the result of a study",
".help people with stress and tiredness",
".show the hidden weakness of public transport",
"advise people not to go to work by commuting"
... | Workers who commute by car, bus or train to the office are more likely to suffer
from stress and exhaustion, according to a study. Scientists studied 12,000 employees aged
between 18 and 65.They found that those who traveled to work by car or public transport
reported higher levels of stress and tiredness compared to active commuters who traveled by foot
or bicycle. The negative health of public transport users increased with journey time.
It is now expected that the study, from Lund University in Sweden, will encourage further
investigation into the health effects of commuting and the best forms of transportation.
Researcher Erik Hansson said:"Generally car and public transport users suffered more
everyday stress, poorer sleep quality, exhaustion and felt that they struggled with their health
compared to the active commuters."
According to the Office for National Statistics, the average Briton commutes 54 minutes
every day.
But now the scientists claim that the advantages of daily travel, such as higher pay or
housing conditions, need to be weighed against the negative health effects. Income, family
background and environmental factors are other things that need to be considered.
It may also have a cost effect on industry. According to a Absence and Workplace Health
Survey, the U.K. economy lost 190 million working days to absence last year, with each
employee taking an average of 6.5 days off sick, costing employers US$27 billion.
Hansson added that findings would help to reconsider the balance between economic needs,
health, and the costs of working days lost. However, researchers stress that the findings,
published in the journal BMC Public Health, do not prove that commuting causes ill health and
further research is needed. | high21122.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "is very adaptable to the new environment"
},
"options": [
"is very adaptable to the new environment",
"has made the Great Lake their home",
"is becoming a new food in restaurants",
"becomes even more fierce than before"... | Chicago is considering firm measures to prevent the Asian carp,a giant fish native to the Far East,from coming into North America's Great Lakes in large numbers.Such a move could cost up to$18bn,a heavy economic burden to the city.
This species,more than a metre in length,was originally introduced to southern US states three decades ago to control weeds in sewage treatment plants.But they escaped into the Mississippi River and increased in number quickly,making their way north towards the Great Lakes and threatening the native fish species along the way.
"Dozens of them will often leap out of the water as boats approach.''Michael Beecham,a local environmental expert,described how frightening the scene was."I've gone down the river and seen these fish jump up and hit me in the face.It is a big problem for our native species," he said.
A meeting has been organized to find a technological solution to the carp problem,one of which involves blocking parts of Chicago's canal system.Listening at the meeting was John Goss,who was worried about the effect that having barriers in the canal system would have on industry."It would certainly increase the cost of transportation,"he told."It is currently very cheap and efficient to bring materials and finished goods down the Chicago ship canal.''
Another cheaper option is to eat the fish out of existence.Dirk Fucik is selling carp burger at his fish shop not far from downtown Chicago.He thinks the carps are a great resource."To catch it and throw it away is a waste,"he says."Eating them helps solve the problem and also provides jobs."But the idea has not yet caught on.So far,he is the only person in Chicago selling carp burgers. | high17490.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She played basketball so well that she could compete against some boys."
},
"options": [
"She sometimes played alone because she was too short.",
"She played basketball so well that she could compete against some boys.",
"She... | A school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids from my window as they played basketball. One day, among the children a girl attracted me. She seemed so small as she muscled her way through the crowd of boys. Running circles around the other kids, she managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into the net with no one to stop her. Sometimes, I saw her play alone. She would practice dribbling and shooting over and over again until dark.
One day I asked her why she practiced so much. Without hesitation, she said, "I want to go to college. The only way I can go is that I get a scholarship. If I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I like basketball. My Daddy told me if the dream is big enough, the facts don't count." Then she smiled and ran towards the court to go on with practice.
I watched her through junior high and into high school. Every week, she led her school team to victory. One day in her senior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled in her arms. I went over there and sat down beside her. The coach told her that as a player as tall as prefix = st1 /5'5"she would probably never get to play for a top ranked college team -- much less offered a scholarship -- so she should stop dreaming about college.
She was heartbroken and I felt my own throat tighten as I sensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to her dad about it yet. She told me that her father said those coaches were wrong. They did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college and if she truly wanted a scholarship, nothing could stop her except one thing -- her own attitude. He told her again, "If the dream is big enough, the facts don't count."
The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by a college recruiter , and was offered a full scholarship, to a NCAA women's basketball team. She was going to college, which she had dreamed of and worked toward for all those years. | high16956.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "5 dollars"
},
"options": [
"4 dollars",
"5 dollars",
"8 dollars",
"9 dollars."
],
"question": "To visit the museum, a 12yearold six grader should pay _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | The Yale Peabody Museum is open:
Monday through Saturday 10:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. M.
Sunday Noon to 5:00 p. m.
The Museum is closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.
Admission Fees:
$9.00 Adults
$8.00 Senior citizens 65 years and over
$5.00 Children ages 3 through 18, and college students with ID
$4.00 Group admission
To receive this reduced admission, groups must make a reservation at least 2 weekdays in advance. Group admission is only available with a written confirmation brought to the Museum at the time of the visit.
More attention:
Some halls may be closed to the public on weekday mornings during the academic year for school group programs, so we recommend visiting after 1 p.m. on weekdays or at any time on the weekends.
There is no cafeteria or lunchroom at the Peabody. Information on local eating places is available through our Restaurant Guide or at the Admission Desk in the lobby. Visitors are welcome to picnic on the lawns around the Museum.
Photography with handheld cameras is permitted in exhibition halls for personal use only; photography of The Age of Mammals is prohibited at all times. All other uses require the advance written permission of the Yale Peabody Museum.
Highlights Tours of the Museum are offered at no extra charge every Saturday and Sunday at 12: 30 and 1: 30 p.m. These 45minute tours of the Yale Peabody Museum's exhibition halls are led by one of our specially trained volunteer guides.
The Museum offers free individual admission on Thursday afternoons from 2: 00 to 5: 00 p.m. during the months of September to June.
Admission is free to any individual with a valid Yale ID. Check out a Peabody Museum pass at your local library. A Museum pass will give you $5 off each admission for up to 4 people. Ask for it at your local library. | high7918.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the birth of a book and its lasting influences"
},
"options": [
"Charles' family life",
"the birth of a book and its lasting influences",
"a magical world called Wonderland",
"a girl's adventurous experiences"
],
... | Alice's Adventures in Wonderlandis one of the most loved children's books of all time, and many adults enjoy it as well. It tells the story of a young girl named Alice, who follows a rabbit entering a magical world called Wonderland. She has many experiences which seem to change the rules of reasoning or common sense. The popularity of the book comes from its imagination, interesting story, and art work.
The writer of the book is Lewis Carroll. In fact, Lewis Carroll was not the writer's real name. His real name was Charles Dodgson. One day, he took a boat ride down the Thames River to have a picnic with three little girls who were friends of the family. To keep them entertained on the ride, he told them a story in which Alice, the middle child, was the main character. They enjoyed the story very much.
Charles later wrote the story down under the nameAlice's Adventures Under Groundand gave it to Alice as a Christmas present. Later, he gave a copy to his friend George MacDonald. George read it to his children and they loved it. George suggested to Charles that he make a book from his story. Charles then wrote more parts to the story until it was around 35,000 words. It was first printed in 1866, with art work by John Tenniel, under the nameAlice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book was an immediate success. One of its first fans was Queen Victoria. She immediately requested a collection of all of Lewis Carroll's works. She was surprised to find that they included many works on math. In fact, Charles Dodgson was a highly respected mathematician. This can be seen in many puzzles and plays on reasoning that appear in his books and poems.
Since the story was first printed, it has kept selling up to the present day. It has been translated into over fifty languages and has had several movies based on it. | high625.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "No countries in the world have a higher income tax than that in Belgium."
},
"options": [
"The income tax rate of America ranks 25 of the world.",
"No countries in the world have a higher income tax than that in Belgium.",
"T... | Taxpayers in America pay less in income tax than many Europeans, according to a Pew Research Center report. Belgium has the highest income tax rate, at nearly 56 percent of income, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. Taxpayers in the U.S. pay less than 36 percent of their incomes into the national treasury. Taxes pay for services provided by the government. The U.S. ranks 25 of the 34 developed countries polled in the report.
An unmarried person with no children was used as an example in the report. In America, an unmarried person, with no children, making the average wage of $50,000 in 2014 paid 24.8 percent of their income in federal income tax and payroll taxes . A similar person living in Belgium would pay 42.3 percent of their income. The average among the 39 countries in the poll was 27.3 percent income tax.
The deadline to pay taxes in America is usually April 15. This year, the deadline is April 18. American taxpayers complain that wealthy people and large companies pay too little tax, according to a Pew Research Center poll from 2015.
Americans pay tax to fund programs like Social Security and Medicaid, according to the Pew Research Center. Last year, American taxes paid for $888 billion in Social Security benefits. Social Security pays the elderly an income after they stop working. The government also paid more than $546 billion in Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Those programs pay for health and medical care to people who cannot afford it, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. | high14199.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He is a man good at thinking."
},
"options": [
"He is good at his study.",
"He hasn't been to a big city.",
"He is a man good at thinking.",
"He has earned much money from his invention."
],
"question": "Which o... | Boys and girls,as we all know,most people,especially young people ,tend to care about their hair much because hair plays a very important role in our appearance.But can you imagine what other uses hair has?Do you have any idea that human hair may become a new solar energy soutce?Before we begin with the new content of our Physics ,let me tell you a new invention first.
It's reported that a Nepali teenager has designed a $32 solar panel using human hair.
Milan Karki,who is 18 years old and lives in a village in rural Nepal,used human hair to replace silicon ,which is a common but expensive componet of solar panels.
By using hair as a replacement,Karki says that solar panels can be produced for around $32,a price that could be halved if they were mass-produced.
The solar panel works,because melanin ,which gives hair its colour,is light sensitive and can act as an elecrtical conductor.Kaiki was inspired to think of the idea by a Stephen Hawking book ,which explained how to create elecrtic energy from hair.
The device that Karki has invented is capable of producing 9V or 18V of energy--plenty to charge a mobile phone.
"Half a kilo of hair can be bought for only 16p in Nepal and lasts a few months;whereas a pack of batteries would cost50p and lasts few nights,"according to The Daily Mail.
The solar panel is claimed to be easy to service as the hair is easy to replace.
Karki has now seng out several devices to other disrticts near his home for tetimg .He said,"First I wanted to provide elecricity for my home,then my village .Now I am thinking for the whole worle."
So next time when you have a haircut,do remember to keep your hair cut down to use for energy.Perhaps you can also provide elecrticity for your home,even your village using your own hair. | high23735.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To see the statue of Liberty."
},
"options": [
"To enjoy Beijing duck.",
"To taste the finest French coq au vin.",
"To spend an evening with Beethoven.",
"To see the statue of Liberty."
],
"question": "Which of ... | If you are looking for the place that has everything, there's only one place to visit, and that's New York. It's a whole world in a city.
The World of Theatre: All of New York is a stage. And it begins with Broadway. Where else can you find so many hit shows in one place? Only in New York.
The World of Music: Spend an evening with Beethoven at Lincoln Centre. Swing to the great jazz of Greenwich Village. Or rock yourself silly at the hottest dance spots found anywhere.
The World of Art: From Rembrandt to Picasso. From Egyptian tombs to Indian teepees. Whatever kind of art you like, you'll find in New York.
The World of Fine Dining: Whether it's roast Beijing duck in Chinatown, or the finest French coq au vin found anywhere, there's a world of great taste waiting for you in New York.
The World of Sights: What other city has a statue of Liberty , a Rocketfeller Centre or a Bronx Zoo? Where else can you take a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park, only in New York. | high15287.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they provide the essentials for many creatures."
},
"options": [
"they can capture large amounts of energy.",
"they determine the change of global climate.",
"they provide the essentials for many creatures.",
"they can ... | Big trees are incredibly important ecologically. For a start, they provide food for countless other species and shelter for many animals. With their tall branches in the sun, they capture vast amounts of energy. This allows them to produce massive crops of fruit and flowers that sustain much of the animal life in the forest.
Only a small number of tree species have the genetic ability to grow really big. The biggest are native to North America, but big trees grow all over the globe, from the tropics to the forests of the high latitudes . To achieve giant size, a tree needs three things: the right place to establish its seedling, good growing conditions and lots of time with low adult death rate. Lose any of these, and you will lose your biggest trees.
In some parts of the world, populations of big trees are dwindling because their seedlings cannot survive. In southern India, for instance, an aggressive non-native bush, Lantana camara, is invading the floor of many forests. Lantana grows so thickly that young trees often fail to take root. With no young trees to replace them, it is only a matter of time before most of the big trees disappear.
Without the right growing conditions, trees cannot get really big and there is some evidence to suggest tree growth could slow in a warmer world, particularly in environments that are already warm. Having worked for decades at La Selva Biological Station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, Costa Rica, David and Deborah Clark and colleagues have shown that tree growth there declines markedly in warmer years. "During the day, their growth shuts down when it gets too warm, and at night they consume more energy because their metabolic rate increases," explains David Clark. With less energy produced in warmer years and more being consumed just to survive, there is even less energy available for growth.
The darks' theory, if correct, means tropical forests would shrink over time. The largest, oldest trees would progressively die off and tend not to be replaced. According to the Clarks, this might cause a destabilization of the climate; as older trees die, forests would release some of their stored carbon into the atmosphere, causing a cycle of further warming, forest shrinkage and carbon emissions.
Besides, big trees face threats from elsewhere. | high9935.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "something hardly to be expected in a young child"
},
"options": [
"a sure sign of a mental problem in a child",
"a mental state present in all humans, including children",
"something that cannot be avoided in children's menta... | About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked: "So, how have you been?" And the boy--who could not have been more than seven or eight years old--replied, "Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately."
This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were "depressed", that is, in low sprits, until we were in high school.
Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don't seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development is based not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation machine has been installed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practiced. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials. | high631.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Twice."
},
"options": [
"Once.",
"Twice.",
"Three times.",
"Several times."
],
"question": "How many times has Robert Sorlie won the Iditarod?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | For the second time in three years, Norway's Robert Sorlie delivered a brave performance to win sled-dog racing's toughest contest--the Iditarod. The 47-year-old firefighter crossed the finish line in Nome, Alaska, at 8:39 a.m. local time Wednesday morning.
"It feels good to be here," he declared, after passing the finish line. "I'm ready for breakfast."
Frosty temperatures, rough land, and exhaustion couldn't break the musher , who completed the race in 9 days, 18 hours, 39 minutes, and 31 seconds. Runner-up Ed Iten finished 34 minutes later, and defending champ Mitch Seavey finished third.
Sorlie took his first lead at the 365-mile mark, but fell into second place halfway through the race. With 500 miles to go, he regained the lead for good.
Iditarod officials rewarded Sorlie with a generous prize of $72,066 and a new truck. But even more exciting for the winner was the historic nature of his ride. By winning this year's race, Sorlie joins a best group of mushers, becoming only the sixth person to win the Iditarod more than once.
After winning several major long-distance races in Europe, Sorlie made his Iditarod first appearance in 2002, finishing in ninth place. A year later, he returned to take on the Alaskan wilderness once again, and won.
Iditarod: A Quick History
Since 1973, the world's top competitors have gathered in Alaska to undertake the Iditarod's 1,150-mile trail, which stretches from Anchorage to Nome.
The race commemorates a group of courageous mushers and dogs. In 1925, they traveled across part of the Idit trail to deliver serum to save sick children in Nome. | high23721.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "help process the food"
},
"options": [
"change people's eating habit",
"help process the food",
"hasten the growth of organs",
"prevent high blood level"
],
"question": "The insulin injected into the body before... | Mom noticed that something was wrong when I started getting so thirsty, I'd have a lot to drink before bed, which was unusual for me. One time, I opened a big container of apple juice and kept refilling my glass. Before I knew it, I'd drunk the entire container! My mom call my doctor. I then had a few blood tests, and the results were certain ------ I had diabetes, which meant that the amount of sugar in my blood was very high. That can be dangerous, so I had to learn how to control my blood-sugar level.
My eating habits had to change in a big way. With diabetes, I can't eat a lot of sugar or carbohydrates. I have to figure out exactly how much sugar I plan to eat, and then I get an injection of insulin before the meals to help my body process the food. Also, I test my blood-sugar level often. I'm always trying to keep my blood sugar at a healthy level. The level can drop when I exercise, but that doesn't keep me out of gym class or off the basketball court ------ I just keep some juice boxes around to _ my blood sugar if I need to.
It's a lot of work ------ and not a lot of fun ------ to keep track of everything, but I've gotten used to my new habits. I was a little scared at first because I wasn't sure how my life would change. Once I knew what I needed to do, though, it wasn't a big deal. My life is different now from what it was before, but it has become completely regular to me. | high15293.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To advertise some goods."
},
"options": [
"To advertise some goods.",
"To compare some goods.",
"To teach how to operate the items",
"To show how fashionable the items are."
],
"question": "What's the purpose of... | Item 78431 The Video Camera Pen
$129. 95 ;Available for Immediate Shipment; Order by Phone :1-800-321-1484
This is the pen that has a built-in video camera, capturing(,)videos or still images with a click of its button. Ideal for use while secured in a pocket, it can capture up to five hours of video. Its battery provides up to two hours of power before requiring a recharge.
Item 78098 The Wristwatch Camcorder
$149. 95; Available for 3-day Shipment; Order by Phone :1-800-321-1484
This is the men's watch with an unnoticeable camera located at the two-o'clock position, yet the watch's hands never make it covered. So you'll be always ready to capture a famous person or a pet's ridiculous actions. The camera's rechargeable battery provides up to two hours of use from a four-hour charge.
Item 77918 The only 55 Inch Widescreen Personal Movie Theater
$ 249. 95 ;Available for Immediate Shipment; Order by Phone:l-800-321-1484
This is the only personal media viewer that provides a private viewing experience just like watching a widescreen 55 inch television from 10 meters away. It connects to a video iPod, iPhone, portable DVD player with two AA batteries providing up to six hours of continuous operation.
Item 77281 The Digital Phone Album Watch
$ 99. 95 ;Available for Immediate Shipment; Order by Phone :1-800-321-1484
This is the watch that vividly displays 120 of your favorite digital photographs. You can download digital photographs to the watch. The watch can be viewed in the Photo Album mode or digital mode( time and date view). A six-hour charge provides up to 10 days of use. | high9921.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To cut down the present huge expenditures of purchasing cars."
},
"options": [
"To promote a low-carbon lifestyle.",
"To cut down the present huge expenditures of purchasing cars.",
"To make good use of budgets for official c... | BEIJING , March 9 --- The central government will require an additional three years of use for official vehicles for ministers and governors to reduce the costs of purchasing new cars, media have reported.
The new rule has been applied among all Party and government departments nationwide, theBeijing Newsreported on Tuesday. The new rule has not yet been made public, said Li, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee.
Under the old rules, the cars used by minister-level officials could be replaced as often as every five years, Li said. These officials will also keep the same cars when they assume new posts, he added.
The new rule also reiterated that officials ranking below minister-or-governor-levels should not be allocated cars. The cars possessed by their departments should be used on demand.
"It violates the rules for lower-ranking --- even county-level-officials to be allocated cars," Li said.
Purchases of vehicles for official use have been heavily investigated, as they account for a large expenditure of public funds every year.
A survey on the Web news www.ifeng.com found 64 percent of respondents believed the new rule will be difficult to carry out because it is related to officials' interests.
"Local government departments had halted approvals for requests for such vehicles and had started to work on new quotas under the new rules," Li said. "The future reform of official vehicle use will introduce market mechanisms and monetization."
Premier Wen Jiabao said in the annual government work report on Saturday that expenditures on such vehicles will not increase in 2011 compared with a year ago.
Beijing's standing deputy mayor Ji Lin last week said the municipal government will release the number of vehicles for official use in the capital as early as at the end of this month.
Earlier this month, the Minister of Finance had published a rule regulating the budgets for such vehicles. | high2874.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Introduce some new opinions about the relationship between trees and carbon dioxide."
},
"options": [
"Introduce some new opinions about the relationship between trees and carbon dioxide.",
"Introduce recent condition of global ind... | Scientists have long believed one way to stop the Earth's atmosphere from warming is by planting more trees. The idea is that more trees take in or absorb some of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a gas released by cars, factories and other human activities. The gas traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere, which warms the planet. However, two new studies have found that trees may not be as helpful in reducing carbon dioxide as had been thought.
The first study was done at Duke University in prefix = st1 /Durham,North Carolina. Researchers pumped extra carbon dioxide into a test area where pine trees were growing. The trees grew thirty-four percent faster during the first three years. However, in time, the trees slowed to about their normal growth rate. The scientists say this is because trees need other nutrients, such as nitrogen.
In the second study, researchers from Duke and Bowdoin College in Brunswick,Maineexamined the soil around trees. They discovered that as the leaves broke down into the soil, all the carbon was not trapped in the soil. Much of it was released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Forest planting has been a part of negotiations on a world agreement to reduce greenhouse gases that scientists believe cause global warming. The United States,Canada,Japanand some other industrial countries have supported the idea. But this new research suggests the idea is not as effective as environmental activists had thought. Scientist Ram Oren of Duke University led the study on tree growth. He says that earlier estimates on the ability of forests to absorb carbon dioxide were overly hopeful.
Some scientists not involved in the studies say the research provides some of the first evidence on how trees react to carbon dioxide. Other scientists say the research disputes(......) a belief among some coal and power companies. The companies say that rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will not create harmful global warming. Instead, they say _ will increase forests and other plants. | high17484.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Reasons for having seafood"
},
"options": [
"Chemicals in popular drinks",
"The best way to lose weight",
"Famous fast food restaurants",
"Reasons for having seafood"
],
"question": "What does the writer discuss... | Fish contains lost of omega-3 fatty acids.These fatty acids have been shown to help prevent heart disease,lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of strokes.Researchers suggest that these benefits of eating fish far outweigh the risks of getting sick from contaminated fish.
Ongoing studies find that omega-3 fatty acids work magic on the brain too.Pregnant? Go out and eat fish! One study tracked a group of expectant women who ate more than 340 grams of fish per week.It turns out they gave birth to children who,years later,scored really high on IQ tests.
How can you add fish to your diet? One way to begin is by replacing meat with fish in one meal a week.Instead of frying,which retains more fat,try boiling your fish in an oven or grilling it outdoors.And don't be afraid to spice up your fish.Garlic,herbs other spices can add wonderful flavors to fish.
For lighter meals,keep a few cans of tuna or other fish on hand at all times.They're great for making tasty sandwiches or fish burgers.If you get hungry in the middle of the morning or afternoon,try tuna on crackers.It's hard to find a better snack.And parents,be sure to introduce fish to your children.It's important for them to get used to eating it at a young age. | high16942.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "attack soldiers without warning"
},
"options": [
"express yhat9 s wrong with them",
"change their body temperature",
"attack soldiers without warning",
"stop their partner in a strange way"
],
"question": "When ... | Now that military dogs are taking on a larger role in fight, they' re also taking on more of the risks that come with going to war, including developing post-traumatic stress disorder.The New York Times reports that more than 5 percent of the approximately 650 deployed military dogs are developing some form of canine PTSD .
"It really is difficult, because cace the dog experiences these traumatic explosions, it's the same as the troops," Army Lt.Col. Richard A Vargus, chief of the law enforcement branch at CENTCOM told the Military Times in September."Some dogs move right through it and it doesn't affect them.Some dogs, it takes some retraining, and some dogs just refuse to work."
Like humans, military dogs exhibit a range of changes in temperaments when they develop PTSD.Some become aggressive, others retreat.But because dogs can't express what the problem is, soldiers can be put at risk if their partner simply stops doing his job without warning.
"If the dog is trained to find improvised explosives and it looks like it's working, but isn't, it' s not just the dog that' s at risk," Dr.Walter F.Burghardt Jr., chief of behavioral medicine at the Daniel E.Holland Military Working Dog Hospital at Lackland Air Force Base, told the Times."This is a human health issue as well."
And searching for such devices has become a key responsibility for military dogs.Even after spending six years and nearly $ 19 billion on experimenting with innovative ways to detect bombs, the Pentagon admitted in 2010 that its most sophisticated technology was no match for a dog' s nose.
"Electronic equipment is great in the laboratory, but out on the battlefield, you can't beat the dogs," Bill Childress, manager of the Marine Corps working dog program told the Los Angeles Times.
Just as physicians have yet to find a safe way to treat PTSD among humans, so too are veterinarians weighing a wide range of options when it comes to helping their canine patients But offering dogs the same innovative treatments that their human counterparts get, doesn't guarantee a full recovery.It's a fact that fears once learned are never unlearned. | high21888.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "was frightened to death"
},
"options": [
"ordered his men to fight back",
"was frightened to death",
"feared nothing at all",
"regretted having hidden there"
],
"question": "While the Russians were searching f... | Napoleon stayed in a small inn . The next morning, he went to thank the innkeeper.
"You have served me well," said Napoleon. "I wish to reward you. Tell me what you want."
"Sir, we want nothing," said the innkeeper. "But will you tell us something?"
"What is it?" Napoleon asked.
"We have heard a story," said the innkeeper, "that once during the war , a small village was taken by the Russians. You happened to be in the village. You hid while they looked for you. Will you tell us how you felt when they were looking for you?" Napoleon looked very angry. He called in two of his soldiers. Then he pointed to the door. The soldiers took the innkeeper and his wife out into the yard.
At the end of the yard was a wall. The innkeeper and his wife were led to the wall. The soldiers tied the hands of the innkeeper and his wife. Napoleon watched, saying nothing. "Please, sir." begged the innkeeper, "Don't kill us! we meant nothing!" The soldiers moved back. The innkeeper saw them raising their guns. Then Napoleon called: "Ready! Aim!" The wife screamed. "Stop!" said Napoleon. He went to the innkeeper, "Now, you know the answer to the question you asked me just now, don't you?" | high11793.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The author went out to buy a flashlight but failed."
},
"options": [
"Storm Sandy has already caused great damage to New York.",
"Most people haven't been prepared for the coming of Storm Sandy.",
"The author went out to buy ... | Li Bingyin is now studying law at the Stern School of Business at New York University. She wrote this letter just before hurricane Sandy destroyed the East Coast.
Dear readers,
The storm will really _ on the city! Right now I am sitting in my dormitory , waiting for the blackout to come any second, and listening to the wind howl outside my windows. Hurricane Sandy is supposed to hit the East Coast hard today. Due to the bad weather, most schools and universities have canceled classes for Monday and Tuesday.
Luckily, the university has taken steps to prepare for this storm. University officials sent out e-mails with explanation in the case of a blackout, evacuation , or other emergency. Just recently, I received several text messages from the school about power off in certain dormitories. They advised us to prepare a bag with essentials , in case we needed to leave the building and move to a safer place.
Yesterday I went out to buy a flashlight , but all of the nearby stores were sold out. Everyone was storing water, food and other supplies for the storm.
Right now the city is unusually quiet. On any other day, there would be the sounds of cars, people chatting, and street artists performing. Tonight, there's just the wind and rain hitting the window. The subway system has been closed since last night, and there is nobody on the streets. Hopefully Hurricane Sandy will soon pass without leaving much damage
Sincerely,
Li Bingyin | high14833.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he hit a young visitor because of his comments on the wasteland"
},
"options": [
"he had decided never to leave his hometown",
"the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter",
"he hit a young visitor because of hi... | When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter , and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was "No".
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren't any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn't get his idea accepted.
Paul later got married but his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. As Samuel Johnson wrote, "It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges." Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against _ . Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow he made to himself as a child. | high8381.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "What we think and do can affect others' lives."
},
"options": [
"We only have to be responsible for our own feelings",
"What we think and do can affect others' lives.",
"We'd better not keep in touch with other people.",
... | Once I had an unforgettable experience which has changed and directed the way I think and act even nowadays.
When I was about seven years old, my grandfather took me to a fish pond on a farm and told me to throw a stone into the water. He told me to watch the circles created by the stone. Then he asked me to think of myself as that stone. "You may create lots of circles in your life, but the waves that come from those circles will disturb the peace of all your fellow people," he said thoughtfully. "Remember that your circle may touch many other circles, meaning that your thoughts or actions may disturb others' lives. You are responsible for what you put in your circle. You will need to live in a way that allows the good or peace that comes from your circle to be sent to others. At the same time, the anger or jealousy coming from your circle may also spread to other circles. You are responsible for both."
For the first time in my life, I realized that each person's inner peace or discord can flow out into the world. If we are filled with inner conflict , doubt or anger, we cannot create world peace. We spread the feelings and thoughts that we hold inside, whether we speak them or not. Whatever circles are inside us, they are spreading into the world, creating beauty or discord with all other circles of life. | high22359.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "in a tourists'guide"
},
"options": [
"in a history book",
"in a local newspaper",
"in a tourists'guide",
"in a student's textbook"
],
"question": "You can read this passage most probably _ .",
"question_ty... | Walk along The Mall towards the royal residence to see one of London'S best known views.If you time it right and arrive at 11:30,you'll be able to see the changing of the guard.During August and September,the Palace's State rooms are open to the public.These rooms are used by the Royal Family on ceremonial occasions and are lavishly furnished with some of the finest English and French furniture you cann't see anvwhere in the world.While at the Palace you can also visit The Queen'S Gallery and enjoy some of the finest paintings and works of art from the Royal Collection.If you havetime.St.James'S Park,which runs'alongside The Mall,is worth a visit if only for the Delicans on the lake.The birds have been a constant feature of the park since the late 17thcenturv.Behind the Palace is the Royal Mews,with houses--the Queen'S working stables .Here visitors can see the State Carriages and Coaches,as well as their horses.
Address:Buckingham Palace Road,SWl A
Telephone:020--7766--7300/7301
Open:
Changing of the Guard:11:30,daily until the end of June and every other day in the rest of the year.
Buckingham Palace:every day,31 July--26 September,09:30--16:30.
The Queen'S Gallery:every day,09:30--17:30.
Cost:
Buckingham Palace:Adult 12.50;ConcessionsPS10.50;Under 17PS6.50.
The Queen's Gallery:Adult~7.50;ConcessionsPS6.00;Under 17PS4.00. | high23047.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "shocked"
},
"options": [
"surprised",
"shocked",
"puzzled",
"annoyed"
],
"question": "The girl felt _ when Miss Bee implied she could be a thief.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer... | I walked up to the counter. Behind it was a lady with glasses on the tip of her nose and gray hair on her head.
"Excuse me," I said. She looked up. "You're that Clements kid," she said. "I' m Miss Bee. Come closer and let me get a look at you." She pushed her glasses up her nose. "I can describe you to the police if something goes missing from the store."
"I' m not a thief!" I was shocked. I was seven too young to be a thief!
"From what I can see you're not much of anything. But I can tell you've got potential." She went back to reading her newspaper.
"I need to get these." I said, holding up my list. "So? Go get them." Miss Bee pointed to a sign on the screen door. "I'm not your servant, so I suggest you get yourself a basket and start filling."
I visited Miss Bee several times a week that summer. Sometimes she short-changed me. Other times she overcharged. "That can of beans is only twenty nine cents" I corrected her one afternoon. I had watched the numbers change on the cash register closely, and Miss Bee had added 35 cents. She didn't seem embarrassed. She just looked at me over her glasses and fixed the price.
But she ever let me declare victory. All summer long she found ways to play tricks on me. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce bicarbonate of soda and memorized its location on the shelf than Miss Bee rearranged the shelve and made me hunt for it all over again.
One day before I left, she said, "I know what you think of me, but I don't care! Each of us is put on this earth for a reason. I believe my job is to teach every child I meet life lessons. When you get older you'll be glad our paths crossed!" Glad I met Miss Bee?Ha! The idea was absurd...
Until one day my daughter asked me to finish her math problems. "If I do it for you how will you ever learn to do it yourself?" I said. Suddenly, I remembered the lady Miss Bee. | high13184.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it filled the gap of online marble trade"
},
"options": [
"it was run by \"the world's youngest CEO\"",
"it filled the gap of online marble trade",
"Harli was fascinated with marble collection",
"Harli met the growing d... | For the past two years, 8-year-old Harli Jordean from Stoke Newington, London, has been selling marbles . His successful marble company, Marble King, sells all things marble-related - from affordable tubs of the glass playthings to significantly expensive items like Duke of York solitaire tables - sourced, purchased and processed by the mini-CEO himself.
"I like having my own company. I like being the boss," Harli told the Mirror.
With profits now in the thousands, "the world's youngest CEO" has had to get his mother and older brothers to help him meet the growing demand.
Harli launched Marble King after swapping marbles at school led to schoolchildren consuming his marble collection. Yes, he literally "lost his marbles." Harli and his mother, Tina, turned to the Internet to find replacements.
Harli saw an empty space online: the marbles he wanted were hard to find. Within months, Harli had his own marble-selling website - and orders started pouring in.
Tina says her son's attachment to marbles started when he was just 6.
"His attachment became so passionate that we started calling him the Marble King -- so when he wanted to set up a website it was the natural name for it," she told The Sun.
"I never thought it would become so popular - we are struggling to cope with the number of orders at times."
The 8-year-old boy has his sights set on expanding his business and launching his own brand of marbles.
"Sometimes his ideas are so grand we have to _ a bit. But his dream is still to own Britain's biggest marble shop and open stores around the world," Tina told The Daily Mail.
"At the moment he is annoying me by creating his own Marble King marbles - so that could well be the next step for him." | high157.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "was awarded two prizes"
},
"options": [
"was written in 2001",
"was awarded two prizes",
"tells a story about friendship",
"is based on the author's personal experience"
],
"question": "We can learn that the boo... | First published in 2001, the book Life of Pi written by Canadian author Yann Martel won the Man Booker Prize and an Asian American Prize for Literature. It is the story of a young boy named Pi who spends 227 days at sea with a small group of animals after disaster strikes their ship and is an account of his journey of survival and hardship.
Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel, on whom Life of Pi is based, is a young boy living in Pondicherry, India, where his father owns a zoo. The story starts when Patel's family decide to move to Canada, along with their zoo animals for their new home.
However, because of the bad weather, the ship sinks. Pi along with an orangutan , an injured zebra, a hyena and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker are the only survivors who take shelter in a small lifeboat. Both the injured zebra and the orangutan are soon killed and eaten by the hyena. The tiger in turn kills and eats the hyena, leaving just the two of them alone on the boat now.
In an effort to avoid being eaten by Richard Parker, Pi acts himself as the head of the group and remains safe from harm. Since he does not want the tiger to die for fear of going mad by being alone on the boat, he fishes and feeds the two of them in order to stay alive.
The life of Pi then enters its third stage when their lifeboat washes up on the shores of Mexico and the tiger escapes into a nearby forest leaving Pi alone. After the Mexicans refuse to believe Pi's story, he changes his tale by replacing the animals with his mother, a cook and a sailor and asks the Mexicans which one they prefer. They prefer hearing the first story though they do not believe a word of it.
In my view, Life of Pi is a must read book for all those who love reading. | high9074.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The Poor Suffer from High Food Prices."
},
"options": [
"Kenya Imports Food from Abroad",
"A World Food Program in Rome.",
"The Poor Suffer from High Food Prices.",
"A Report Published by Three UN Agencies."
],
... | There is growing concern about food insecurity in the developing world. Rising food prices, weather emergencies and political problems are deepening the struggle for families in many countries.
Three UN agencies have published a report recently, saying high prices are likely to continue. Gregory Barrow, who is with the World Food Program in Rome, says, "If you look at the places where the World Food Program works, particularly in developing countries, you see people who might be spending more than 60 percent of their salary in purchasing food for their families."
East Africa is suffering its worst drought in years. In Kenya, at least three and a half million people are going hungry, mostly in the north. Yet food is going to waste in central Kenya. Now, farmers there want the government to buy their food and give it to those in need. Farmers say bad roads and lack of transportation make it difficult for them to get their produce to the market.
Mr. Barrow says, "It needs the government to make some arrangements such as providing transport. They can buy it at a good price, then give it to those people instead of asking for food from overseas, which is very bad. When we are throwing away food, _ are asking for food from overseas."
Economists say that imports reduce local food prices, decrease productivity and increase the dependency on other countries. Farmers in Kenya hope the government can pay higher prices for their crops so that they can feed more Kenyans. | high12271.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Different kinds of sales."
},
"options": [
"How to save money in shopping.",
"Different kinds of sales.",
"Shoppers' ways to earn money.",
"Reasons for the popularity of sales."
],
"question": "What does the pas... | There are many kinds of sales. For example, a "back-to-school sale" is held near the beginning of the school year. Parents like the lower prices of the clothes and school supplies for their children.
A "midnight madness" event starts very late at night. An "early bird special" sale starts very early in the morning. This kind of sale is popular the day after Thanksgiving in November.
A favorite sale among many people is the "buy one, get one free" sale. You buy one thing and get a second one without cost. When people see the word "free" in an advertisement they know they are getting a good deal. As a matter of fact, it is not the case.
Another kind of sale is a "going out of business" sale. This is when a storeowner tries to sell all the goods in the store before closing the business permanently .
Let us say the store sells floor coverings. The owner lowers the prices and puts up a sign that says: "Going out of business sale. All items MUST be sold by tomorrow."
People who buy the floor coverings think they are getting a special deal because everything must be sold in a short period of time. Then, days later they see the store did not close permanently. And they see the same sign that claims the store is going out of business. Some business owners really do not end the business. They just want to earn more money.
People also hold their own sales. They hold garage sales and yard sales outside their home. They sell things they no longer want. Groups such as religious centers or schools hold bake sales. They sell cakes, cookies and other baked goods to raise money.
In America, you can always find a good sale, no matter the day or time of year. There is the Independence Day sale, Veteran's Day sale, clearance sale, sidewalk sale, red tag sale, white sale, blue light special, liquidation sale, half-off sale, warehouse sale, tent sale ... | high7059.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Arabs in America."
},
"options": [
"Arabs in America.",
"The Two Arab Immigration Waves to America.",
"Arab-Americans, Contributions to America.",
"Arab-Americans, Education and Income."
],
"question": "What wou... | For many in the prefix = st1 /United States, Arab-Americans are an invisible part of the population. Though Arab-Americans as a community have made great contributions to American society in fields from literature to politics to medicine, many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab backgrounds.
Arab history in the United Statesgoes back to the late 1800's when large numbers of Arab immigrants first began making their journey to a land known simply as "Amreeka".
Historians generally describe Arab immigration to Americain two waves. The first wave took place between 1860 and 1924.The first wave consisted of Lebanese and Syrian, and some Egyptian immigrants. These new immigrants, who were mostly Christian, came toAmericain search of better opportunities. Even the doomed Titanic, which set sail forAmericain 1912,had close to a hundred Arab passengers aboard. The majority of Arab-Americans today are descendents of the first wave of immigrants; they are the third or more generation Americans.
The second wave of immigrants followed after World War II, caused by political unrest in the Middle East. This second wave of immigrants consists of mainly Arab Muslims and continues to this day.
Arab-Americans make up 3 million of the population in the United States, according to demographers. And quite different from popular belief, 64% of them are American-born. 82% percent of Arab-Americans are US citizens.
Arab-Americans are beyond the national average in both education and income. Education is important among Arab-Americans; 82% have high school diplomas, 36% have bachelor's degrees or higher, and 15% have graduate degrees. The average income among Arab-Americans is $39580, which is higher than the USaverage. | high19324.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "prove that size and shape of skulls does not show accurately what early humans ate"
},
"options": [
"tell readers that they are one of our close cousins living in eastern Africa",
"tell readers they had different eating habits from... | If the eyes are the romantic's window into the soul, _
In a study published last month in the journal Science, Peter Ungar of the University of Arkansas and his partner, Matt Sponheimer of the University of Colorado, US, examined the teeth of our early human ancestors to find out what they were really eating.
They already knew that different foods cause different marks on teeth. Some cause scratches, while others cause pits .The carbon left on teeth by different foods is also different. Tropical grasses, for example, leave one kind of carbon, but trees leave another kind because they photosynthesized ( ) differently.
Traditionally, scientists had looked at the size and shape of teeth and skulls ( ) to figure out what early humans ate. Big flat teeth were taken to be signs that they ate nuts and seeds, while hard and sharp teeth seemed good for cutting meat and leaves. But this was proven wrong.
The best example was the Paranthropus , one of our close cousins, some of which lived in eastern Africa. Scientists used to believe Paranthropus ate nuts and seeds because they had big crests on their skulls, suggesting they had large chewing muscles and big teeth. If this had been true, their teeth should have been covered with pits like the surface of the moon. They would also have had a particular type of carbon on their teeth that typically comes from tree products, such as nuts and seeds.
However, when the two scientists studied the Paranthroupus, it turned out to have none of these characteristics. The teeth had a different kind of carbon, and were covered with scratches, not pits. This suggests they probably ate grass, not nuts and fruit stones. It was the exact opposite of what people had expected to find.
Carbon "foodprints" give us a completely new and different insight into what different species ate and the different environments they lived in. If a certain species had the kind of carbon on its teeth that came from grasses, it probably lived in a tropical grassland, for example. | high4550.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The UN Security Council is going to take in new members."
},
"options": [
"Four countries, such as Japan, Germany, Brazil and India are applying for joining the UN.",
"Some countries, such as North and South Korea, Italy, Pakistan,... | The UN Security Council was created in 1945. It is made up of 10 rotating members and five permanent members, which have a veto, the power to stop a resolution . Most UN members now consider the organization's structure outdated. But any changes need the agreement of two-thirds of the 191 members, and no veto from any of the five permanent council members.
Last year, Japan, Germany, Brazil and India formed a lobbying group to get permanent council seats. But North and South Korea have doubts about Japan, Italy opposes Germany for a seat, Pakistan is against India's candidacy and Mexico and Argentina
Brazil.
A wave of emotion swept through China last week as millions voiced their opposition to Japan's permanent membership of the United Nations (UN) Security Council. By last Friday over 22 million Chinese had signed an online petition against Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the council.
According to major Chinese websites, such as sina.com, more than 170,000 overseas Chinese also signed. This is the first online activity of its kind.
The petition was started by US-based Alliance for Preserving the Truth of the Sino-Japanese War . They want Japan to apologize for crimes during World War II. The group also plans to present the petition to the UN this autumn.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said he didn't think the petition shows anti-Japanese feeling. He believed instead it is a request for Japan to take a responsible attitude towards history. | high16017.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "foreigner to Americans"
},
"options": [
"writer",
"Chinese",
"European",
"foreigner to Americans"
],
"question": "It can be inferred according to the passage that the author may be a _ .",
"question_type"... | On my first trip in the United States , I went to San Antonion . I was on foot . So I went to only three places there : the Alamo , the River Walk , and the Art Gallery . I especially enjoyed visiting the Alamo , a well- known building in America .
When I arrived at the Alamo , I was deeply impressed because it was well kept and in good shape . The Alamo was erected in about 1722, was later used as a fort , and has been kept as a state monument to the Texan War of Independence against Mexico . During the battle , all of the Texan defenders were killed . I was surprised at the exhibition of rifles , guns , cannons and swords .
I was especially attracted by the paintings of a war . The paintings expressed the feelings of a painter very well . Even thought about 160 years have passed since the Battle of the Alamo , the exhibit is well kept . When I came out after seeing the exhibition , I felt as if I had a victory . The outer wall of the Alamo was destroyed here and there . When I touched the wall , I could feel the damage . After the war , little remained of the Alamo . All of the windows and doors were destroyed . The top part of the gate way disappeared without a trace . I will remember the Alamo forever . It is one of the best places to visit in San Antonio . | high11778.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "his navy friend"
},
"options": [
"his mother",
"the husband of his aunt",
"his navy friend",
"Edouard Colonne"
],
"question": "What _ did played the most important part in Roussel's final success.",
"que... | Some people succeed in unbelievable ways.
Roussel was orphaned at the age of eight and went to live with his grandfather. He built on the music he had learned from his mother, entertaining himself by reading through the family music collection and playing his favorite songs on the piano.
Three years later, Roussel's grandfather died, and his aunt adopted him. Her husband arranged for young Albert to take regular piano lessons. Summer vacations at a Belgian seaside resort added a second love to his life -- the sea. He studied to be a naval cadet , but still made time to study music.
In the French Navy, while he served on a warship based at Cherbourg, he and two friends found the time to play the music of Beethoven and other composes . Roussel also began composing. At the Church of the Trinity in Cherbourg on Christmas Day 1892, he had his first performance as a composer.
That success encouraged Roussel to write a wedding march, and one of his fellow offices offered to show it to a well-known conductor , Edouard Colonne. When Roussel's friend returned with the manuscript , he reported that Colonne had advised Roussel to give up his naval career and devote his life to music.
Not long afterwards, at the age of 25, Roussel did just that. He applied characters that he had developed in the navy to his composing and became a major force in twentieth century French music. As for Eduoard Colonne's inspiring advice that Roussel devote his life to music, Roussel's navy friend later admitted that he had made it up and that he had never even shown Roussel's manuscript to the conductor. | high5896.txt |
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