questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They can save money and arrange their time and courses freely."
},
"options": [
"They can find jobs more easily than on-campus graduates.",
"They can get qualifications from US Department of Education.",
"They can invest mone... | For many businessmen online education has been a dream. Now it has come true. The investment in higher education, whether financial or in terms of time, has long been impossible for many of them. But well-known educational institutions have chosen to deliver an internet-based program, and these barriers have been lifted.
That is good news for people eager to improve themselves and is more attractive to employers. It is also a benefit to industry with better qualified candidates applying for jobs at every level.
Having the benefits of a higher qualification without going to the university campus is attractive to many students. Campus study means greater cost, while online programs are flexible and save time, whether at home or at work. Students can achieve their degrees without causing too much _ to their career or home life.
In addition to affordable, flexible classes and greater convenience, students also have access to the online learning resources of many of the world's top educational institutions. They can also communicate with their tutors no matter what time it is or whether either party is away for any reason.
This has opened up the possibility of getting a qualification from a university or college that many students could only have dreamed of in the past. It also allows specialists to get the precise qualifications and focus on their studies. As well as seeing the increase of applicants from lower-incomes and housewives, studying online in the US is even becoming popular with younger people of college age.
Employers have become increasingly welcome and positive to online qualifications as more candidates earn them, especially if they're properly approved by the US Department of Education.
US institutions have led the way in online education provision. Many top US colleges and universities offer a range of online programs that are highly respected and in every way perfectly fit for adults who need to combine their studies with a working life. | high2121.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "pull down"
},
"options": [
"rebuild",
"protect",
"pull down",
"fall down"
],
"question": "The expert doesn't want to _ the old famous temple.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {... | Near the village, there is an old famous temple. Some people want to build new houses where the temple now stands, because they can find no other area to build them, while others disagree with them. They meet to decide how to solve the problem. Here are their opinions about it.
The expert wants to protect the temple and believes that there are some interesting things buried in the ground. If it is destroyed or moved, people may never learn about how people lived in the past.
The businessman thinks that the houses should be built. History is important, but we must think about the future. The village needs development and building new houses will offer jobs to hundreds of people.
Villager A says, "We should build the new houses because we need houses to live in."
Villager B says, "We should protect the temple because it can attract many tourists to come for a visit. If the temple is destroyed or moved, we will lose a lot of business."
The village leader thinks that he has a duty to make life better for the villagers. They need jobs and new houses. He also thinks the cultural site is important and they should be careful with it as well. | high5128.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He set up the company of Salesforce.com."
},
"options": [
"He joined a non-profit organization.",
"He advised donors to build hospitals.",
"He made San Francisco a city of charity.",
"He set up the company of Salesforce... | For decades,the San Francisco Bay area has been the heart of the computer technology industry.Many of the biggest technology companies have their headquarters in the area called Silicon Valley.But the area has not always been associated with charity .
Now,a new generation of entrepreneurs appears to be changing Silicon Valley.One example is Marc Benioff,a donor ,who has called on wealthy donors to give more to their communities.He also is the founder of Salesforce.com,a computer services company in San Francisco who has helped build a children's hospital and given millions of dollars to non-profit organizations in the city.
Money from the technology industry has also started to change the face of charity.Benjamin Soskis writes about the history and ideas behind charity in America.His articles have appeared in The Atlantic magazine and a number of major publications.He says,traditionally,donors have given after they spent much of their lives building up wealth.Usually donors are in their 70s.But an increasing number of people appearing on the list of top donors are younger than 40 years of age.Benjamin Soskis says that is something new."There's a whole new model that's appearing in which people give and accumulate at the same time."
Some of the young donors on this year's top 50 list have started to change in the way people see charity.That is especially the case in the San Francisco area,where giving money and making money appear to be coming together."I think it's fair to say that charity is now a part of the Silicon Valley identity." | high10300.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they were both shy."
},
"options": [
"Because they were playing a game.",
"Because they didn't like each other.",
"Because they quarreled before.",
"Because they were both shy."
],
"question": "Why did t... | I can still remember the first day when I met my best friend. She had just moved into the neighborhood and her grandmother brought her down to meet me. I hid behind my mother and she hid behind her grandmother, scared to look at each other.
Soon, we lost the shyness and started playing with each other, bike riding to each other's house and having sleepovers. In 7thgrade she was going through family problems. However, every summer we would always sit at each other's house and watch movies on TV and talk about all the boys we liked.
It was last year when I noticed the problem. She suffered from clinical depression , and had to go to a hospital during the day. I was very sorry for her at first. But with the late night calls, and meeting each other halfway up the street at midnight, we still stayed in touch. I wanted to be there for her since her new best friend left her, and I knew I still cared about her like a sister.
Yesterday she came to me and said this. "I never knew what a best friend was until you were the only person that would stop me from cutting myself; the only person that ever made me feel better about myself and my problems. You didn't know this but I was trying to kill myself that very night you called me and I was crying. I owe you so much, and you didn't even know you were helping me. "
We both cried. And I guess a kind of lesson from my life so far is to never give up your friends. Even if they aren't as cool as others, or people think they are crazy, they need someone there. If you leave them, you will only be very sorry. So if friends need you, and you care for them, you should be always there for them. | high2647.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "find places to produce enough food"
},
"options": [
"find places to produce enough food",
"serve food that are truly locally grown",
"prevent polluting the limited land",
"save fresh water"
],
"question": "Accor... | Dickson Despommier, a public health professor at Columbia University in New York City developed an idea with his students nine years ago. They imagined people in cities growing crops inside a tall building. Tomatoes could grow on one floor of the skyscraper , potatoes on the next, small animals and fish on the floor above.
This vertical farm, or "farmscraper", could have space for restaurants and other places that serve food, like schools or hospitals. They could serve foods that are truly locally grown.
But why would anyone want to build a farm indoors in a city? Dickson Despommier believes it will become necessary. The world needs to find places to produce enough food to feed the growing population. Space, he says, is an all-important issue.
The professor also points to the problems of traditional farms. They use a lot of freshwater. Their fertilizer and animal waste can pollute water resources. And their growing seasons can be limited.
But inside the vertical farm, crops could grow all year. And there would be no wind to blow away soil. Farmers would not have to worry about too much or too little rain, or about hot summers, freezing winters or insects. And without insects there would be no need for chemicals to kill them.
Farm machines that .use fossil fuels, like tractors, would not be needed either. And water could be recycled for drinking. "The vertical farm reuses everything, so there is no waste," says Professor Despommier.
Even buildings could be saved. Old buildings could become new farms and provide jobs.
The professor has been actively proposing the idea to cities as far away as Dubai and Canada. But so far it exists only in plans and drawings, and a model at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
Critics say building a farmscraper would cost too much, especially considering the price of land in many cities. Dickson Despommier estimates the cost at about twenty to thirty million dollars.
But he says the building would not have to be very tall. And his graduate students have found many empty lots and unused buildings in New York City that could provide space. | high3559.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "C and The Grand Canyon"
},
"options": [
"The Grand Canyon and Rodeo Drive",
"California and Los Angeles",
"White House and Arizona",
"C and The Grand Canyon"
],
"question": "Lily has great interest in nature and... | A reader from Brazil recently wrote to us asking for some advice. He's planning a trip to the United States, and wanted to know about the best places to travel in America. Today, we are going to give you some information which may help you when choosing your destination.
Each of the 50 states in America has interesting things to offer visitors, but some are more popular than others. Washington, D.C. is famous for its historical places, like the White House and the Lincoln Memorial. Visitors to Los Angeles, California can see the Hollywood Walk of Fame or shop the stores on Rodeo Drive where they may see a star or two. The Grand Canyon in Arizona appeals to hikers, climbers and nature lovers, as does Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
TripAdvisor is a website where people can write reviews about their travel experiences. Every year, TripAdvisor makes a list of the top 25 cities to visit in the United States. The results are based on the opinions of visitors to the website.
Brooke Ferencsik of TripAdvisor said the top picks on the list were not surprising. And it's no secret why New York City was named the number one destination.
New York City is sometimes called "the city that never sleeps" because it can be very busy. It is an exciting place for many people because there is so much to do. But the city might be too busy for travelers looking for rest and calm. They might want something more like Myrtle Beach, in the state of South Carolina, which made it to number 21 on Trip Advisor's list.
"A lot of people come to Myrtle Beach for great weather, it's a wonderful family vacation spot, the beaches - got the wonderful Atlantic beaches there - there's a lot of family-friendly parks and water parks."
Many people take time off from their jobs in the summer to travel. Because there are many tourists visiting other places, June until August is known as "high season." Traveling during the high season can be crowded. Hotels, restaurants, and transportation might also be very expensive.
If you want to save money on a trip, it is a good idea to plan to leave before or after the summer months. These times are known as "shoulder seasons" for travel.
"If you're looking for value, try and think about traveling through the shoulder season if it's possible - the shoulder season being the fall or the spring. The weather is still very good in some of these destinations, and you can get better prices."
America's major cities are still the most popular destinations for visitors. Ferencsik says this is because of the good quality of services they provide tourists.
"They do a great job of giving travelers what they want when they're on vacation. I think they kind of cater to every type of traveler need. So whether you're traveling alone, you're traveling for business, you're traveling with your family - whatever it is, those destinations are really tuned in to delivering amazing experiences and just a lot of different opportunities when you're there." | high4236.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "may be specializing in architecture"
},
"options": [
"must be a native of Beichuan",
"may be specializing in architecture",
"must be a rescue helper",
"may be a teacher of prefix = st1 /BeichuanMiddle School"
],
... | I revisited Beichuan of Mid-Autumn Festival. As the car drove into the ruined city, tears streamed down my cheeks. Giant rocks from the mountain destroyed the road and houses fell, breaking into bricks and pieces of cement . Beichuan Middle School, which was once filled with energy and laughter, now so unrecognizable ,so empery, so quiet, so still, was a death valley.
I couldn't really imagine at that moment, how much pain they had suffered or how hopeless they felt as they waited to be rescued. Those unfortunate ones watched the devil of death march over them, taking them away. I can't really imagine how heartbroken their parents or beloved ones were.
As I wandered in the ruins, I was lost in deep thoughts.
The day before, we were sitting in the brightly lit classroom, heatedly arguing the importance of shapes, color1s and styles in architecture , comparing ancient time housing with the modern ones. Their similarities, their differences, their pros and cons...
Now , facing the terrible scene, I realized how childlike we were and how easily we forget the most important element of architect is SAFETY, it is how housing is supposed to be: to _ us from burning sun and pouring rain, to provide us with a comfortable warm place to sleep and relax. Obviously, the style and shape do play important roles in architecture. But when a natural disaster such as this earthquake came upon us without warning, will beauty stay over anybody's life? From this trip, we can no doubt give the clear loud answer; NO!!!
Words after such a great disaster could appear nothing but empty and pointless. So many people's lives were taken, so much damage was done and a whole city was wiped out. Beichuan has become a history. Nevertheless, I still keep on dreaming and still long for a better future: to make our homes prettier yet safer. | high16771.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "We can travel and work in the sea."
},
"options": [
"We can have plenty of oxygen.",
"We can be fit to live in the water very well.",
"We needn't worry about things like weightlessness.",
"We can travel and work in the ... | Can you imagine traveling to work in a one - man submarine? Some scientists believe that some day one - man submarines will be as many as automobiles are today.A famous French driver says, "One day soon, men will walk on the ocean floor as they do on the street!" Perhaps during your lifetime people will travel, and live in the sea.
If human beings want to live in the ocean, many human problems will need to be studied first.
Some of these problems, similar to those of living in outer space, are pressure, lack of oxygen and weightlessness. Many questions are still unanswered.For example, can our blood make itself fit for underwater surroundings? What will happen to our muscle if we live in the water very long? Scientists are looking for answers.
Perhaps in the future man will live in the sea, away from the crowded and noisy cities on land.Then sea has plenty of space, not only for floating living buildings and parks, but also for storing supplies and for underwater travel.
Some scientists believe that ocean living will benefit man in more than physical ways. In the freedom and beauty of the deep sea, man may find new sources of joy. | high15278.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "just by hearing in the darkness"
},
"options": [
"when the female penguins return from the sea",
"just by hearing in the darkness",
"each time they see the lovely females",
"after they have had their own grounds"
],... | Penguins live together,but each pair has a little piece of ground of their own.When a penguin wants to walk through its neighbor's ground,it must ask permission.If it does not do that,it will have to fight.Most of the time,penguins live on the water.They eat shell fish and look after their children carefully.
All penguins are good parents--the male penguins are perhaps the best parents in the world. They walk in the sea in the middle of the dark Antarctic water. They choose their wives in the dark.They can only hear them--not see them.Then the female penguins lay their eggs and go away for about two months.The males take care of the eggs.If the eggs get cold,there will be no chicks.There is no food.The snow falls heavily and the wind blows strongly--sometimes at 150 kilometers an hour.The penguins do not move.When the females return from the sea,they will not remember their husbands.It does not matter.Only one thing matters--the eggs.Male penguins never fight--unless a penguin leaves a chick for a minute.They then fight because they all want it.They are strange and wonderful birds. | high802.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The rest of the day would be your own time.\nE.Use your time effectively and efficiently.\nF.Find your own best method of studying.\nG.Balance work, school and social life."
},
"options": [
"Stay organized.",
"Maintain 100% effort ... | College life can become a great struggle because students have to balance school, a social life, and sometimes a job as well. The following steps could help the grades of college students.
Go to class. Why did your parents pay for your tuition or why are your parents paying their taxes for financial aid? Even when you don't feel like attending class, just go. 71 Many classes have in-class assignments, pop quizzes, and case studies that only could be taken in class. If you are not there, you might lose points. | high23912.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "have much more information to read"
},
"options": [
"no longer read word by word, line by line",
"have to get the meaning faster",
"have much more information to read",
"must use their smartphones more frequently"
]... | In the Internet age, speed reading is a necessary and important skill. We skim over articles and e-mails to try to get key words and the main idea of the text. With so much information through our electronic devices , it would be impossible to get through everything if we read word by word, line by line. However, a new trend calls on people to enjoy reading slowly.
A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smartphones. They sit back in comfortable chairs and read in silence for an hour.
Unlike typical book clubs, the point of the slow reading club isn't to exchange ideas about certain books, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment. According to the story, the Wellington book club is just one example of a movement started by book lovers who miss the traditional way of reading.
Traditional readers, like Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to understand others. Some of these benefits have been backed up by science. For example, a study of 300 elderly people published by the journal Neurology last year showed that adults who take part in activities that use their brain, such as reading, suffer less memory loss as they get older. Another study published last year in Science showed that reading novels helps people understand others' mental states and beliefs -- a key skill in building relationships.
Yet technology has made us less careful readers. Computer and phone screens have changed our reading patterns from the top-to-bottom, left-to-right reading order we traditionally used, to a wild skimming pattern as we hunt for important words and information. Reading text online that has many links to other web pages also leads to weaker comprehension than reading plain text. The Internet may have made us stupider, says British journalist Patrick Kingsley, only half joking. Because of the Internet, he says we have become very good at collecting a wide range of factual tidbits , but we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, think and connect all these facts with each other. | high12517.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "His original motive to invent the Pavegen tiles was to save energy."
},
"options": [
"His original motive to invent the Pavegen tiles was to save energy.",
"He believed his invention would be popular with students.",
"He keep... | At most schools, "going green" means generating less trash or making an attempt to recycle.But at New York's Riverdale Country School, it means being encouraged to run and even jump in the hallway. That's because the school was the first to install ( ) the specially-designed Pavegen floor tiles in America.
The tiles use kinetic energy expanded by the kids and transform it into electricity that can be used to power classroom lights, science projects and charge electronic devices. The first US installation of Pavegen tiles near the school's student center is thanks to 14-year-old Zach Halem, who managed to convince the officials to purchase them.
Besides providing fun green energy, the tiles also serve as a learning tool. Every time a student steps on one, a brightly-lit LED board provides instant feedback on how much energy was generated. Depending on the force, every step results in between one to seven watts-enough power to light an LED street lamp for about 30 seconds.
Made largely from rubber and other recycled materials the tiles are invented by the 26-year-old British industrial designer Laurence Kembell-Cook. While new to the US, they have been installed in numerous places in Europe, ranging from a London underground station to a marathon track in Paris. However, it was not until Pavegen started getting popular in London schools that Laurence realized that his invention not only saved energy, but was also fun!
Though the young inventor will not give too many details about the technology behind this green tile, he says that it is very different from other kinetic energy harvesting systems.
Whatever the secret, let's hope more US schools decide to install these fun tiles. In fact, why stop at schools? These tiles could be installed everywhere, from sidewalks to homes. Then we could all be "green" and have fun! Who knew that was even possible? | high13609.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Excited."
},
"options": [
"Curious.",
"Surprised.",
"Interested.",
"Excited."
],
"question": "How do the children feel when they see the Donkey Mobile Library?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{... | It is a bright morning in the Ethiopian countryside. Yohannes walks beside a pair of donkeys that are pulling a two-wheeled cart. They arrive at the agricultural town of Awassa where Yohannes opens the sides of the cart to display, not the usual vegetables or tools, but children's books. This is the Donkey Mobile Library, the first of its kind in Ethiopia and one of only a few in the world.
Yohannes was born in Ethiopia, North Africa, but trained to be a librarian in the USA and returned to Ethiopia years ago. The cart is full of picture books donated by American libraries, teachers and school children.
Yohannes arranges small painted benches in the shade of the trees, and suddenly Ethiopian children come shouting and racing down every road and path. It's mobile library day! They circle the bookshelves with great excitement. Until the Donkey Mobile Library began its regular two-monthly visits, many of these children had never seen a book.
"Without books, education is very dull, like food without salt. You can survive but you can't really come alive," says Yohannes. "The ability to read is the basis for greater productivity, better health and longer life. Even though the children lack material goods, with books they can imagine a world of possibilities."
Yohannes first worked in the children's section of the main library in America. Surrounded by books he had never seen before, he realized how joyful and imaginative children's literature is. He says, "I always thought of Ethiopia. But how could I bring children's books to my home country when it had almost no libraries to keep the books in?"
He contacted Jane Kurtz, a writer born in America but brought up in Ethiopia, and together they created the Donkey Mobile Library. The children say that the Library has given them ideas about what they might do in the future. A child called Dareje wants to be a scientist and find a cure for life-threatening diseases. An eleven year-old girl, Fikerte, wants to do research about the moon and discover new facts about outer space. Tamrat, aged 10, comes every time.
"What brings you back here time and time again?" the librarian asks him.
"The stories," Tamrat replies instantly. | high9712.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "spend lots of time at malls"
},
"options": [
"shop after visiting lots of stores",
"spend lots of time at malls",
"buy nothing at malls",
"do almost everything in malls"
],
"question": "Mall rats usually _ ."... | Malls are popular places for Americans to go to. Some people spend so much time at malls that they are called mall rats. Mall rats shop until they visit hundreds of stores.
People like malls for many reasons. They feel safe because malls have police stations. Parking is usually free. And the weather inside is always fine. The newest malls have beautiful rest places with waterfalls and large green trees.
The Mall of America in Minnesota is one of the most popular ones. It covers 4.2 million square feet. It has 350 stores, eight nightclubs, and a large park! There are parking spaces for 12,750 cars. About 750,000 people shop there every week.
The first indoor mall in the United States was built in 1965 in Edina Minnesota. People love doing all their shopping in one place. More malls are built around the country. Now malls are town centers where people come to do many things. They shop, and of course, they also eat in food courts that have food from all over the world. They see films at theaters. Some people even get their exercise by doing the new sport of "mall walking". Others go to malls to meet friends.
In some malls, people can see a doctor and even go to church. In other words, people can do almost everything in malls. Now people can live in their favorite shopping centers in fact. | high14166.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "2."
},
"options": [
"2.",
"3.",
"4.",
"5."
],
"question": "How many adoption types are mentioned in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text":... | Most people are aware of what the adoption process is because it has become rather common in our society. Adoption is where a child is legally placed with guardians or parents (or perhaps a single parent) other than the birth mother or father. Once an adoption is finalized, all parental rights are turned over to the adoptive parents and there is no legal difference between adoptive parents and natural birth parents. There are generally two types of adoption, which are closed adoption and open adoption.
When an adopted person has access to his or her adoption file and original records, it is referred to as an open adoption. The term is also used to describe any contact that may be between the adoptive family, the birth parents, and the adopted child. The level of openness can change greatly in such contact depending on each individual relationship. There can be indirect contact between the natural birth parents and the child through the form of letters and photographs, or there can be actual physical contact.
A semi-open adoption is where the birth parents may have contact with the adoptive parents before the birth of the child, either once or several times. After the birth there is no more contact. A semi-open adoption may remain as it is or it can become either open or closed.
A closed adoption is where only the medical and historical information about the biological parents is given to the adoptive family. Typically, the birth and adoptive parents do not know each other's identities. The record of the birth parents is kept sealed . A closed adoption is usually only effective in the adoption of babies. The adoption of an older child who already knows his or her birth parents cannot be kept closed. | high6421.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "introducing how global warming is formed"
},
"options": [
"introducing the ways of saving carbon dioxide",
"Telling how to save money in your daily life",
"promoting action, awareness and empowerment and helping stop global w... | It's our hope that the calculator will promote action, awareness and empowerment by showing you that one person can make a difference and help stop global warming.
There are many simple things you can do in your daily life--what you eat, what you drive, how you build your home--that can have an effect on your immediate surroundings, and on places as far away as Antarctica. Here is a list of things that you can do to make a difference.
Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Save 300lbs (pounds) of carbon dioxide and $60 per year.
Use Recycled Paper
Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Save 5lbs of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.
Take Shorter Showers
Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Save 350 lbs of carbon dioxide and $99 per year.
Buy Products Locally
Buy locally and reduce the amount of energy required to drive your products to your home.
Carpool When You Can
Own a big vehicle? _ with friends and co-workers saves fuel. Save 790 lbs of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.
Don't Idle in Your Car
Idling wastes money and gas, and generates pollution and global warming causing emissions. Except when in traffic, turn your engine off in you must wait for more than 30 seconds.
Buy Organic food
The chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce.
Turn Off Your Computer
Shut off your computer when not in use, and save 200 lbs of carbon dioxide. Conserve energy by using your computer's "sleep mode" instead of a screensaver.
With a Stop Global Warming calculator which costs you only $50 in hand, you will find what you do does count. | high42.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "High-speed."
},
"options": [
"Fun.",
"Interactive.",
"High-speed.",
"Smart."
],
"question": "Which of the following may not be a key word for the concept car?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {... | Is this a car? Is it a smart phone? Is it a gaming machine?
Yes to all three. The Toyota Fun-Vii is a pleasure palace on wheels.
If Toyota has its way, paint jobs could become a thing
of the past, because it has introduced an amazing car that can
change its whole look in an instant.
The Vii in Fun-Vii, which stands for "Vehicle, Interactive,
Internet" It is a small three-seater car that looks like a smart phone, so it is called a smart phone on wheels.Inside and out, most aspects of the car can interact with the internet and be controlled by a smart phone.The magical car allows the owners to download pictures from their phones onto the outside, so that the look of the car could be changed instantly.The color inside could also be changed to reflect the owner's mood.Just as the company president Akio Toyoda said, "A car must appeal to our emotions.If it's not fun, it's not a car."
Its outside and inside are not made of solid paint but touch screens that can display pictures and videos.A network update function downloads all the latest software to make sure the car is always up-to-date, and it can provide the latest entertainment as well as information about its surroundings to the driver.As you drive around, the thoughtful car allows you to communicate with your friends in the nearby cars.It also helps you find your way from one place to another. It's all because the car is networked with all the other cars on the road and drives itself. The smart car is a practical, family sized vehicle fuelled by hydrogen, and it is one of the futuristic concept cars under the theme of "fun to drive, again".It heralds a not-too-distant future where people, cars and society are linked. | high816.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Keeping coins in his shirt pocket."
},
"options": [
"Giving coins to the poor in the mosque.",
"Changing his clothes before praying.",
"Keeping coins in his shirt pocket.",
"Taking the author along to the mosque."
]... | Once upon a time when my father was in his teens, his father took him to the mosque to pray. My grandfather, it seems, had a habit of keeping his loose change in his shirt pocket. As they prayed side by side, during one of the prostrations , the coins fell down onto the carpet.
My grandfather did not notice it. However, a man seated nearby as well as my father noticed the incident. The man reacted fast and picked up the coins and went off into another corner of the mosque.
My father took everything in and as soon as my grandfather finished praying, he told him what had happened. My grandfather having heard just about what happened stopped my dad from telling him who took the money.
Then he went on to tell my dad the following. "If the man has chosen to steal in the mosque, then it must be because his life is too bad. We must not be quick to judge such people," he said.
Since they owned a grocery shop, my father was told by his father to make sure that every month he should make up a parcel of all the daily necessities required in a household and send it to that person without telling him who sent it.
Wouldn't this world be a better place to live in if we had such wisdom spreading within our society! | high8418.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "in the Atlantic"
},
"options": [
"in the Atlantic",
"in the Pacific",
"in the Gulf of Mexico",
"in the Mediterranean"
],
"question": "The bluefin tuna in this passage mainly refers to the one _ .",
"quest... | Scientists warn today that the Atlantic bluefin tuna faces disappearance unless certain action is taken. They used electronic ways to track the movement of the powerful fish from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mediterranean, and report today in the journal Nature that meals of sushi and sandwiches with tuna worldwide are more dangerous than anyone has imagined.
The bluefin tuna can live for 30 years, grow to three metres in length and weigh as much as 700kg. A good one can fetch as much as PS 52,000 in the Tokyo fish markets. "In my lifetime, we've brought this big fish to the doorstep of death in the western Atlantic Ocean," said Barbara Block of Stanford University in California. "The electronic way of tracks provides the best scientific information we've ever had to manage these tuna and we must, as an international community, start to act actively to make sure of the future of this fish. "
Scientists have repeatedly said that the harvest of the seas cannot be as good as before. There are fewer and fewer fish in around Newfoundland, North Sea and Iceland, so fishermen have pushed further offshore in search of deep ocean fish. Tuna--in the Mediterranean and Japan--have been under increasing pressure for years. The International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna has tried to manage the fish since 1969.There are two populations: a western one that has dropped by 80% in the past 30 years, and a larger, eastern population. Although catches are controlled by 3,000 tons a year in the western fishery, and 32,000 in the east, no one knew whether the limits worked.
So Professor Block and her team placed tracks on hundreds of the fish and tracked them to depths of more than 900 metres and on journeys of thousands of miles, measuring the movement, body and water temperatures. "There are two ways to save the Atlantic bluefin tuna--protect them in their production grounds and in their feeding grounds," Prof. Block said. "This will need immediate action in both the central Atlantic, to reduce the loss of the big fish while hunting, and in the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean, where tuna produce as separate populations. " | high12503.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "You can make it more economical to travel to Disney World."
},
"options": [
"You can get more information about Disney World ahead of time.",
"You can make it more economical to travel to Disney World.",
"You can spend longer... | A trip with your family and friends to Disney World can be one of the best vacations of your life. When you decide to travel to this destination, you can be sure in the knowledge that you are going to have a great time.
Many travelers may be worried about the exorbitant amount of money that one has to pay for a comfortable and fun trip to Disney World. We all want to give our family and children the best time since it may only be a once in a lifetime vacation. However it would not be wise to end up in debt over a week-long stay in Disney World. A few handy tips and a little planning can make a lot of difference and can reduce some of your financial worries.
You need to start planning for a vacation to Disney World well in advance. The first step is deciding what time of year you wish to visit it. The peak seasons of the year will be costly for the accommodations whether you are staying within or outside the theme park. Staying outside the resort is a choice that may save you a large amount of money if you plan to stay for a week or two. Also, there are plenty of budget hotels outside Disney World that offer cheap and pleasant accommodations with shuttle services. Another money saving tip is to buy food ahead of time. If you have most of your meals at your hotel or at cheaper restaurants, it will save you a lot of money. You can try not to buy food in and around Disney World. Carrying food and beverages and enough cold water would help you reduce the cost, too. | high56.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "being polite to others"
},
"options": [
"a healthy diet",
"physical exercise",
"medical interventions",
"being polite to others"
],
"question": "All the following is helpful to lose weight EXCEPT _ .",
"qu... | Doctors say obesity,also known as severe overweight,is a complex condition.A doctor may advise medical interventions in addition to changes in behavior.But experts say the more successful weightloss plans include a wellbalanced diet and exercise.
People who want to avoid weight gain have to balance the number of calories they eat with the number of calories they use.To lose weight,you can reduce the number of calories you take in,or increase the number you use,or both.Experts at the National Institutes of Health say to lose weight,a person should do some moderate or intensive physical exercise most days of the week.This could include fast walking,sports or strength training.
A recent study looked at four of the most popular dieting plans in the United States.Researchers at Stanford University studied more than three hundred overweight women,mostly in their thirties or forties.Each woman went on one of the four plans:Atkins,The Zone,Ornish or LEARN.The women attended diet classes and received written information about the food plans.At the end of a year,the women on the Atkins diet had lost the most,more than four and a half kilograms on average.
Christopher Gardner led the study,reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He said the Atkins diet may be more successful because of its simple message to lower the intake of sugar.Also,he said the advice to increase protein in the diet leads to more satisfying meals.
But last week,another report suggested that only a small minority of people have longterm success in dieting.Researchers at the University of California found that most dieters regained their lost weight within five years.And often they gained back even more.But those who kept the weight off generally were the ones who exercised. | high6435.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Where Test Stress Comes from"
},
"options": [
"Pressure from Oneself",
"Pressure from Parents and Teachers",
"Where Test Stress Comes from",
"Negative and Positive Thinking"
],
"question": "What's the probable t... | Do you know someone who has never been troubled by tests? Yeah, some people are lucky like that. But for most of us, taking tests can cause a lot of icky feelings and sensations, such as: trouble concentrating; low selfesteem; being nervous or anxious; feeling depressed or down on yourself; nausea ,indigestion, diarrheas ,or other stomach problems; racing heartbeat or trouble breathing; trouble sleeping; sweaty or cold hands.
Spend a moment thinking about a test you have to take. Does it bring on any of these feelings? If so, that might mean you're having some trouble dealing with the stress of the test.
Now that we know what stress feels like, let's talk about where test stress comes from. Here are a few of the biggest causes of test stress:
*Pressure from yourself.It's important to do your best and study hard, but if you feel like you just can't stop pushing yourself to prepare or that you won't be happy with anything but a high grade, that pressure can't be hard to handle.
*Pressure from parents and teachers.Most parents want to see great report cards, and they can start pushing when test time comes around. For teachers, many schools want to show high test grades from their students. So they have high expectations for the teachers, who then have high expectations for the students!
*Competition with friends.You love your best friends, but she's always asking you how you did in the test you both just took. This is normal, but can add to some of the pressure you're already feeling.
*Past experience.If you had a bad time with a test in the past, or if you've done poorly in one or more tests, you could feel anxious about the next one.
*Negative thinking.If you're convinced you're going to fail, or you keep beating yourself up with thoughts like"I'm not smart enough"or"I never do well," this can add to a lot of stress.
*Rumor. Sometimes, other students can spread rumors about a rest. Rumores like "That teacher's tests are totally impossible to pass!" can make you a lot more nervous. | high18748.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "you will be likely to get a certificate"
},
"options": [
"you will be likely to get a certificate",
"you will not obtain a visa extension",
"you may be reported to the Student Office",
"you may not he able to get a cert... | Jackson Language School Summer
Opening and Closing Times
The Jackson Language School is open each day except Sunday. There is an English Corner also available from 6:00pm--9:00pm at the Bellevue Hall across from the school.[:Zxxk.Com]
Class Size
Classes have a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 16 in one class. Classes are equipped with earphones and an electronically controlled listening.
Teachers
Teachers are all experienced and have a minimum of 2 years' experience and at least a certificate in teaching English as a Second Language. They are all available for tutoring if you need it.
Location
The school is located 15 minutes from central London at 34 Inverleith Row, next to the Marks and Spencer shopping Centre. It is near a bus shop and only a 5 minutes' walk from the Tube.
Attendance
Students on student visas are expected to attend regularly. Students who are absent more than 60% of the time will be reported to the Student Office. Moreover, if students attend less than 80%, they will not be able to get a certificate form Jackson School. It is also required by the Student Office for visa extension.
Home stay
You are able to stay with a British family if you request so. Jackson has a home stay program that matches students and families according to their own requirements and needs. While generally no problems occur, students may move from a home stay household if he or she gives a 2-week written notice to the home stay family school.
Language Policy
As the course is an immersion program, students are expected to speak English the entire time they are at the school. If they speak any language other than English at the school, they may be asked to leave the school for a day. | high10314.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "industry"
},
"options": [
"industry",
"agriculture",
"families",
"businesses"
],
"question": "In developed countries, most water is used by _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": ... | Clean water is not only important for food production, but necessary for our life. However, large numbers of people in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are going without. The World Health Organization reports that almost 4,000 children die each day for dirty water or lack of water.
Agriculture is the primary user of water at 70-85% of fresh water in the world. Industrial uses of water don't often come to mind, but you may be surprised to know that industry uses 59% of the water supply in developed countries.
Home use takes up only 8% in the world. But as cities grow, the local government has to cut down on water use. Many cities are turning to privatization of water as a method of controlling use. The poor are paying as much as a quarter of their monthly income for water in some developing countries.
In 60% of large European cities, groundwater is being used at a faster rate. People are saving water by simply using less and being careful with what they do use. Sometimes it's as simple as not throwing out water that they could use elsewhere.
In Australia overuse of water has always been a problem. The Australian government has encouraged households and industries to collect rainwater and reuse water from showers. Technology is helping householders for shower and bath water for reuse in toilets or gardens.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made a water saving program designed to encourage families and businesses to examine their water use and save more water. Good water management has been considered by scientists and the UN as the key to solving the water problem. We can all work together to protect our valuable water in our daily life. | high18990.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "enjoys carving ice outdoors in the winter"
},
"options": [
"loves sand sculpture more than ice sculpture",
"sculpts ice in a large freezer in the summer",
"worked as an ice sculptor in the beginning",
"enjoys carving ic... | Jamie Wardley is a special kind of artist - an ice sculptor. He first trained as a sand sculptor. Later, he learned about ice sculpture. Now he does sand sculpture in the summer. And in the winter, he sculpts ice.
When sculpting ice, Wardley has to work in cold temperatures. If the weather is cold enough, he can work outside. But winter in the United Kingdom is not always very cold. So often he works in a large freezer where the temperature is about -12degC.
Wardley enjoys sculpting ice outside in the winter. When he sculpts in the open air, people can watch. They can be part of the creative process.
Wardley makes ice sculpting sound simple. But the tools Wardley uses are sharp and dangerous. And the ice is very heavy. Each block of ice weighs 120 kilos. And some larger sculptures are made from several combined blocks of ice. Sometimes ice sculptures can be as big as buildings. In Kemi, Finland there is an ice hotel called the Snow Castle. Each year, Wardley helps build the Snow Castle.
Inside the Snow Castle, the temperature is -50C. Even the dining tables are made of ice. So you have to wear winter clothes when eating and wear a hat when sleeping. "The ice hotel is built every year in January. Then it melts in April. Each year we rebuild it and create a new design," Wardley said.
The Snow Castle is a large and amazing work of ice, but Wardley's smaller ice sculptures are special too. One winter, in the city of Bradford, UK, Wardley created several small sculptures. He used the sculptures to tell a story which contained an important message about good will and understanding.
Ice sculptures are temporary works of art. When the temperature rises, they will melt. But that does not mean that their beauty is lost. The sculptures from that day in Bradford have now melted away, but their message of good will, understanding, and acceptance remains. | high19456.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a city council member"
},
"options": [
"an experienced teacher",
"a working parent",
"an inspired student",
"a city council member"
],
"question": "The passage is probably written by _ .",
... | Holidays are really important. Many of us will have childhood memories of summer holidays where we were taken away from home to experience new environments and learn in different ways.
But holidays are expensive and, for those on low wages or living on benefits, they are often unobtainable. Even the cheapest holidays require travel and other additional costs that are difficult for many families to meet.
For working parents, the long summer break can be a very difficult problem for childcare. When an annual leave allowance amounts to only five weeks, there is a need to spread this across the year. Couples can find themselves taking leave in turn in order to care for children who are on holiday. For some this makes even an affordable family holiday difficult.
The schools that I visit in Nottingham are full of experienced staff committed to giving our children a caring and inspiring learning environment. The number of children receiving free school meals is quite large in Nottingham and many schools have breakfast clubs to make sure that children get a healthy start to the day. Most schools undertake programs of group or individual educational support. Schools also have an important role in safeguarding children's welfare through the ongoing touch and support with their pupils. During the long summer holidays, much of this is missed.
While teachers are holidaying in the UK, many of their pupils spend the whole six weeks on the street where they live. The lack of free school meals for six weeks can result in pressure on a family budget and an inability to afford the inspiring experiences that help children to continue their learning.
In setting out its plans for a five-term year, Nottingham City Council is seeking to reduce the summer holiday down to four and a half weeks, with a more balanced five terms of roughly eight weeks, each followed by a two-week break. We believe this will give real "down time" for school staff and pupils alike but will be short enough not to cause a real break in learning.
We acknowledge that this change may be difficult for some school staff, particularly whose own children are educated in other authorities. However, this must be weighed against the benefits for city children for whom we all have the greatest duty of care. Ks5u | high16765.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They won't risk causing cancer."
},
"options": [
"They will risk doing harm to passengers.",
"They use ionizing radiation heavily.",
"Their radiation is extremely high.",
"They won't risk causing cancer."
],
"qu... | The European Union on Monday prohibited the use of X-ray body scanners in European airports, parting ways with the U. S. Transportation Security Administration, which has used hundreds of the scanners as a way to screen millions of airline passengers for explosives hidden under clothing.
The European Commission, which enforces common policies of the EU's 27 member countries, adopted the rule "in order not to risk doing harm to citizens' health and safety."
As a ProPublica/PBS NewsHour investigation detailed earlier this month, X-ray body scanners use ionizing radiation ,a form of energy that has been shown to damage DMA and cause cancer. Although the amount of radiation is extremely low, equal to the radiation a person would receive in a few minutes of flying, several research studies have concluded that a small number of cancer cases would result from scanning hundreds of millions of passengers a year.
European countries will be allowed to use an alternative body scanner relying on radio frequency waves, which have not been linked to cancer. The U. S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has also used hundreds of those machines --known as millimeter-wave scanners --in U. S. airports. But unlike Europe, it has decided to use both types of scanners.
The TSA would not comment specifically on the EU 's decision. But in a statement, TSA spokesman Mike McCarthy said, "As one of our many layers of security, TSA uses the most advanced technology available to provide the best opportunity to detect dangerous items, such as explosives.
" We strictly test our technology to ensure it meets our high detection and safety standards before it is placed in airports," he continued. "Since January 2010, advanced imaging technology has detected more than 300 dangerous or illegal items on passengers in U. S. airports nationwide."
Body scanners have been controversial in the United States since they were first used in prisons in the late 1990s and then in airports for tests after 9/11. | high19330.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "speak it often"
},
"options": [
"listen to it on the radio",
"learn it from books",
"play games with it",
"speak it often"
],
"question": "In the author's opinion , the only way to learn a language well is to _... | English is a very interesting language. It has borrowed words from many other languages. Immigrants coming into the United States have contributed many words to the language, which have kept their original pronunciation. "Coolie" and "kowtow" were taken from the Chinese language, "kamikaze from the Japanese, "shampoo" from India, "blitz" from German, "amigo" and "Los Angeles" from Spanish and so on.
Many students have studied English for years, some as many as eight. However, some students still have difficulty in speaking fluent English. Some know many words but are unable to _ them when native speakers use them. In our Oral English classes we will focus on speaking and listening to native English speakers. For this reason, because we are trying to train your ears to hear English and your mouths to speak intelligible English, we will have a rule that ONLY ENGLISH will be spoken in our English classes. Anyone speaking Chinese in class will be required to pay a fine in order to encourage the speaking and understanding of English. If teachers enter a classroom and discover that anyone is speaking Chinese, they will require everyone in the room to pay the fine. It is everyone's job to enforce the English-Only rule. It is for your benefit. It is because we want to accustom your ears to hearing English.
Other subjects may be learned solely from books but the only way to learn a foreign language is to SPEAK IT! Students are often nervous about speaking in class at first but we hope to make the classes fun, so you will forget your nervousness and learn to speak out. Enjoy your classes. | high4.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Two new studies prove running without shoes is beneficial to runners in most cases."
},
"options": [
"Walking in high heels could cause less serious effects than running barefoot.",
"Two new discoveries encourage people to run in h... | Two new studies suggest that modern running shoes could increase the risk of injuries to runners.
One study involved sixty-eight healthy young women and men who ran at least twenty-four kilometers a week. The runners were observed on a treadmill machine . Sometimes they wore running shoes. Other times they ran barefoot .
Researchers from the JKM Technologies company in Virginia, the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado did the study.
They found that running shoes create more stress that could damage knees, hips and ankle joints than running barefoot. They observed that the effect was even greater than the effect reported earlier for walking in high heels.
The study appeared in the official scientific journal of The American Academy of Physical Medicine.
The other study appeared in the journal Nature. It compared runners in the United States and Kenya. The researchers were from Harvard University in Massachusetts, Moi University in Kenya and the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
They divided the runners into three groups. One group had always run shoeless. Another group had always run with shoes. And the third group had changed to shoeless running.
Runners who wear shoes usually come down heel first. That puts great force on the back of the foot. But the study found that barefoot runners generally land on the front or middle of their foot. That way they ease into their landing and avoid striking their heel.
Harvard's Daniel Lieberman led the study. He says the way most running shoes are designed may explain why those who wear them land on their heels. The heel of the shoe is bigger and heavier than other parts of the shoe, so it would seem more likely to come down first. Also, the heel generally has thick material under it to soften landings.
But the researchers do not suggest that runners immediately start running barefoot. They say it takes some training. And there can be risks, like running when your feet are too cold to feel if you get injured.
The study was partly supported by Vibram, which makes a kind of footwear that it says is like running barefoot. The findings have gotten a lot of attention. But the researchers say there are many problems in the way the press has reported in their paper. So they have tried to explain their findings on a Harvard Website. | high5882.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To help develop good communication between school and home."
},
"options": [
"To improve the relationship between teacher and parents.",
"To explain to parents the change of the school curriculum.",
"To report students' misdo... | However important we may regard school life to be, we can't ignore the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom. Therefore the great influence of parents can't be ignored or discounted by the teacher. They can become strong supports of the school or they can consciously or unconsciously prevent the school from accomplishing its aims.
Administrators have been aware of the need to _ the newer methods used in schools. Many principals have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness program and developmental math.
Moreover, the classroom teacher can also play an important role in explaining to parents what they should do. The informal tea and the many interviews carried on during the year, as well as new ways of reporting pupils' progress, can significantly aid the interchanged of ideas between school and home.
Suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent change his method. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing he family budget, buying the food, using a measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.
If the father follows the advice, it is reasonable to assume that he will soon realize his son is making satisfactory progress in math and at the same time, enjoying the work.
Too often, however, teachers' conferences with parents are devoted to unimportant accounts of children's wrongdoing, complaints about laziness and poor work habits, and suggestions for punishments and rewards at home.
What is needed is a more creative approach in which the teacher, as a professional advisor, plants ideas in parents' minds for the best use of the many hours that the child spends out of the classroom. In this way, the school and the home join forces in fostering the fullest development of youngsters' competence. | high10472.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because the instructor know exactly the girl's strengths and weaknesses"
},
"options": [
"Because three months' training isn't long enough for her to learn a new move",
"Because the instructor thought the girl didn't have the abili... | A young girl decided to study judo despite the fact that she had lost her left arm in a car accident. The girl began lessons with an old Japanese judo instructor. The girl was doing well. So she couldn't understand why, after three months of training, the instructor had taught her only one move.
"Instructor," the girl finally said, "Shouldn't I be learning more moves?"
"This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you'll ever need to know," the instructor replied. Not quite understanding, but believing in her teacher, the girl kept training.
Several months later, the instructor took the girl to her first tournament . Surprising herself, the girl easily won her first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, her opponent became impatient. The girl used her one move to win the match. Still amazed by her success, the girl was now in the finals.
This time, her opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the girl appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the girl might get hurt, the referee called a time-out . She was about to stop the match when the instructor intervened .
"No," the instructor insisted, "Let her continue."
Soon after the match restarted, her opponent made an important mistake: she dropped her guard. Instantly, the girl used her move to defeat her opponent. The girl had won the match and the tournament. She was the champion.
On the way home, the girl and her teacher reviewed every move in each match. Then the girl asked what was really on her mind.
"Instructor, how did I win the tournament with only one move?"
"You won for two reasons," the teacher answered. "First, you've almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your left arm." | high21877.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He was ashamed of his dirty clothes and identity as a thief."
},
"options": [
"He was frightened to be recognized by the pastor",
"He was not welcomed by those singing in the church.",
"He was ashamed of his dirty clothes and... | One morning in Philadelphia, the sun shone bright through all the thick jungles and the tall churches. John, 6, wearing the worn-out clothes, walked from afar, his dark small hands holding a piece of stolen bread.
John stopped for a moment at the entrance to the sacred church and then left tightlyholding the bread,
He was an orphan , whose parents were killed in World War Illeaving him alonein the orphanage for five years, Like many children in the orphanage, he had a lot of free time. Mostly no one took care of them, so they had to learn how to steal those they wanted.
John believed the existence of God, so every Sunday morning in any case be would go to the cburch to have a look and listen to those people singing inside or reciting the Bible.He felt only at this moment he was the child of God and so close to God. But he couldn'tenter because his clothes were so dirty. John himself knew it.
John was quietly counting. This was his 45th Sunday at the entrance to the church. He stood on tiptoe for a while and walked away.
As time passed, the pastor noticed John and learned from others that he was thesmall boy who liked stealing things in the orphanages.
On the 46th Sunday, the sun was shining and John came still holding a piece of bread with his dark small hands. When he just stood there, the pastor came out. He felt like running away, but he was carried by the pastor's friendly smile.
The pastor walked up to his side, clearly seeing John's small hands tremble.
"Are you John?"
John didn't answer, but looked at the pastor and nodded.
"Do you believe in God?" the pastor petted John on his head stained with dust.
"Yes,l do!" This time John told him loudly.
"So you believe in yourself?"
John looked at the pastor, without a word.
The pastor went on saying, "At the first sight of you, I find you're different from other kids because you have a good heart."
His face tunung red, John said timidly, "In fact, I'm a thief." With that, he loweredhis head.
The pastor didn't speak, but held John's dark small hands, slowly opened them andput them against his wrinkled face.
"Ah:" Just at the same time, John shouted and was about to take out his dark smallhands. Yet the pastor tightly held his small hands and spread them out in the sun.
"Do you see, John?"
"What?"
"You're cupping the sunshine in your hands."
John blankly looked at his hands: when did they become so beautiful?
"In God's eyes, all cluldren are the same. When they are willing to spread out their hands to greet the sun, the sun will naturally shine on them. And you have two things more than they do. First is courage and the second is kindness." With that, the pastor led him into the church. It was the first time that John went into this sacred place, and at this moment he didn't feel inferior, but the unspeakable warmth.
On that morning embracing the sunshine, John found himself again, along with the confidence, satisfaction, happiness, dreams he had never had.
Twenty years have passed. Now the boy who ever tightly held the bread with his dirt hands has been the most famous chefin Philadelphia and made many popular dishes.
Every Sunday morning, he would personally send the bread he baked to the orphanage. Those children who greeted him with cheers were used to consciously spreading their palms before they got the bread.
Because they all knew when we are willing to spread out our hands to greet thesunshine, the sun will naturally shine on us. | high2135.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "An exciting day at a Police Department."
},
"options": [
"An exciting day at a Police Department.",
"Robbery is a high priority.",
"How the police saved the woman.",
"The 911 Communication Center."
],
"question"... | In high school, all Canadian students take part in a very exciting event. It is "Take Your Children to Work Day". Students will have a chance to work with their parents. My day took place in my mom's work, the York Region Police Department.
When I arrived, a coach was teaching the officers basic combat skills. Everyone tried their best to practice. I could see them sweating and panting .
The most exciting part of my visit was a stop at the 911 Communication Center. 911 is the same as 110,119 and 120 in China. Every 911 call in the city is answered here. When I entered the center, I stood beside a call dispatcher arid watched him dealing-with the calls.
Suddenly, the phone rang, he picked it up and a woman cried for help. There was a robbery in her house. The call dispatcher told her, "Please calm down and move to the safe place quietly. Don't fight with them. Just let them take what they want. Please make sure you are not hurt. We are sending officers there."
He followed the call and found the address. The call dispatcher chose the five closest police cars from the satellite map and clicked to send the policemen. I saw the police cars from the satellite map were quickly moving to the woman's house. Five minutes later, they arrived .I asked the call dispatcher why he sent five cars. He said, "There are different levels of emergencies. Robbery is a high priority ,so we have to send five cars." The day was interesting. I leaned how the different departments worked together. The officers were very friendly and admirable. | high14614.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "0."
},
"options": [
"250,000.",
"29.",
"2.",
"0."
],
"question": "How many people were killed in the New Zealand earthquake on September 4, 2010?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer":... | The City of Christchurch, New Zealand was struck by a 7.1magnitude earthquake on the early morning of Saturday, September 4, 2010.
No tsunami alert was reported. The country's army troops were on standby to assist victims and disaster recovery operation. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, flew to the affected area to inspect and assess the situation of the damaged city. The Prime Minister said that the full assessment of the damages would possibly take months to know the severity of damages. Based from his assessment on what he saw in the area, it could cost at least 2 billion New Zealand dollars or US$1.4 billion for reconstruction.
"An absolute miracle that no one died," Prime Minister John Key said. Two were seriously injured from this quake and thousands of local residents were awakened after being shaken at 4:35 a.m. of that Saturday.
There were people trapped inside the damaged buildings but fortunately none were reported dead from the rubble of the damaged buildings.
"We're all feeling scared--we've just had some significant aftershocks," a survivor told TV One News. "Tonight we're just people in the face of a massive natural disaster, trying to help each other and we're grateful we haven't lost a life."
GNS Science reported 29 aftershocks within the 14 hours after the quake, with strength from magnitude 3.7 to 5.4.
_ . The country experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year--but only about 150 are felt by people.
"Many buildings here were built with earthquake protection measure. However, in most cities in developing countries, people build how they want to and there're no building controls to force them to build to a higher standard that's safe," Andrew Charleson, an architecture professor at Victoria University of Wellington told CNN. | high9060.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To shorten the delivery period."
},
"options": [
"To predict the sales volume.",
"To check the delivery service.",
"To shorten the delivery period.",
"To remind people to order online."
],
"question": "For what ... | Lots of people buy books and products from Amazon, an online seller. They offer and pay over the Internet and the books are shipped through the mail or a delivery service like FedEx.
One day, people could get their Amazon deliveries from an "unmanned aerial vehicle"--a timely vehicle that looks like a toy helicopter. And instead of waiting days to get the parcel, it could be at the buyer's home in half an hour or less. The company is working on a fleet of tiny vehicles they call "Prime Air". The vehicles are also known as "octocopters". On their website, Amazon says, "One day, Prime Air Vehicles will be as normal as seeing a mail trucks on the road today."
The U.S.'s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working on safety regulations for unmanned flying vehicles like the Prime Air copters. Those regulations will make sure the copters are able to fly safely where they need to go. Once the FAA has put its rules in place, which could be as early as 2016, Amazon will be ready with its fleet of tiny flyers. The process could take as many as five years.
The new delivery service would likely be available only in the United States, at first. The copters the company is testing now can handle packages up to five pounds (2.3kg) and they have a range of 10 miles (16 kilometers).
Other companies are also looking at using unmanned flying vehicles to deliver their products. For instance, Domino's Pizza in the U.K. released a video showing a "DomiCopter", delivering a pizza. That video may have been a publicity stunt . In any case, just like Prime Air's octocopters, the DomiCopters don't have clearance to take off just yet. | high12265.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "drawing a conclusion through research"
},
"options": [
"drawing a conclusion through research",
"comparing opinions from different fields",
"providing typical examples",
"presenting a cause and analyzing its effects"
... | If you want to avoid making impulse and unnecessary purchases,then just keep your hands away from tempting products. According to new research,individuals who touch possible items in stores are more likely to have an increased desire to purchase them than those who keep their hands off the products.
Suzanne Shu and Joann Peck,marketing professors at the University of Wisconsin's business school conducted studies on the connection between touch and feelings of ownership and the effect of perceived ownership on the value placed on an object. For one of the experiments,the experts placed two products,a Slinky toy and a coffee mug in front of the volunteers who were undergraduate students. About half of the participants were allowed to touch the products,while the other half were asked not to touch them. The volunteers then were asked to express their sense of ownership of the products and to report how much money they were willing to pay for each. The results showed that those students who were allowed to touch the objects,reported significant increased levels of perceived ownership. They also expressed a desire to pay more money to obtain the products.
The investigators also discovered that a sense of very pleasant feelings when touching products,determined how much money consumers were willing to pay. However,if the object did not feel pleasant to the touch,it significantly decreased the amount the buyers were willing to pay.
Researchers said that many stores have already followed the right path. But what can be done while shopping online,when touching of an item is not possible? In this case,the experts say,just picturing in mind that they are touching it and then owning it,will cause greater feelings of ownership,and thus the consumers will be more likely to make a purchase.
When you touch an object,you immediately feel some kind of a connection to it,according to the researchers. That connection stirs up an emotional reaction. And that emotion can make people buy something they would never even consider buying if they had not touched it. | high21687.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Japan"
},
"options": [
"America",
"Japan",
"Germany",
"Netherlands"
],
"question": "Laws on smoking bans in public places are going stricter in .",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answ... | Smoking bans in public places are linked with falls in childhood asthma attacks and preterm births , according to the biggest analysis of the influence of public smoking bans on child health. The finding should remove fears that such laws could have the opposite effect because they may lead people to smoke more at home.
Several countries, such as Japan and Australia, have tightened laws on smoking in public places over the last few years. Meanwhile, some countries, such as the Netherlands and Germany, still allow smoking in pubs and restaurants. Only about half of US states have comprehensive bans, and there are few restrictions in poorer nations.
Opponents often claim that bans could result in people smoking more at home, which would be worse for their children's health. Asthma is one of the main concerns as second-hand smoke harms children's airways in several ways.
Researchers led by Jasper Been at Maastricht University Medical Centre reviewed as many as 11 studies that examined how hospital admissions for childhood asthma and preterm births changed after smoking bans came in. The studies involved more than 2.5 million births, and nearly 250,000 hospital admissions for asthma.
The result shows that both asthma admissions and preterm birth rates fell by about 10 percent within a year after smoking restrictions were carried out. The effect on preterm births could also have been caused by pregnant women being more likely to quit or cut down following a public ban, says Been. But Been also says the studies could not completely prove that smoking bans directly caused these changes. However, as a matter of fact, because the analysis included several smoking bans introduced in different countries in different years, and most saw health improvements.
Such findings are useful for countries and states where there is ongoing debate about how strict smoking bans should be, especially as hospital care for premature babies is so expensive. This might be one of the most important things to know in order to strengthen legislation .
Other studies have shown that rates of heart attack and stroke also tend to fall after smoking bans are introduced. | high19318.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "managers"
},
"options": [
"customers",
"salesmen",
"researchers",
"managers"
],
"question": "The text is designed for _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3... | As societies develop, their members start to see things not so much according to what they need, but according to what they want. When people have enough money, these wants become demands.
Now, it' s important for the managers in a company to understand what their customers want if they are going to develop effective marketing strategies . There are various ways of doing this. One way at supermarkets, for example, is to interview customers while they're doing their shopping. They can be asked what they prefer to buy and then the results of the research can be studied. This provides information on which to base future marketing strategies. It' s also quite normal for top managers from department stores to spend a day or two each month visiting stores and mixing freely with the public, as if they were ordinary customers, to get an idea of how customers act.
Another way to get information from customers is to give them something. For example, some fast food restaurants give away tickets in magazines or on the street that permit customers to get part of their meal for nothing. As well as being a good way of attracting customers into the restaurants to spend their money, it also allows the managers to get a feel for where to attract customers and which age-groups to attract.
Another strategy used at some well-known parks such as Disneyland is for top managers to spend at least one day in their work, touring the park dressed as Mickey Mouse or something like that. This provides them with a perfect chance to examine the scene and watch the customers without being noticed. | high3203.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "I disobeyed his rules in class"
},
"options": [
"I didn't go to his class",
"I was naughty in my homework",
"I didn't answer his questions",
"I disobeyed his rules in class"
],
"question": "Mr.Oven criticized me... | When I was in junior high school, I was really a bad boy.My history teacher--Mr.Oven criticized me a lot because I was naughty in his class.By the end of the first semester, I'd had enough of his words and had decided that I would get my revenge on him.
The opportunity arose one morning when Mr.Oven was called to the office for a certain reason.While Mr.Oven left, my company Billy and I took Mr.Oven's lunch bag from under his desk.I opened his sandwich and placed a worm in between the two slices of breaD. We put it back and closed it.To keep it in memory, Billy took photos of the whole process.We laughed for weeks over this.
_ .Billy's mother found the pictures in his room, and demanded that he should tell her where these pictures were from.Billy told his mother the whole story, and Mr.Oven was informeD. Not only was I punished from school for two weeks, but also I was kicked off the football and basketball team.Before I could return to school, I had to turn in a 1000-word essay on what I did and why I did that.I really felt embarrassed every time I saw Mr.Oven in the hallway for the rest of the school year.I felt a little regret that Mr.Oven left our school the next year. | high11744.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "How to tip in theUnited Statesis not complicated."
},
"options": [
"Quality of service determines tipping in theUS.",
"Americans don't tip in non fast-food restaurants.",
"Tipping inUSupmarknt restarts is unnecessary.",
... | From Mr. Ward Hoffman.
Sir, I was halfway through Professor Raj Persaud's article "What's the tipping point?"
(Financial Times Weekend, April 9-l0) when it occurred to me that what I was reading was not ironic . If Prof Persaud wants to know why Americans tip in restaurants, he need only ask the first American he meets inprefix = st1 /London.
Americans tip in restaurants for one reason, and one reason only: we tip to supplement the salary of restaurant workers. Quality of service does not enter into it, beyond the fact that one may tip a bit less for poor service, or a little more for good service.
Not tipping at all in a non-fast-food restaurant is not a choice. In the US, one used to tip about 15 per cent for dining in a family-style restaurant or in an up-market restaurant. Here, in San FranciscoBayarea restaurants, we are encouraged to tip 20 per cent or more, to help restart workers live in this very expensive area.
After eating at an Italian restart in my city, I left a tip of 20 per cent on the non-tax part of our dinner bill. It was expected. There is nothing more complicated than that about Americastipping in restaurants.
Ward Hoffman,
Palo Alto, CA94306,US
* * *
From Mr. Philip McBride Johnson.
Sir, I agree with most of Raj Persaud's opinion about the doubtful value of tipping, but with one exception. Tips can be very useful when one is a repeat customer or diner.
It is only when the tipper is a stranger and likely to remain so that the system does not work to his or her advantage. But frequent a hotel or a restaurant, always tip a bit more, and the difference in service and treatment will be easily felt.
Phfiip McBnde Johnson,
Great Falls, VA22066,US | high17335.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "she didn't know what the writer was saying ."
},
"options": [
"she didn't know what the writer was saying .",
"the writer didn't speak English",
"the writer spoke AE ,while the New Zealander spoke BE, and the word \"dormitory... | Once a New Zealand teacher asked where I live. "In the white building," I answered.
"At our university both girls and boys live in the same dormitory."I added.
Beyond my expectation , however, my attempt to show I am speaking American English(AE) turned out to be something else. The New Zealander seemed very puzzled at my answer.
With a half smile, she asked, "Really?Do they live in the same room?"
"Oh, no. They live in different rooms but in the same building." I reacted quickly.
Later I got to know the word "dormitory". In AE it means one building, whereas(,)it means one room in British English(BE).
The New Zealander misunderstood me because she spoke New Zealander English(NE), which, as we know, is much related to BE.
Nowadays, not a few English learners, who try to catch up with the fashion , choose to speak AE. Yet, the problem is that they cannot speak pure AE, but half AE and half BE instead. I think it necessary to keep one style in order to avoid misunderstanding.
51, Which of the following is right?
A. AE and BE are two different languages.
B. There are some differences between AE and BE.
C. New Zealanders speak BE.
D. New Zealanders cannot understand Americans.
52, What I said to the New Zealander is _ .
A .really pure AE B. really pure BE
C. half AE and half BE D. not English at all
53, According to the passage , _ .
A, few people speak AE B, more people speak BE
C, BE is becoming fashionable D, AE is becoming fashionable
54, The writer wrote the passage in order to _ .
A. tell us a funny story
B. warn us not to make mistakes
C. tell us the differences between AE and BE
D. encourage us to speak one style of English | high20599.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She didn't feel good."
},
"options": [
"She felt that the weather was very cold.",
"She didn't feel good.",
"Her body changed with the weather.",
"She liked the weather very much."
],
"question": "What does the ... | It was Andria Baker's high school graduation party, and the time had come for her father to make good on a promise that he had made her years ago, when she was a fourth-grader. "After you started on your first day of kindergarten and continue it through your last day of high school, and I'll buy you a car." Tim Baker had told the child.
Through the years, Andria Baker kept up her end of the bargain, willing herself to go to school on those days even when she felt under the weather. She did carry out her 13th year of uninterrupted coming to the classroom with her final day at Constantine High Sehool even when she was ill.
At Sunday's party, her father gave the young woman the keys to a new, $17 000 Pontiac G6. Tim Baker, who teaches seventh grade at prefix = st1 /ConstantineMiddle School, said he has no regrets about the deal. "Without a doubt, it was worth every penny I spent," he said. The look on his daughter's face when she saw the car was great. Baker said, "When she turned around after seeing the car, she did not know what to do. We got her into the car and she just sat there. Then she ran into the house to get her driver's license, and she and her best friend got in the car and drove down the road."
Andria Baker, 19, said she thinks she would have gone ahead with that even if a new car had not been promised her. "A lot of my friends thought I was crazy, but I just kept going." she said. Baker plans to go after an education degree at AlmaCollege.
"In my sophomore year I hurt my ankle in a basketball game, and it was really painful," she said. "Also that day I caught a cold and the teacher looked at me and said, 'I'm not the teacher who's going to send you home.'" | high18006.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She looked for its owner"
},
"options": [
"She looked for its owner",
"She gave it to Ann as a gift.",
"She sold it to the dollar store.",
"She bought some food for it."
],
"question": "What did Tracy do after f... | One morning, Ann's neighbor Tracy found a lost dog wandering around the local elementary school. She asked Ann if she could keep an eye on the dog. Ann said that she could watch it only for the day.
Tracy took photos of the dog and printed off 400 FOUND fliers , and put them in mailboxes. Meanwhile, Ann went to the dollar store and bought some pet supplies, warning her two sons not to fall in love with the dog. At the time, Ann's son Thomas was 10 years old, and Jack, who was recovering from a heart operation, was 21 years old.
Four days later Ann was still looking after the dog, whom they had started to call Riley. When she arrived home from work, the dog threw itself against the screen door and barked madly at her. As soon as she opened the door, Riley dashed into the boys' room where Ann found Jack suffering from a heart attack. Riley ran over to Jack, but as soon as Ann bent over to help him the dog went silent.
"If it hadn't come to get me, the doctor said Jack would have died," Ann reported to a local newspaper. At this point, no one had called to claim the dog, so Ann decided to keep it.
The next morning Tracy got a call. A man named Peter recognized his lost dog and called the number on the flier. Tracy started crying, and told him, "That dog saved my friend's son."
Peter drove to Ann's house to pick up his dog, and saw Thomas and Jack crying in the window. After a few moments Peter said, "Maybe Odie was supposed to find you, maybe you should keep it." | high9048.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because the master was in need of money"
},
"options": [
"Because the slaves didn't work at all.",
"Because the slaves could be well paid.",
"Because the master was badly ill",
"Because the master was in need of money"
... | A long time ago there lived a poor slave whose name was Aesop. His face was white, but very homely. When Aesop was about twenty nine years old ,his master lost a great deal of money and was determined to sell his slaves. To do this, he had to take them to a large city where there was a slave market.
The city was far away, and the slaves must walk the whole distance. A number of bundles were made up for them to carry. Some of these bundles contained the things they would need on the road. "Choose your bundles, boys," said the master. "There is one for each of you." Aesop at once chose the largest one. The other slaves laughed and said he was foolish. But he threw it upon his shoulders and seemed well satisfied. The next day, the laugh was the other way. For the bundle which he had chosen had contained the food for the whole party.
"Aesop is a wise fellow," said his master. "The man who buys him must pay a high price." A very rich man, whose name was Xanthus, wanted a servant. As the slaves stood before him he asked each one to tell what kind of work he could do. All were eager to be bought by Xanthus because they knew he would be a kind master. So each one boosted of his skill in doing some sort of labor. One was a fine gardener; another could take care of horses; a third was a good cook; a fourth could manage a household. "And what can you do, Aesop?" asked Xanthus. "Nothing," he answered. "Nothing? How is that?" "Because, since these other slaves do everything, there is nothing left for me to perform," said Aesop.
This answer pleased the rich man so well that he bought Aesop at once, and took him to his home on the island of Samos. In Samos the little slave soon became known for his wisdom and courage. He often amused his master and his master's friends by telling funny stories. His master was so much pleased with him that he gave him his freedom. | high13153.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the two companies were in great demand of money"
},
"options": [
"the two companies were in great demand of money",
"they were charge with illegally airing the entertainment series",
"the two companies created the country's l... | "There are no real friends or enemies in the business world". This saying may have been on the minds of bosses at China's main online video providers, Youku.com Inc and Tudou Holdings Ltd, when the one-time rivals agreed to merge on March 12. The deal will create the country's largest company in the online video industry, Youku Tudou Inc.
Three months ago, the two companies were involved in a copyright dispute. On December 12, Tudou charged Youku.com with illegally airing the entertainment series,Kangxi is coming. Tudou was the only company which had rights to the series. In response, Youku filed a lawsuit against Tudou, claiming the company was broadcasting more than 50 Youku-owned TV series.
According to analysts, the deal came out of the market battle between the two companies. Each spent so much money buying licensed content that they ended up _ last year. "Funding pressures are the main reason for the deal," said Shi Jialong, a Hong Kong-based analyst with CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets. "After the merger, there might be a fall in copyright purchase prices, which is good for the industry in the short term."
The new company will face competition from Web portals providing similar services. Youku owned 21.8 percent of Chin's online video market in the last quarter of last year and Tudou 13.7 percent, but Sohu.com followed close on the heels with 13.3 percent, according to domestic research company Analysys International.
Some analysts do not feel the deal will secure the market for Youku Tudou. Shi Yu, CEO of media company KU6, said the merger was unlikely to have a "one plus one more than two" effect. In his opinion, video-hosting sites need to find new ways of generation profit to succeed in the market. | high180.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Parents."
},
"options": [
"Children.",
"Parents.",
"Family.",
"Friends."
],
"question": "According to the passage, who should take care of the dog?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"ans... | Is your family interested in buying a dog? A dog can be a good friend to your family, but if you choose the wrong kind of dog, it can cause you a lot of trouble.
Families should sit down and discuss the problems before buying a dog.Even if the children in your family are the ones who want the dog,the parents are the ones who are really responsible for seeing that the animal is properly cared for.If you don't know much about dogs,it's a good idea to go to the library for books about different kinds of dogs,as well as books about how to train a young dog. Dogs of different kinds change in popularity as the years go by. One of the most popular dogs these days is the German shepherd . This is because it provides protection. The family should be warned that these dogs grow up to be very big, and may he too powerful for children, If your house is not big, a toy dog may be a good choice . These dogs are very small and easy to train. They don't need to be walked daily. | high7065.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Central Park on Saturday"
},
"options": [
"Central Park on Saturday",
"the ballgame outside",
"5:00 in the afternoon",
"the front entrance of City Hall"
],
"question": "You can probably eat Chinese,Italian,and A... | SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND
Captain Good Fellow
Do you enjoy interesting stories ,funny games and exciting dances? Captain Good Fellow will be ready to teach all these things to children of all ages at the City Theatre on Saturday morning at,10:00,free.
Walking Tour of the Town
Forget your worries on Saturday morning.Take a beautiful walk and learn about the local history.Meet at the front entrance of City Hall at 9:30.Wear comfortable shoes!
Films at the Museum
Two European films will be shown Saturday afternoon at the Museum Theatre.See Broken Window at 1:30.The Workers will be at 3:45. For further information,call 4987898.
International Picnic
Are you tired of eating the same food every day? Come to Central Park on Saturday and enjoy food from all over the world.Delicious and inexpensive.From noon to 5:00 P.m.
Take me out to the Ballgame
It's October,and tonight is the last chance to see the Redbirds his year.Get your tickets at the gate.It might be cold....Don't forget sweaters and jackets.
Do you want to hear "the Zoo"?
"The Zoo",the popular rock group from Australia,will give their first U.S.concert tomorrow night at 8 at Rose Hall,City College. | high15522.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "poster"
},
"options": [
"note",
"report",
"schedule",
"poster"
],
"question": "What you have just read is a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
... | Fun Day
To celebrate the Year of the snake
Organised by Lam Tin Youth Centre and Kwun Tong High School
Date: 2 February 2013
Time: 10 am--5 pm
Place: Kwun Tong Playground
Fee: $20 (buy three get one free)
Programmes: drama, lion dance, magic show and ballet performance
Highlights: 1) enter the lucky draw to win a digital camera
2) learn to make festival food
Join us on the Fun Day!
All are welcome!
Free Soft Drinks
Note:
* Tickets are available at the General Office of Lam Tin Youth Center
* For those who would like to be a volunteer, please contact Miss Olivia Wong one week before the activity. | high8356.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "\" Petroleum\" is a German word."
},
"options": [
"\" Petroleum\" is a German word.",
"\"Petroleum\" suggests \" coming from rocks\".",
"\" Petroleum\" isn't an English word in the original.",
"\"Petroleum\" is of Greek... | Petroleumis a very important mineral. It gives us heat and light. It gives us power for our cars, planes, and ships. Also, it gives us power for machines of all kinds.
How is petroleum formed? Scientists believe petroleum comes from the remains of plants and animals (Remains are what is left after a plant or animal has died.)
What exactly is petroleum? Petroleum is a mineral that is a mixture of hydrocarbons. It is an oily liquid, which may be brown, green, or black in colors. The word "petroleum" comes from Greek. It means "rock oil".
Crude (, ) oil is petroleum that comes directly from deep in the ground. It is then taken to a refinery. a refinery is a kind of factory to refine oil. At a refinery the crude oil is separated into many parts. From the refined petroleum we get important things, such as gasoline, kerosene, fertilizer, detergents and a lot of other useful things. In fact, there are thousands of such things that we can get. Petroleum really is of great value! | high7703.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life."
},
"options": [
"Intelligent children are more likely to become vegetarians later in life.",
"Children with a higher IQ are less likely to have heart diseas... | A Southampton University team found that people who were vegetarians by 30 had recorded five IQ points higher on average at the age of 10. Researchers said it could explain why people with a higher IQ were healthier as a vegetarian diet was connected to lower heart disease and obesity rates. The study of 8,179 people was reported in theBritishMedicalJournal.
Twenty years after the IQ tests were carried out in 1970, 366 of the participants said they were vegetarians -- although more than 100 reported eating either fish or chicken.
Men who were vegetarians had an IQ score of 106, compared with 101 for non-vegetarians; while female vegetarians averaged 104, compared with 99 for non-vegetarians. There was no difference in the IQ scores, between strict vegetarians and those who said they were vegetarians but reported eating fish or chicken.
Researchers said the findings were partly related to better education and higher class, but it remained statistically significant after adjusting for these factors.
Vegetarians were more likely to be female, to be of higher social class and to have higher academic or vocational qualifications than non-vegetarians. However, these differences were not reflected in their annual income, which was similar to that of non-vegetarians.
Lead researcher Catharine Gale said, "The findings that children with greater intelligence are more likely to report being vegetarians as adults, together with the evidence on the potential benefits of a vegetarian diet on heart health, may help to explain why a higher IQ in childhood or adolescence is linked with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease in adult life.
But Dr Frankie Phillips of the British Dietetic Association said," _ Do people become vegetarians because they have a very high IQ or is it just that they are clever enough to be more aware of health issues?" | high15244.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "strike them on the bottom"
},
"options": [
"strike them on the bottom",
"try to help them do the right thing",
"teach them what to do",
"take them to court"
],
"question": "According to the passage,when children... | Sometimes children do not do what their parents tell them to do.When this happens,a parent tries to help the child to do the right thing.When this does not work,the parent usually punishes the child.
There are many things that a parent can do.One thing that people have done is to spank the child.When a parent spanks a child, they will use their hand or a hard object to strike them on the bottom.This means showing the child that they have done something wrong.
One parent remembers being spanked when he was a child.His parents used a wooden spoon.When he spanked his own children with his hand, he saw that he put a red mark on his child's leg.He never did that again.
One problem with spanking is that it teaches the child to hit someone when they do not like what the other person is doing.Another problem with spanking is that the parent is usually angry and can hit the child too hard.Sometimes parents will use spanking for everything and not try other ways to get the child to do the right thing.
Many parents are not sure of what to do instead of spanking.Some people think that their religion tells them that spanking is okay.Some think that the law lets them do it.The courts say that parents have the right to teach their children how to behave.
Other things should be tried before a parent decides to spank a child.Telling the child exactly what is wanted from them can be one thing.Giving a child more than one choice is another thing that can be tried.Getting down to the child's level and taking a more child-friendly approach can help as well. | high13635.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To tell parents what sweets are less damaging to their children's teeth."
},
"options": [
"To discuss how cavities can be treated.",
"To point out the problems with Halloween celebrations.",
"To tell parents what sweets are l... | Most American kids love Halloween treats, but a bucket of Halloween candy can be a dentist's nightmare. Some parents try to get rid of half of the candy after their children go to bed, but dentists say parents also need to separate the good kinds of treats from the bad.
It is not exactly what a child eats that truly matters, but how much time it stays in his mouth. According to pediatric dentist Dr. Kaneta Lott, the most damaging stuff is something that is sticky or very hard and thus stays in the mouth for a long time. This is because we all have bacteria in our mouths. When we eat, the bacteria take our food as their food and produce an acid that destroys the surface of the teeth, causing cavities to form. The longer the food stays in the mouth, the more likely cavities will develop. Therefore, potato chips are worse than candy because they get stuck between teeth. For the same reason, raisins and crackers are not the best choice. Hard candies take a long time to consume and are also a bad choice for Halloween treats.
If children really love candy, dentists recommend that they eat chocolate instead. Unlike hard candies, chocolate dissolves quickly in the mouth. Besides, chocolate contains tannins, which help to kill some of the bacteria in the mouth. But no matter what a child eats, brushing after each meal is still the best way to fight cavities. | high24099.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He felt it was worth a try."
},
"options": [
"He felt it was worth a try.",
"He was very fond of it.",
"He was strongly against it.",
"He thought it must be painful."
],
"question": "What was the writer's attitu... | For a while, my neighborhood was taken ever by an army of joggers. They were there all the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. "Come on!" My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. "You'll feel great."
Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army, I'm not alone in my opinion.
First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet need a real pounding running down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging doesn't kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring _ out, as they did with me.
Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn't my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, "I love being out there with just my thoughts" Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.
And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn't just the first week: it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn't fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?
I don't jog any more, and I don't think I ever will. I'm walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I'm getting exercise, and I'm enjoying it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I've found a lot of better ways to stay in shape. | high1372.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "wrong"
},
"options": [
"wrong",
"right",
"doubtful",
"possible"
],
"question": "The writer thinks the statement\"taking vitamins would reduce the risk of lung cancer,is_.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | If you thought taking vitamins would reduce the risk of lung cancer, think again.
Researchers who studied 77,721 people said on Friday that people who took too much vitamin E,especially smokers,had a small but higher risk of developing lung cancer.
They tracked the subjects'use of multi-vitamins,vitamin C and vitamin E to see if it offered protection from lung cancer.But they found that none of the vitamins was tied to a reduced risk.
"If you could find some sort of magic pill--a pill you could take once a day to decrease your risk--that would be wonderful.But unfortunately.we didn't find that in our study,"lead researcher Christopher Slatore,of the University of Washington Seattle,said.
The subjects of the study were followed for four years,and 521 developed lung cancer,the majority of them smokers or former smokers,Slatore's team reported in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Among those in the study who developed lung cancer, the researchers saw a small increased risk related with vitamin E supplements in addition to the expected connections to smoking,family history and age.
This added up to a 28 percent increased risk of developing lung cancer for those taking 400 mg of vitamin E supplements daily for 10 years,the researchers said.
"For people--especially smokers--I suggest that they not take vitamin E(as a supplement) unless they have a very strong reason to take it." Slatore said.
The idea that vitamin supplements are healthful,or at least not harmful.comes from the desire of many people to match the benefits of a healthful diet with a convenient pill,Tim Byers of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.wrote in an essay. | high17453.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because his tent was out of the wolves' estate boundaries."
},
"options": [
"Because his tent was out of the wolves' estate boundaries.",
"Because the author and the wolves were already good friends.",
"Because they did not k... | During the next several weeks I went completely to the wolves. I took a tiny tent and set it up on the shore of bay. The big telescope was set up in the mouth of the tent in such a way that I could observe the wolves by day or night.
Quite by accident I had pitched (set up) my tent within ten yards of one of the major paths used by the wolves. Shortly after I had taken up residence one of the wolves came back and discovered me and my tent, but he did not stop or hesitate in his pace. Later, one or more wolves used the track past my tent and never did they show the slightest interest in me. I felt uncomfortable at being so totally ignored. The next day I noticed a male wolf make boundary markers by passing water on the rounds of his family lands.
Once I had become aware of the strong feeling of property rights which existed among the wolves, I decided to use this knowledge to make them at least recognize my existence. One evening, after they had gone off for their regular nightly hunt I staked out a property of my own, including a long section of the wolves' path. In order to ensure that my claim would not be overlooked, I made a property mark on stones, dumps of moss, and patches of vegetation with a lot of tea. Before the hunters came back, task was done, and I retired, somewhat exhausted, to observe results. A few minutes later, the leading male appeared. As usual he did not bother to glance at the tent, but when he reached the point where my property line intersected (cut across) the trail , he stopped as suddenly as if he had run into an invisible wall.
Cautiously, he extended his nose and sniffed at one of my marked bushes. After a minute of hesitation he backed away a few yards and sat down. Then, he looked directly at the tent and at me.
His glare seemed to become more fierce as I attempted to stare him down. The situation was becoming intolerable. To break the impasse I turned my back on the wolf. Then quickly and with an air of decision, he turned his attention away from me and began a systematic tour of the area I had staked out as my own. As he came to each boundary marker he sniffed it once or twice, then carefully placed his mark on the outside of mine. | high5114.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he wanted to throw it back into the sea at first."
},
"options": [
"he thought it would bring him good luck.",
"he noticed the postcard inside immediately.",
"he decided to uncover the secret of the bottle.",
"he wanted... | In April 2014, the world's oldest known message in a bottle was discovered floating in the Baltic Sea. It had spent 101years lost in the ocean! The message was finally sent to the author's granddaughter.
A German fisherman named Konrad Fischer found the brown bottle near Kiel, Germany. He said he nearly threw the bottle back into the water after pulling it out of a fishing net. Then he noticed something inside.
The bottle in good condition contained a Danish postcard with two German stamps, dated May 17, 1913. Although dampness had made most of the writing illegible , the readable part of the message asked whoever found it to return it to an address in Berlin. It even contained two stamps to pay for postage.
From the address, researchers found that the postcard was written by a man named Richard Platz, who was 20 years old when he wrote the message. While he was hiking on the Baltic coast with a nature appreciation group, he threw the bottle into the sea. Then the researcher began a research for any living s of his. Sure enough, they were able to find his 62-year-old grandfather, Angela Erdmann, who still lives in Berlin.
"It was almost unbelievable," Erdmann said upon being presented with her grandfather's bottle and message, as quoted in The Local. "That was a pretty moving moment. Tears rolled down my face."
Erdmann never knew her grandfather, who died in 1946, but says that the discovery of the bottle has made her want to learn more about him.
The bottle remained on display at the International Maritime Museum Hamburg until May 1. After that, the researchers examined the postcard and tried to figure out the meaning of the rest of the message.
Previously, the oldest message found in a bottle spent nearly 98 years at sea and was discovered in April 2012, according to Guinness World Records. | high18760.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "you have many choices about which horror films to see."
},
"options": [
"witches, ghosts, wizards and skeletons will come back to life.",
"you have many choices about which horror films to see.",
"you'd better sit behind a so... | What's Keeping You up at Night?
Which film would you like to see on the spookiest day of the year?
Well, it's that time of the year again; witches, ghosts, wizards and skeletons are supposed to come out in full force. Yes, Halloween --31st October, the spookiest day of the year is almost here.
There are so many things we can do to enjoy this supernatural day--sweets, fancy dress and of course watching scary films.
It's the perfect time for family and friends to watch horror films on the TV in the dark and maybe they are so frightened that they may try to find safety behind a sofa!
There are thousands of such films to choose from that it's hard for us to make choices. One of the most famous is 1970's release Carrie which may meet your needs perfectly. It's a tale of a girl being bullied at school by young women who live to regret it.
If you want to see films showing violence, blood and killing, then The Night of the Ling Dead and Evil Dead will provide more horrorable sights than one person can possibly manage.
For Hitchcock fans out there, Halloween is the perfect time to watch two of his best-known movies from the 1960's, Psycho and The Birds. Both have aged unbelievably well and still can keep the viewers on the edge of their seats with their very frightening effects.
However, not everyone wants to be frightened on Halloween night. Monsters Inc. is an animation film, set in a land where monsters exist and the strange characters are sure to bring a smile to the kids in the family.
Meanwhile, if you want to stay up all night, film series such as The Saw, Nightmare on prefix = st1 /Elm Streetand maybe Harry Potter are sure to keep you seated in the box for hours.
So turn off the lights, sit back and enjoy the movies that you have chosen, whether it is unpleasant or spooky.
But remember, don't have nightmares! | high16995.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "eager"
},
"options": [
"eager",
"afraid",
"unwilling",
"surprised"
],
"question": "The author's children are _ to go to school.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer... | Going back to school is a very exciting event for my two boys. It means getting new school bags and books, and seeing friends again after the summer holiday.
My oldest son, 9-year-old Salem, asked me several times where we would go to buy a backpack, while my other son, 6-year-old Abdullah, asked what school would be like this year.
For the last three years, school was a nightmare for many children and their parents as violence increased and there were more attacks on schools and teachers. As a result, many parents prevented their children from going to school. One of six children in this country did not attend primary school in 2009. Many kids who did attend school were accompanied by a parent for the entire day to make sure nothing happened to their children.
For poor families or those with large families, back to school can be an expensive time. The government gives some help to those living in poor neighborhoods, and school bags, note books and other items are given for free.
Most of the merchants who sell notebooks and pens now sell their products out on the street instead of in stores. They sit on the ground and lay their items on the ground or they have a small table to sell their goods.
The bags cost between $10 and $20, while clothes and shoes cost between $20 and $30. I found all the things I needed for my sons and even bought something for myself. I spent about $50 on each of them, including school uniforms.
At the end of the day, we returned to our home carrying many shopping bags filled with items that made my children happy and excited to go back to school. I just hope this school year will be a peaceful one. | high3565.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Forming good living habits."
},
"options": [
"Taking some sleeping pills every day.",
"Reading books before you go to bed.",
"Setting your alarm clock at night.",
"Forming good living habits."
],
"question": "Ac... | Not being able to fall asleep or stay asleep is not a disorder in itself but a sign of some other problems, often a physical one.
If you have trouble sleeping, the American Sleep Disorders Association suggests that, for a week or two, you put down the time you go to bed, get up, exercise, and drink coffee, tea or wine. The purpose is to find the habits that may affect your sleep.
Then:
a. Don't drink coffee in the six hours before going to bed.
b. Stop smoking and drinking at bedtime.
c. Don't sleep during the day.
d. Go to bed at the same time every night. Set your alarm clock for the same time every morning and get up at that time, whether or not you sleep well.
e. Use the bedroom only for sleep. Read, watch TV, eat and talk elsewhere.
f. Take sleeping pills according to your doctor's directions and don't take them for longer than three weeks at a time.
g. If you haven't fallen asleep within 15 minutes of going to bed, don't turn over worrying about it. Get up and read or watch TV until you are sleepy, then return to bed.
If you continue to have trouble sleeping, ask your doctor for help or go to a sleep-disorders center. | high11022.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the animals learn they'll get something to eat"
},
"options": [
"the animals have enough food to eat",
"the animals learn they'll get something to eat",
"the animals are as clever as man",
"the animals are big enough."
... | Can we make animals work for us? Some scientists think that one day we can teach animals to do a lot of things for people. They say that in a film or on TV you may see elephants, monkeys, dogs or some other animals doing a lot of things. If you watch carefully, you may find those animals are always given a little food to eat after they have done something. Scientists say that people can teach many different animals to do some easy work if they know they will get something to eat.
We all know elephants can carry large logs and dogs can look after houses. And we can even teach animals to work in factories. In America, for example, people use apes to help make cars. Scientists think that those big monkeys may, one day, drive trains. Now people are trying to let them do something just like man. | high17447.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Engineering or Chemistry"
},
"options": [
"Engineering or English",
"History or Math",
"Math or Art",
"Engineering or Chemistry"
],
"question": "In order to guarantee your future job, which kind of courses will ... | Students wishing to safeguard their careers against changes in the job market should opt for science rather than arts degrees, according to a survey of undergraduates.
Engineering and chemistry were considered to be the most "future proof", as they are courses most likely to lead to an enduring and adaptable career.
Students polled by Pearson College were broadly optimistic that their chosen courses would prepare them for a world in which the job market could change dramatically during their working lives.
But opinion was sharply divided over which degrees were best for future-proof careers.
Eighty-two per cent of respondents believed engineering would help develop future-proof skills, with 74 per cent believing the same of chemistry and 73 per cent of computer science.
But just 33 per cent of undergraduates believed history would lead to a future-proof career, and 40 per cent English.
However more than two thirds of students (67 per cent) thought the world of work would be significantly different or completely unrecognizable in 20 years.
The findings, published today, come after Education Secretary Nicky Morgan sparked controversy with claims that teenagers should steer clear of the arts and humanities and opt for science or math subjects if they want to access the widest range of jobs.
She said that in previous decades students would only take math or science if they wanted to pursue a specific career such as medicine or pharmacy, but nowadays that "couldn't be further from the truth".
"If you wanted to do something different, or even if you didn't know what you wanted to do...then the arts and humanities were what you chose. Because they were useful - we were told - for all kinds of jobs. Of course now we know that couldn't be further from the truth, that the subjects that keep young people's options open and unlock doors to all sorts of careers are the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects. "
She also described math as 'the subject that employers value most' and said that pupils who study A-level math will earn 10 per cent more over their lifetime.
"These figures show us that too many young people are making choices aged 15 which will hold them back for the rest of their lives." she said. | high18774.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A home for the future."
},
"options": [
"How to develop a new system.",
"The function of the PIN.",
"A home for the future.",
"Easy life in the future."
],
"question": "What does the passage mainly discuss?",
... | My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.
If you come to visit, you'll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it's dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console , a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I've put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I've put in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, "How will I live without them?" | high5100.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to look more attractive"
},
"options": [
"to give love to others",
"to make more money",
"to look more attractive",
"to go beyond others"
],
"question": "Women customers take part in fitness mainly_.",
"ques... | Sports and amusing activities have given benefits to people. Besides the entertainment that they offer, health, emotional and personal aspects have also been developed through sports and amusement. It's amazing how one can say that he just found his purpose in life through sports. Some people may even devote their lives to a certain sport. Whether being seen as an amusing activity, a pastime or a way of life, sports and amusement are worthy of everyone's praise.
A large number of sports and amusing activities have become very popular both in the past years and at present, such as baseball, basketball, golf, computer and online games, fitness, motor sports, tennis, and so on.
Computer and online games have become very popular at this age. Young people are mostly the fans of this amusement. Entertainment is what it gives. A lot of online games are there to be played. Some are for sale while others can be downloaded for free.
Fitness is in much the same rank. Women are the major customers who take this activity into their lives. The goal for reshaping their bodies to improve their looks is getting more and more attractive. Considering the lovely points of being healthy and fit, all seem to hash through the lines. No one wants to get behind. This is also a way of giving love to ourselves.
We cannot always pass money by. Taking sports or amusement, you'll have to pay for it sometimes. The cost for learning and enjoying sports changes from one to another. Some sports cost very little while others are costly due to expensive equipment and tools to use.
Choosing a sport, however, requires health considerations. Some people are not allowed to play volleyball and similar activities due to having asthma . Playing may make a person tired easily and will trigger an attack of asthma at once. | high16981.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "their language(s)"
},
"options": [
"their diet",
"their appearances",
"their habitats",
"their language(s)"
],
"question": "We can gain some information about Gigantopithecus EXCEPT_.",
"question_type": "clo... | Fortunately for early humans,the huge primate's diet consisted mainly of bamboo.
Scientists have known about Gigantopithecus since some of its teeth were discovered on sale in a Hong Kong pharmacy about 80 years ago.The idea of a giant ape aroused the interest of scientists around the world,but It remained unclear when this beast became extinct.
Now Jack Rink,a geochronologist at McMaster University in Canada,has used a high-precision -dating method to determine that this ape-the largest primate ever--roamed Southeast Asia for nearly a million years before the species died out 100,000 years ago.By this time,humans had existed for a million years.
"Gigantopithecus is a primate that co-existed with humans at a time when humans were undergoing a major evolutionary change,"said Rink.
Some of Gigantopithecus fossils were found in Guangxi.It is the region where some believe the modem human race originated.according to Rink.Scientists have been able to piece together a description of Gigantopithecus using just a handful of teeth and a set of jawbones.
"The size of these specimens--the crown of the molar,for instance,measures about an inch (2.54 cm)across--helped us understand the extraordinary size of the primate,"Rink said.
Scientists can only guess at what killed off a beast this size.Some scientists believe that a diet of bamboo combined with increasing competition from more nimble humans eventually led to its extinction.
While most scientists agree that Gigantopithecus died out long ago,some people--Big-foot and Yeti enthusiasts in particular-believe that this ape is the source of tales of giant,hairy beasts living in the woods.
Even though mainstream scientists dismiss these claims,it isn't impossible.The coelacanth a type of fish thought to have died out millions of years ago-was discovered swimming off the coast of Africa in 193& | high16759.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they were interested in the weather forecasts"
},
"options": [
"they felt lonely when catching fish on the sea and listened to the weather forecasts",
"they were interested in the weather forecasts",
"they couldn't watch TV o... | An Announcement
It was a small town which lay by the coast.Most people there lived by catching fish.The hurricanes often struck the area from July to October.Some of the people died on the sea when their boats were blown over by the high winds.So they paid much attention to the weather forecasts.They were afraid to meet with the hurricanes when they were catching fish on the sea.Each of the families had a radio and people always took them with themselves and listened to them at any time.
It was September.A hurricane attacked the town one night.Plenty of trees were pushed over and all the electric and telephone lines were broken.People couldn't watch TV,or call their friends,or go to work.To their anger,they couldn't listen to the weather forecasts the Town Radio Station broadcast.The food and fresh water would soon be short and the patients couldn't be given medical care--no medicine could be carried there.People didn't know what would happen and they looked anxious.
On the fourth day they read an announcement on the Town Weekly.It was written,"Recently we have to stop the weather forecast because of the bad weather.We usually get the forecasts from the airport.But the roads are all blocked by the fallen trees and stones.Whether or not we'll be able to broadcast the weather forecast tomorrow depends on the weather!" | high7717.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Tuhao, a new popular word in China"
},
"options": [
"Tuhao, a new popular word in China",
"The long history of Tuhao",
"The new usage of Tuhao",
"Tuhao, a newly-invented Chinese word"
],
"question": "What is the... | A new word has suddenly become wildly popular in China - "tuhao" - which loosely translated means "nouveau riche". There have been more than 100 million references to the word "tuhao" on social media since early September.
It's being used to describe everything from the new People's Daily building, to expensive celebrity weddings full of bling, and the new gold-coloured iPhone.
In Chinese "tu" means earth and "hao" means rich. To say someone is tuhao is to imply they come from a poor peasant background, and have made it rich quick - but don't quite have the manners, or sophistication to go along with it. It's like the term "nouveau riche", says Professor Steve Tsang at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies in Nottingham - but has even more negative meanings, suggesting a certain vulgarity .
"Tuhao" is actually an old word - dating back perhaps as far as the Southern Dynasty 1,500 years ago - but it has always meant something rather different. During the communist revolution, from the 1920s to early 1950s, it was widely used to refer to landholders and gentry who would bully those beneath them.
This new usage of the term took off in September after a widely-shared joke about a rich, but unhappy man, who goes to a Buddhist monk for advice, expecting to be told to live a more simple life. The monk replies instead with the phrase: "Tuhao, let's be friends!"
Chinese internet users are highly creative in their use of language, and are constantly inventing, and re-inventing words as a way of getting past censorship rules. But in this case, its popularity seems to be down to the fact that it expresses China's changing society so well - many people sneer at those with wealth, but are secretly jealous. | high8424.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because few people could read for themselves."
},
"options": [
"Because silent reading had not been discovered.",
"Because few people could read for themselves.",
"Because there were few places for private reading.",
"B... | Reading to oneself is modern activity which was almost unknown to the learned in the early days of the history, while during the fifteenth century the term "reading" undoubtedly meant reading aloud. Only during the nineteenth century did silent reading become popular.
One should be careful, however, of supposing that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is distraction to others. Examination of reasons connected with the historical development of silent reading shows that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.
The last century saw a gradual increase in literacy and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, so the number of listeners dropped, and thus there was some reduction in the need to read aloud. As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the popularity of reading as a private activity in such public places as libraries, trains and offices, where reading aloud would disturb other readers in a way.
Towards the end of the century there was still heated argument over whether books should be used for information or treated respectfully, and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening. Indeed this argument remains with us still in education. However, whatever its advantages, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced by the printed mass media on the one hand and by books and magazines for a specialized readership on the other.
By the end of the century students were being advised to have some new ideas of books and to use skill in reading them which were not proper, if not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural, and technological developments in the century had greatly changed what the term "reading" referred to. | high1366.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "is a Harvard-educated lawyer"
},
"options": [
"is a Harvard-educated lawyer",
"will visit China alone",
"arrived in Beijing on Friday evening",
"will promote laws and cultural exchanges."
],
"question": "From th... | U.S. first lady Michelle Obama arrived in Beijing on Thursday evening, the official Xinhua news agency said, beginning a hotly anticipated week-long trip during which she will promote education and cultural ties.
Obama, a Harvard-educated lawyer, is expected to spend Friday with China's _ first lady, Peng Liyuan, who is admired at home as both a glamorous songstress and fashion icon.
Besides Beijing, Obama will visit the western historic city of Xi'an and the southern city of Chengdu, where she will visit a panda preserve. Obama's two daughters are accompanying her, as well as her mother. She also plans to visit American and Chinese students to promote education and cultural exchanges, and visit historical landmarks like the Great Wall of China.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the visit would help deepen ties between the world's two largest economies. "We believe that this visit will play an important role in increasing mutual understanding between the two countries and expanding friendship." Hong told reporters ahead of Obama's arrival.
News of Obama's arrival spread fast on Sina Weibo, where users speculated on what the trip would bring - as well as what Obama would wear and eat. "Two intellectual women playing the game of great power politics - how beautiful." wrote one user. | high6409.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Quincy Jones had a very lucky, fruitful and successful musical career."
},
"options": [
"Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton and Quincy Jones became very close friends.",
"Lionel Hampton played an important rule in the success of Quincy Jo... | How would you describe Quincy Jones? Is he an instrumentalist, a composer, an arranger, or a producer? None of these labels can sum up this remarkable man. He has been known for years to people who follow popular music. But his part in the We Are the World VCD and the Hands Across America project made him a national figure.
In addition to these successful efforts, Jones has written the music for many cartoon movies, including The Color Purple, which won 11 Oscar nominations . He also wrote the music for Alex Haley's Roots, a greatly successful television mini--series. These achievements show his many-sided genius.
Quincy Jones was born on March 14, 1973, in Chicago's South Side. Ten years later, his family moved to the Seattle area. It was there that he met Ray Charles, who was three years older than ones and who in time would be a world-famous singer. The young musicians performed at small clubs and weddings. Through Charles's influence, Jones began composing.
When Jones was only 15, his musical talent impressed Lionel Hampton, who invited him to join the Hampton band. Jones was ready to quit school to join, but Hampton's wife, Gladys, stated her disagreement. Believing that he needed an education, she removed him from the band's bus. "Get that child out of here," she yelled, "Let him finish school."
These experiences made Quincy Jones more determined than ever to success. He finished high school, attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston on a scholarship, and finally did Lionel Hampton's band. Soon, however, he struck off on his own. The future beckoned brightly. | high14628.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "made thoughtful preparations"
},
"options": [
"received one year\n's training",
"chose the nearest route",
"made thoughtful preparations",
"used special equipment"
],
"question": "To climb Yosemite's Dawn Wall, ... | Earlier this month, two rock climbers achieved what many thought impossible: They climbed up the 3,000-foot-high Dawn Wall in Yosemite National Park without specialized equipment. Climbing without this equipment is called"free-climbing."Until now, no one had free-climbed to the top of the rock face, which is a part of the mountain EI Capitan.
El Capitan, which means"the captain"or"the chief"in Spanish, has always presented a challenge to climbers. But the Dawn Wall, on the mountain's southeast face, is a particularly difficult route to the summit . It is a rock formation that is both steep and relatively smooth. This makes free-climbing the rock face seem almost impossible.
About seven years ago, professional climber Tommy Caldwell spotted a possible route up the wall. It took years of planning and preparation, but this month, Caldwell, 36, and his friend Kevin Jorgeson, 30, finally make the climb.
Free climbers do use ropes and other basic safety equipment to catch them if they fall -- and Caldwell and Jorgeson fell often. Before starting their climb, they broke down their route into 32 sections. Each section was based on a rope length called a"pitch."The rope was secured into the rock face to catch the climbers if they fell.
Caldwell and Jorgeson's goal was to climb the Dawn Wall without returning to the ground. If they fell, they had to start that pitch all over again. The two men started climbing on December 27. They slept in hanging tents, and a team of friends brought them food each day.
The men had spent years rehearsing the movements it would take to get through each pitch. They made it through the fist half of the climb relatively easily. But halfway up, Jorgeson ran into trouble. In one difficult spot, he fell each time he attempted to climb. After 10 days of trying, Jorgeson finally made it to the next pitch.
Getting through that troublesome pitch gave both climbers renewed energy. They finished the rest of the climb five days later, on January 14. | high13147.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "expects to make more efficient use of his/her time"
},
"options": [
"wishes to have more time for relaxation",
"hopes to improve his/her personality",
"expects to make more efficient use of his/her time",
"has found it ... | I am one of those people who are terrible at saying no. I take on too many projects at once, and spend too much of my time doing things I'd rather not be doing. I get stuff done, but it's not always the best I can do, or the best way I could spend my time.
That's why my newest goal, both as a professional and a person, is to be a quitter.
Being a quitter isn't being someone who gives up, who doesn't see important things through to the end. I desire to be the opposite of that. The quitter I want to be is someone who gets out when there's no value in what he's doing, or when that value comes at the expense of something more important.
We get involved in something, realize we don't want to be a part of it, but keep on going. We say "Well, I've already invested so much time in this, I might as well stick it out." A friend of mine once told me, "I knew I was an adult when I could stop reading a book, even after getting 500 pages into it." Odd though it sounds, we all tend to do this.
I propose the opposite: quit as often as possible, regardless of project status or time invested. If you're reading a book, and don't like it, stop reading. Cut your losses, realize that the smartest thing to do is stop before your losses grow even more, and quit. Instead of reading an entire book you hate, read half of a bad one and half of a good one. Isn't that a better use of your time?
Step back for a second. Let's learn how to say "no" at the beginning, or in the middle, and free up more of our time to do the things we'd like to be doing, and the things actually worth doing.
Saying no is hard, and admitting a mistaken yes is even harder. But if we do both, we'll start to make sure that we're spending our time creating value, rather than increasing our losses. Let's be quitters together. | high194.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "for new young learners of English language living in the US less than four years"
},
"options": [
"for immigrant students with special interests",
"for new immigrant students who have been living in New York less than four years",
... | Some American high schools are for students with special interests, like science or the arts. New York City even has a program for those interested in the food service industry, called Food and Finance High School.
New York also has what are called international high schools, or internationals, for immigrant students. They must be new learners of English who have been in the United States less than four years. The first school opened in nineteen eighty-five. The city will begin the new term next month with ten.
New York works with a nonprofit organization, the Internationals Network for Public Schools. Support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has helped the network expand. The network says the graduation rate was seventy percent last year in the four New York schools open long enough to have graduating classes. That, compared with twenty-three percent for English language learners in all of the city schools.
Over all, New York officials recently reported that the city's four-year graduation rate, reached fifty-two percent last year. At the same time, they reported that the city's dropout rate fell below fifteen percent. The Internationals Network says its schools have an average dropout rate of just five percent.
Claire Sylvan is the executive director of the group. She says students drop out mainly because their families need them to work or because parents arrange marriages for girls.
The Internationals Network mainly helps find teachers and trains them in the teaching method of the internationals. Claire Sylvan says the teaching approach is to have students use their different strengths to help each other. They work in small groups, but she says they are not grouped by ability. She says the students discuss issues, then produce a product like a paper, a play, a poster or a report. They learn English as they work. | high12259.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He was also a popular poet."
},
"options": [
"He lived to be 50.",
"He was also a popular poet.",
"He was buried in his homeland.",
"He quit college because he was poor."
],
"question": "Which of the following a... | Robert Louis Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in Scotland in 1850. He had to end his college studies because his health was poor. He began to travel, looking for a place that was good for his health. And he wrote about his travels. Inland Voyage(1878) was about journeys by canoe on the rivers and canals of Belgium and France. Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes followed it in next year.
People loved his travel books, and they also found his poems beautiful. In 1879 he travelled to California in a very uncomfortable ship and then by train across the United States to San Francisco. He married in California, but his poor health made him and his wife travel again.
Readers of his travel books and poetry were surprised when Treasure Island came out in 1883. It was not at all like his earlier writing, but both children and grown-ups loved it.
Treasure Island was finished in Switzerland. Stevenson then continued to travel. He loved the islands of the southern Pacific Ocean, and he found that his health was better there. In the end, he and his wife made their home in Samoa. It was there that he wrote Kidnapped(1886), the story of David Balfour and Alan Breck. It was followed (but not immediately) by Catriona, which continues the story of David Belfour and tells of other exciting adventures of David and Alan, and of David's love for Catriona Drummond. In between the two stories about David Belfour came another surprising book, the "thriller" called The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Stevenson died in Samoa in 1894, and he is buried there. | high8342.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A person's hair may show where they have lived."
},
"options": [
"One's hair growth has to do with the amount of water and drink.",
"A person's hair may show where they have lived.",
"Hair analysis accurately identifies crimi... | Scientists have devised a way to determine roughly where a person has lived using a strand ( ) of hair, a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.
The method relies on measuring how chemical variations in drinking water show up in people's hair.
"You're what you eat and drink, and that's recorded in your hair," said Thure Cerling, a geologist at the University of Utah.
While U.S. diet is ly identical, water supplies vary. The differences result from weather patterns. The chemical composition of rainfall changes slightly as rain clouds move.
Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable, but traces of both elements are also present as heavier isotopes ( ). The heaviest rain falls first. As a result, storms that form over the Pacific deliver heavier water to California than to Utah.
Similar patterns exist throughout the U.S. By measuring the proportion of heavier hydrogen and oxygen isotopes along a strand of hair, scientists can construct a geographic timeline. Each inch of hair corresponds to about two months. Cerling's team collected tap water samples from 600 cities and constructed a map of the regional difference. They checked the accuracy of the map by testing 200 hair samples collected from 65 barber shops. They were able to accurately place the hair samples in broad region roughly corresponding to the movement of rain systems.
"It's not good for pinpointing ( )," Cerling said. "It's good for eliminating many possibilities."
Todd Park, a local detective, said the method has helped him learn more about an unidentified woman whose skeleton was found near Great Salt Lake. The woman was 5 feet tall. Police recovered 26 bones, a T-shirt and several strands of hair. When Park heard about the research, he gave the hair samples to the researches. Chemical testing showed that over the two years before her death, she moved about every two months. She stayed in the Northwest, although the test could not be more specific than somewhere between eastern Oregon and western Wyoming.
"It's still a substantial area," Park said, "But it narrows its way down for me." | high21693.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To meet the needs of each student."
},
"options": [
"To meet the needs of each student.",
"To talk to the students in different languages.",
"To keep everyone's interest in his lessons.",
"To introduce more hobbies to t... | Robots are smart. With their computer brains, they help people work in dangerous places or do difficult jobs. Some robots do regular jobs. Bobby, the robot mail carrier, brings mail to a large office building in Washington, D.C. He is one of 250 robot mail carriers in the United States. Mr. Leachim, who weights two hundred pounds and is six feet tall, has some advantages as a teacher. One is that he does not forget details. He knows each child's name, their parents' names, and what each child knows and needs to know. In addition, he knows each child's pets and hobbies. Mr. Leachim does not make mistakes. Each child goes and tells him his or her name, then dials an identification number. His computer brain puts the child's voice and number together. He identifies the child with no mistakes.
Another advantage is that Mr. Leachim is flexible. If the children need more time to do their lessons they can move switches. In this way they can repeat Mr. Leachim's lesson over and over again. When the children do a good job, he tells them something interesting about their hobbies. At the end of the lesson the children switch Mr. Leachim off. | high4578.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Near the Canadian border"
},
"options": [
"In Canada",
"Near the Canadian border",
"In the central US",
"In Parc Safari"
],
"question": "Where did the author live when he was 7 years old?",
"question_type": ... | The first visit to a foreign country that I can remember was when I was about seven years old. We live about 5 miles away from the Canadian border . My family and I went to Parc Safari, Quebec, a wonderful place that has animals and rides. We drove down a nice long road. My sister and I sat in the back of the car, and it was a hatchback so we opened it up. I remember feeding the animals snacks we had bought for ourselves.
The time we went we were told there would not be monkeys because they had escaped and had not been found. I remember thinking to myself, how cool it would be to see a monkey in our backyard.
Even though the monkeys were not there it was still so much fun. When we reached the area that had camels, giraffes and other animals, I remember one of the camels reached into the car to get our snacks. However, we were a little _ because the camels seemed to froth at the mouth and we had camel slobber all over the car and us.
It was one of the best family vacations that I can remember. It was not too far from home, it was in a different country and it was with my family. I cannot remember if we went on the rides or not but seeing many animals was a great time. Now I am grown up and have a son, and I am planning to go there again. He is 7 years old and I think he is at a great age to enjoy a trip like this. I am sure it has changed a lot over the years but it will still be a great family trip. | high3217.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It has negative effects on personal ties"
},
"options": [
"It is positive to personal ties",
"It has negative effects on personal ties",
"It makes no difference to personal ties",
"It has both good and bad effects to pe... | Contrary to common belief, social media websites such as Facebook do not weaken personal ties, they strengthen them in unique ways for different age groups, according to a new study.
The rapid spread of Facebook, which has more than 500 million users worldwide, has prompted concerns about its negative effects, but researchers at the University of Texas have reached a different conclusion.
"Our findings suggest that Facebook is not replacing face-to-face interactions between friends, family and colleagues," said S.Craig Watkins, an associate professor of radio, TV and film who headed the research team.
"In fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community."
The researchers questioned 900 college students and recent graduates about how and with whom they interact on Facebook.
More than 60 percent of Facebook users said posting status updates was among the most popular activities, followed by 60 percent who wrote comments on their profile and 49 percent who posted messages and comments to friends.
The researchers also found that although about the same number of men and women use Facebook, they do so in different ways.
"There is a noteworthy difference in aims in how to use a tool like Facebook.We found that for women the content tends to be more affectionate, and (they) are especially interested in using it for connection," said Watkins.
"For men, it's more functional," he added.
Watkins pointed out that, for example, women are more likely to post pictures of social gatherings with friends, while men are more likely to post pictures of hobbies, or post a political or pop-culture related link. | high11750.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair"
},
"options": [
"was rather impolite",
"was warmly received",
"asked the shopkeeper to buy his chair",
"asked the shopkeeper to repair his chair"
],
"question": "We can ... | Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended , as there are a whole lot of antique shops near my home . So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and, the fourth-so I decided that my approach must be wrong.
I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, "Would you like to buy a chair?" He looked it over carefully and said, "Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?" "Twenty pounds," I said. "OK," he said, "I'll give you twenty pounds." "It's got a slightly broken leg," I said. "Yes I saw that, it's nothing."
Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. "What will you do with it?" I asked. "Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done." "I'll buy it," I said. "What do you mean? You've just sold it to me," he said. "Yes, I know but I've changed my mind. I'm sorry. I'll give you twenty-seven pounds for it." "You must be crazy," he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. "I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair." "You're right," I said. "And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, 'Would you mend this chair for me'?" "I wouldn't have agreed to do it," he said. "We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I'll mend this for you, shall we say for a five?" He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing. | high2109.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he began to study in college at age 19"
},
"options": [
"his grandson was a famous composer",
"he stayed with his family all the time",
"he began to study in college at age 19",
"he majored in music in college"
],
... | Born in 1936 in Oak Park, Illinois, the American Richard Bach is the direct descendant of J.S. Bach, the famous composer. He attended Long Beach State College in 1955.
As an airplane pilot, Bach got married to his first wife and had six children, but divorced later and then left his family because he didn't believe in marriage. Everything concerning airplane was his field, including an aviation technical writer and flight instructor.
Though aviation was his true love, Bach always wanted to write. During his high school years, one of his teachers made him realize his potential. In 1959 he had this idea of a bird learning to pass beyond the walls of limitations--Jonathan Livingston Seagull. In almost all his books he used airplanes as a way to pass the message. In Running from Safety, Bach shares with us his childhood: at age 8, he lost one of his brothers: Bobby.
In 1970, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a story about a seagull who flew for the sake of flying rather than merely to catch food, was published by Macmillan Publishers after the manuscript was turned down by many other publishers. The book, which included unique photos of seagulls in flight, became a best-seller. In 1973, the book was turned into a movie. It's said that Bach charged the production with changing the movie without his permission. In fact, those who saw the movie noticed that his name wasn't mentioned. | high17321.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They are expected to function as well as natural ones."
},
"options": [
"They are expected to function as well as natural ones.",
"They have many large motors controlled by robots.",
"They have human-like strength to control ... | Researches at Johns Hopkins University's. Applied Physics laboratory ( APL) in Laurel , Maryland have designed a new human-like robot, Its name is Robo Sally. The machine can be controlled from a distance and can he used to do work that is dangerous for human beings.
Roho Sally has two long arms with human-like hands. She can use her fingers to pick up small objects .examine them in detail and do most things that human hands can do Each finger contains a tiny motor capable of squeezing 20 pounds of pinch foree ,.enough to defuse a bomb under the direction of an operator. She sits on a metal base with wheels that let her move around. turn in tight spaces and climb over small objects, .
Mike McLoughlin is the main investigator for the Applied Physics Laboratory's Prosthetics Program. "The purpose of that program is to develop prosthetic arms that have all the capability of your natural arms .and you do all the complex motions that we can do with the natural arm- with the robot. "
It was a difficult job. Mr. McLoughlin says the device had to have many small motors to. have the ability to do what a human hand does; It also needs to have human-like strength. The thumb was especially difficult because it permits the hand .to hold objects. And everything had. to fit into a space about the size of a human hand.
The next problem .he says .was to figure out how to control the artificial hand. " So we had to figure out how to make the connection between the brain and this arm.
For search-and-rescue duties.Roho Sally will be operated by a human being using a wire- less machine that is far from the robot. The operator will also wear special gloves and glasses. The glasses permit the operator to see the robot's hands .even though they are far away.
Mr. McLoughlin says this kind of robots could be used in what he calls "dull , dirty or dan- gerous" situations where fine human finger movements are required. He says the technology is not ready for everyday application .but he predicts that within five years we will see some won- derful improvements. | high5666.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because he wanted to ask the shop keeper for a favor."
},
"options": [
"Because he wanted to bargain with the shop keeper.",
"Because he wanted to ask the shop keeper for a favor.",
"Because he wondered if he could get what h... | In 1945, a 12-year-old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. But the price-five dollars-was far beyond Reuben Earle's means. Five dollars would buy almost a week's groceries for his family.
Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money. Everything his father made through fishing went to her mother, Dora, who struggled to feed and clothe their five children.
Nevertheless, he opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding ,"But I don't have the money right now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?"
"I'll try,"the shopkeeper smiled."Folks around here don't usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while."
Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out. He would raise the money and not tell anybody. On hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, Reuben suddenly had an idea. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in sacks from a local factory. Sometimes the used sacks were disposed of at the construction site, and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece.
That day he found two sacks, which he sold to the man in charge of packing nails.
The boy's hand tightly clutched the five-cent pieces as he ran the two kilometers home.
Near his house stood an ancient barn. Reuben found a rusty soda tin and dropped his coins inside. Then he climbed into it and hid the tin beneath a pile of hay.
It was dinnertime when Reuben got home. His father was ready to serve dinner as Reuben took his place at the table. He looked at his mother and smiled. Slim and beautiful, she was the center of the home, the glue that held it together. Her chores were never-ending, but she was happy as her family and their well-being were her highest priority.
Every day after chores and school, Reuben _ the town, collecting the nail sacks. Summer vacation came, and no student was more delighted than Reuben. Now he would have more time for his mission. All summer long, despite chores at home weeding and watering the garden, cutting wood and fetching water -- Reuben kept to his secret task.
Then all too soon fall arrived, and the winds blew cold and gusty from the bay. Reuben wandered the streets, diligently searching for his treasures. Often he was cold, tired and hungry, but the thought of the object in the shop window sustained him. Sometimes his mother would ask:"Reuben, where were you? We were waiting for you to have dinner."
"Playing, Mum. Sorry."
Dora would look at his face and shake her head. Boys.
Finally the time had come! He ran into the barn, climbed to the hayloft and uncovered the tin can. He poured the coins out and began to count.
Then he counted again. He needed 20 cents more. Could there be any sacks left anywhere in town? He had to find out and sell them before the day ended. Reuben ran down Water Street. The shadows were lengthening when Reuben arrived at the factory. The sack buyer was about to lock up.
"Mister! Please don't close up yet."
The man turned and saw Reuben, dirty and sweat stained.
"Come back tomorrow, boy."
"Please, Mister. I have to sell the sacks now -- please."The man heard a tremor in Reuben's voice and could tell he was close to tears.
"Why do you need this money so badly?"
"It's a secret."
The man took the sacks, reached into his pocket and put four coins in Reuben's hand. Reuben murmured a thank you and ran home.
Then, clutching the tin can, he headed for the shop.
"I have the money,"he solemnly told the owner.
The man went to the window and retrieved Reuben's treasure.
He wiped the dust off and gently wrapped it in brown paper. Then he placed the parcel in Reuben's hands.
Racing home, Reuben burst through the front door. His mother was busy in the kitchen.
"Here, Mum! Here!"Reuben exclaimed as he ran to her side. He placed a small box in her work-roughened hand.
She unwrapped it carefully, to save the paper. A blue-velvet jewel box appeared. Dora lifted the lid, tears beginning to blur her vision. In gold lettering on a small, almond-shaped brooch was the word "Mother". It was Mother's Day, 1946.
Dora had never received such a gift; she had no finery except her wedding ring. Speechless, she smiled radiantly and gathered her son into her arms. | high11988.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Near the Antarctic."
},
"options": [
"On the sunny beach.",
"Near the Antarctic.",
"Inside the hole in the ice.",
"In the depths of the ocean."
],
"question": "Where is the young penguin supposed to appear?",
... | A woman was walking her dog along a beach in New Zealand in late June when she saw something that looked like a white ball in the sand. It turned out to be a young Emperor penguin that was lost. At his age, he should have been close to Antarctic, swimming for fish and playing on the ice floes . But this penguin started swimming north and just kept going.
The penguin attracted a lot of attention in New Zealand. It has been 40 years since an Emperor penguin was last seen there. Researchers at the Department of Conservation were called in. They decided to watch the penguin closely, but not to disturb it in any way. Many New Zealanders came to Peka Peka Beach to look at the elegant penguin. They were careful to keep their dogs away from it so it wouldn't be frightened.
The public nicknamed the animal Happy Feet. Researchers started to notice that Happy Feet didn't seem well. It turns out that he had been eating the sand from the beach, likely thinking it was snow.
The public raised more than 11,000 pounds for an operation to get the sand out of his stomach. The operation was a success, and Happy Feet was taken to a zoo in Wellington, NZ. A group of experts met to decide how to help Happy Feet return to the wild.
Last Sunday, they put him on a boat called the Tangaroa, in a specially built ice-filled box and took him out into the Southern Ocean, southeast of New Zealand. There, they released him into the ocean, which is his natural habitat. He took one last look at his human helpers and then dived into the ocean.
"Emperor penguins spend their first five years at sea," said Peter Simpson of New Zealand's Department of Conservation. " What happens now is up to the penguin."
Happy Feet was fitted with a satellite transmitter so they can monitor his progress using the Internet. So far, the trackers shows that he swam northeast for a little while before getting his bearings and heading south. | high5921.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "only 27,000 tons of tires were recycled in Jordan between 2006 and 2010"
},
"options": [
"roads that contain no rubber tend to be only used for six years",
"most of the roads in Jordan are made with rubber at present",
"the I... | Every vehicle needs tires, but eventually they wear out. Roads wear out too, and they often need repairing. But new research by a pair of teens suggests the rubber from worn-out tires could lengthen the lifetime of asphalt pavement. Also roads made with this material might need fewer patches .
The young researchers presented their findings in May, 2014, as finalists at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The 64th annual Intel ISEF shows some of the best high school science projects from around the globe.
Many roads are made with asphalt, which requires much petroleum. But Jordan is a country that has very few oil wells or other sources of petroleum, notes Mohammad Salameh, who is a 10th-grader at the International School in Amman, Jordan.
For Jordan, having to import most of the country's petroleum adds greatly to its cost, the teen notes. The extra expense means that there's less money to build and maintain roads. That has resulted in poorer quality roads. As a result, those roads need to be patched almost constantly.
Therefore, 16-year-old Mohammad and his research partner, 15-year-old classmate Adam Belaid, came up with the idea of adding rubber to asphalt. But that rubber can come from old tires. Even a worn-out tire contains much rubber, which means the material should be plentiful, says Mohammad. Drivers in Jordan replaced 9 million tons of tires between 2006 and 2010, and only 0.3% of that rubber was recycled. That leaves much rubber that could possibly go into road construction.
But first the teens had to show adding rubber to asphalt resulted in better roads. To test their idea, they created several different asphalt-rubber recipes. They also tried out different temperatures at which the mix was heated. And their tests suggested that when the surfacing material includes 8% rubber, it should hold up for 10 to 15 years of traffic instead of the normal 5 years. And their recipe should reduce the need for patching worn areas from once a year, to maybe once every 5~7 years in the future. | high19293.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the dead rabbit was cleaned and put back into the cage"
},
"options": [
"the rabbit was killed by someone",
"the rabbit was too clean",
"the dead rabbit was cleaned and put back into the cage",
"the rabbit was asleep in... | Years ago while lying in my hammock and drinking JD from the bottle, I noticed my dog dragging something under the fence.Upon inspection, to my disappointment, I realized it was the next door neighbor' s 10 - year - old daughter' s rabbit.For years I had watched her come home from school and head straight out to its cage, free it and play with it in the yard.I knew that day would be no different and fearing for our dog, I had to think fast.
The rabbit was quite dirty, as if it had put up quite a struggle, so I washed it, combed it with the dog brush and blew it dry with the leaf blower.Upon finishing its grooming I jumped the fence and replaced it back in its cage hoping its death would be written off as "natural caused".
Back to the hammock and JD.Within the hour the neighbor' s Volvo palled in as usual and out popped the little girl, and as usual she headed straight for the cage.Only this time she stopped about six feet away and screamed: " D - A - D - D - Y!!!"
Her father, panic stricken, stood looking at the cage.Being the good neighbor that I am, I rushed to fence and asked if there was anything I could do.
Her father less than calmly shouted, "What kind of sick individual would dig up a little girl's rabbit and put it back in its cage?" | high11817.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "set up some companies to help people to live better"
},
"options": [
"made his first invention using a kite",
"made his living by delivering the mail",
"set up some companies to help people to live better",
"made a stov... | Everyone knows the story of Benjamin Franklin's famous kite experiment. He
was a man of many gifts and interests. His natural curiosity about things made him try to find ways to make them work better. Although he made important discoveries, Ben didn't "invent" electricity. He did, however, invent the lightning rod which protected buildings and ships from lightning damage.
In America, most people warmed their homes by building a fire in a fireplace even
though it was kind of dangerous and used a lot of wood. Ben said that he had another better way. His invented an iron stove which allowed people to warm their home less dangerously and with less wood. The stove that he invented is called a Franklin stove. Ben also set up the first fire company and the first fire insurance company in order to help people live more safely.
As the postmaster, Ben had to find out the best way for delivering the mail. He went out riding in his carriage to measure the routes and needed a way to record the miles. He invented a simple _ for it.
In his old age, Ben retired from business and public service and wanted to spend
his time reading and studying. He found, however, that his old age had made it difficult for him to reach books from the high shelves. Even though he had many grandchildren to help him, he invented a tool called a long arm to reach the high books. The long arm was a long wooden pole with a grasping claw at the end.
Later, other famous inventors, like Thomas A. Edison and Alexander Graham Bell,
would follow in Ben's footsteps by trying to find ways to help people live better. Today's curious thinkers are keeping Ben's traditions alive by inventing new and improved ways to make things work. | high20412.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "sure about herself and her role"
},
"options": [
"single or married",
"divorced",
"sure about herself and her role",
"all of the above"
],
"question": "A typical American woman is _ .",
"question_type": "c... | American women experience a great variety of lifestyle. A typical American woman may be single. She may also be divorced or married. She may be a homemaker, a doctor or a factory worker. It is very difficult to generalize about American women. However, one thing that many American women have in common is their attitudes about themselves and their roles in American life.
Historically, American women have always been very independent. The first settlers to come to New England were ten young couples that had left behind their extended families. The women were alone in a new, undeveloped country with their husbands. This has two important effects. First of all, this was the uncivilized environment that demanded every person to share in developing it and in survival. Women worked with their husbands and children to make themselves accepted in this new land. Second, because they were in a new land without the established influence of older members of society, women felt free to step into non--traditional roles.
This role of women was strengthened in later years as Americans move west again, leaving families behind and meeting a new environment. Even later, in the east, as new settlers arrived, women often found jobs more easily than men. Women became the supporters of the family.
Within the established lifestyle of the industrialized twentieth century, the strong role of women was not attractive as in the early days of the country. Some women stepped into the men's jobs as factory and business workers. After the war, some women stayed in these positions, and others left their jobs with a new sense of ability. | high2096.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A Boring Job"
},
"options": [
"A Boring Job",
"The Man in a Rowboat",
"A Job of Great Skill",
"Hard Physical Labor"
],
"question": "What's the best title for the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
... | Terry Thomas has a very boring job ,although it pays very well .What Terry does is sitting in a rowboat all day long .He makes $ 16.37 an hour ,which is certainly an excellent wage for sitting in a little boat and doing nothing.
The boat stays all day under a bridge that is being rebuilt. There is a distance of about 100 feet between the boat and the workers on the bridge overhead. The rest of Terry's fellow workers are up on the bridge working. Terry's job is to rescue anyone who falls off the bridge into the water. So far, no one has given him anything to do .Although he's delighted that none of his companions has fallen into the water, he also admits that the job is very boring because there is nothing to do.
No one on the work crew really wants duty on the boat. But the job is a union requirement, and it must be filled. To quality for the job, a person must be an excellent swimmer and have training in lifesaving skills. Only a few men on the work crew meet those standards. Before Terry took the boat job, several others had it and gave up because they found it so tedious.
What does Terry do in his little boat all day? He spends a good bit of time making sure that his suntan lotion is adequate for the job of protecting his skin. He reads and listens to the radio .Each day he looks forward to lunch and then to quitting time. | high22205.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They think city-riving provides more benefits."
},
"options": [
"They now view the weaknesses as strengths.",
"They no longer see city-riving as attractive.",
"They accept city life in spite of its problems.",
"They thi... | In 1800, only three percent of the world's population lived in cities. Only one city -- Beijing -- had a population of over a million. Most people lived in rural areas, and never saw a city in their lives. In 1900, just a hundred years later, roughly 150 million people lived in cities, and the world's ten largest cities all had populations exceeding one million. By 2000, the number of city dwellers exceeded three billion; and in 2008, the world's population crossed a tipping point -- more than half of the people on Earth lived in cities. By 2050, that could increase to over two-thirds. Clearly, humans have become an urban species.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many people viewed cities negatively -- crowded, dirty environments full of disease and crime. They feared that as cities got bigger, living conditions would worsen. In recent decades, however, attitudes have changed. Many experts now think urbanization is good news, offering solutions to the problems of Earth's growing population.
Harvard economist Edward Glaeser, author of The Victory of the Cir, is one such person. Glaeser argues that cities are very productive because "the absence of space between people" reduces the cost of transporting goods, people, and ideas. While the flow of goods has always been important to cities, what is most important today is the flow of ideas. Successful cities enable people to learn from each other easily, and attract and reward smart people with higher wages.
Another urbanization supporter is environmentalist Stewart Brand. Brand believes cities help the environment because they allow haft of the world's population to live on about four percent of the land. This leaves more space for open country, such as farmland. City dwellers also have less impact per person on the environment than people in the countryside. Their roads, sewers, and power lines need fewer resources to build and operate. City apartments require less energy to heat, cool, and light. Most importantly, people in cities drive less so they produce fewer greenhouse gases per person.
So it's a mistake to see urbanization as evil; it's a natural part of development. The challenge is how to manage the growth. | high13966.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Creating less pollution, having less weight"
},
"options": [
"Making less noise, causing less traffic problems",
"Using less fuel, costing less money",
"Creating less pollution, having less weight",
"Having more floor s... | The word's largest aircraft made its public debut last week at Europe's biggest factory, a purpose built assembly line in Toulouse, souther, n France.The Airbus A380 will have 50 per cent more floor space than American rival Boeing's 747 Jumbo, with room for duty-free shops, restaurants and even a sauna.This new arrival is expected to change the face of air travel.
The A380 will enter service in early 2006 with Singapore Airlines.
Airbus claims the A380 will burn less fuel, make less noise, create less pollution and cost 17 per cent less per seat than the 747.It will also reduce traffic problems in the skies.
The aircraft, which cost between PS140 million(US$250m) and PS157 million (US$280m) each compared with PS84 million (US$150m) for Boeing's new Dreamliner jet, is being built at 16 factories in Germany, France, Spain and the UK.
But activists have warned of more noise and pollution from the Superjumbo, while Boeing believes huge aircraft will not be in great demand over the next decade.
As a result, it is putting faith in the much smaller 7E7 Dreamliner.But Airbus is pinning its hopes on the "big is beautiful" theory, gambling on size being the key factor in the US-European battle for the skies.
Airbus said it was in talks with half a dozen global airlines about buying the A380. China Eastern Airlines, already an Airbus customer, is said to be targeted, while executives made it plain that they wanted to fight for the Japanese market, which had traditionally been controlled by Boeing.
Over the next 20 years, Airbus hopes to sell 750 of the new planes into a market worth PS185billion (US$330bn).The company already has129 firm orders for the A380, with 52 options. | high7688.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Nexus 7 has fewer apps than iPad Mini"
},
"options": [
"the Apple's iPad Mini is more suitable for enthusiastic readers",
"the hardware in iPad Mini is more advanced than that in Nexus 7",
"Nexus 7 has fewer apps than iPad Mi... | Consumer electronics once again topped the list of the most wanted gifts this holiday season. "Seventy-six percent of consumers who plan to buy holiday gifts say that they will spend money buying at least one technology product; definitely a solid vote of confidence for technology." Steve Koenig is with the Consumer Electronics Association. He says the group's latest research also shows that Americans this year are spending more on technology products.
"Here in 2012, $252 on average-the technology spend for consumers this year." From tablet computers to smartphones, American shoppers have been lining up to get the newest and coolest electronic devices on the market. There are more choices today than ever before. "It's kind of hard to make a decision."
Tablet computers are one of the best-selling products this year. Brian Tong is Senior Editor of CNET.com. The website reports on tech news and examines the latest electronic products. He says the Apple iPad Mini is one of the most popular tablets. Its starting price is $329. One of Apple's biggest competitors is the Google Nexus 7. It starts at $199.
"The hardware inside is more powerful than what's in the iPad Mini, but also it offers you a lot of things like maps that work better than Apple's maps." Brian Tong says there is one reason why people may like the iPad Mini more than the Nexus 7. "If you just want to read books and surf the Internet, you don't really need to get an iPad Mini, but if you want the largest group of apps that's where the iPad and Apple's ecosystem shines the most."
Elman Chacon is with the electronics store Best Buy. He says another hot product this season is smart cameras. They connect to the Internet through Wi-Fi. This makes it easy for users to email or upload photographs directly from the camera. "You can literally take a picture, upload it into your Facebook in a matter of seconds. These things are pretty cool because they do a lot of things."
Streaming media boxes also connect to the Internet. People are able to watch web content such as movies and YouTube videos on their televisions. Another popular item is wireless speaker systems. The newest ones work with any device that has Bluetooth technology, including smartphones, laptops and tablets.
With the growing popularity of Internet shopping, many consumers will visit a store first to look at a product, and then go online to find it at a lower price. Stores like Best Buy understand that and they want to stay competitive.
"We have something called the perfect match promise which means if you buy a certain device and you find it cheaper within 30 days we'll go ahead and price match that for you." Elman Chacon said. | high6596.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She went public and gave help to others."
},
"options": [
"She kept silent",
"She worked as usual",
"She stayed at home and cried every day.",
"She went public and gave help to others."
],
"question": "What did ... | Like a growing number of young women in Vietnam's northern part city of Haiphong, Pham Thi Hue was infected with HIV by her husband, one of the town's many drug users. But instead of being shamed into silence, as Vietnamese with HIV and AIDS are, the 25-year-old tailor and mother of one went public, appearing on television and at conferences. Her business suffered and her neighbors insulted her, but Hue has now become the public face of Mothers and Wives, an HIV/ AIDS support group established in Haiphong by a Norwegian nongovernmental organization and her neighborhood's People's Committee. Last year, she founded a smaller group named after a local flower. People who need advice on treatment or help preparing bodies for burial can dial a hot line and get assistance from able and sympathetic HIV victims. "We gather to support each other," Hue says. "When we are sick, what we need most is encouragement and comfort from people who understand our situation and are willing to share our happiness, as well as our sadness."
On a hot and damp night last month, Hue welcomed into her small home a very thin woman, also a tailor, who was HIV positive. The woman tearfully told Hue that she had not told anyone about her condition, fearing that she would lose customers and that her daughter would be insulted at school. Hue became the wise elder, offering medical and personal advice. | high7850.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A lot of high school students"
},
"options": [
"Some university scientists",
"A lot of high school students",
"Some farmers and computer designers.",
"School science teachers from across theUSA"
],
"question": "... | Farmers could grow more rice and shaky Internet communications could work better someday, thanks to prize-winning discoveries by teenage scientists showed at a national science fair on Monday.
High school scientists from across the United States showed off work in genetics, molecular biology, mathematics and other fields that judges said rose to the professional level.
"It just blows me away. They're all just unimaginable," said Joel Spencer, aprefix = st1 /New YorkUniversityprofessor who served as judge at the Sidemen's Westinghouse Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
Research done by finalists in the nationwide competition could lead to faster Internet speeds, more effective antibacterial drugs and better energy conservation. One team researched black holes in outer space, while another examined more than 700 fossils to better understand why dinosaurs died out.
Juliet Girard and Roshan Prabhu won $ 100,000 scholarship for their work proving genes that help some kinds of wild rice flower earlier than others.
Drawing on a database that described the genetic makeup of rice, the two students, fromJersey City,New Jersey, identified two genetic sections that directed wild rice to blossom an average of 10 days earlier than the ordinary short-grain rice that feeds much of the world.
Their discovery could allow genetic engineers to develop a new strain that would take less time to reach maturity, allowing farmers to produce more and extending the growing region into colder climates.
Steven Byrnes of Lexington,Massachusetts, took the top individual prize for his theory describing outcomes in a two-player game called Chomp. | high24112.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "what differences there are between two kinds of parents"
},
"options": [
"how parents should make a child a musician",
"how parents should bring up a child",
"what differences there are between two kinds of parents",
"w... | If parents bring up child with the aim of turning the child into a genius , they will cause great damage to him. According to several leading educational psychologists , this is one of the biggest mistakes which some parents make. Generally, the child will understand very well what the parent expects, and will fail. Unrealistic parental expectations can cause great damage to children.
However, if parents are not unrealistic about what they expect their children to do, but are hopeful in a sensible way, the child may succeed in doing very well -- especially if the parents are very supportive (,) of their child.
Michael Li is very lucky. He is very fond of music, and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and arranging private piano and violin lessons for him. They even drive him 50 kilometres twice a week for violin lessons. Although Michael's mother knows very little about music, Michael's father plays the trumpet in a large orchestra . However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling.
Michael's friend, Winston Chen, however, is not so lucky. Although both his parents are successful musicians, they set too high a standard for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him in every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. "When I was your age, I used to win every competition I entered." Winston's father tells him. Winston is always afraid that he will disappoint his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy. | high20374.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "make his mother happy"
},
"options": [
"surprise his mother",
"make his mother happy",
"show his ability of making money",
"thank his mother for buying him a bike"
],
"question": "The author bought his mother a ... | One spring, when I was 10, during one of my father's layoffs, I could tell my mother was dispiriteD.I decided to cheer her up by buying her a special Mother's Day gift.
One day after school I rode my bike to the Agins, which, I learned years later, was known for its high-end fashions and style.I introduced myself to Sylvia Agins, telling her I was looking for a Mather's Day present.
"Do you think she'd like a purse?" she askeD.I told her.I thought she might.
She took out an Italian handbag made of leather. She asked me what I thought, and I told her that my mom would like it.
"How much money do you have?" she asked.
"Twelve bucks," I said.
"You're in luck," she told me. "It's only $11. You have a dollar left over for the card." She gift-wrapped the purse and thanked me for my business, and I rode off home with the package under my arm.
When my mother opened the gift the next Sunday morning, she asked in an accusing tone, "Where did you get this?"
"I bought it at the Agins. It cost me $11." I said.
My mother was shocked into silence.
It wasn't until many years later, when I learned that the purse was worth several hundred dollars, that I appreciated just how wonderful Sylvia Agins had been to me. I always felt bad that I never had a chance to properly thank her.
"You know, my son, what really amazes me to this day," my mother saiD."Letting you have the purse for just a few dollars was unbelievable enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch of kindness that I'll never forget. " | high4381.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "change the way we make many products"
},
"options": [
"enable people to make better purchases online",
"be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers",
"change the way we make many products",
"shorten the time it... | SEE a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture. But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair --- the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was barely affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost PS20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about PS 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes , bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more commonplace, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy. "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun? | high2928.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Computer servers generate large quantities of heat."
},
"options": [
"It is expensive to deal with huge banks of computer servers.",
"A Dutch energy firm attempted to heat private homes.",
"Computer servers generate large qua... | As every computer owner knows, when their machines run a complex program they get pretty hot. In fact, cooling the processors can be expensive, especially when you're dealing with huge banks of computer servers. But what if that energy could heat private homes? A Dutch energy firm aims to do just that.
Data centers of large Internet firms, such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and others, contain thousands of computer servers. As they process information they generate enormous amounts of heat requiring cooling towers that dissipate it into the atmosphere.
A Dutch firm thinks paying for electricity to run the servers and then paying again to cool them is a waste of energy. Boaz Leupe, CEO of the start-up Nerdalize, says it's actually quite simple."We don't actually have to build the data center, which saves a lot of costs in infrastructure and we don't have the cooling overhead, plus that you have the environmental benefit, that the kilowatt hour you are using is used twice, once to heat the home and once to compute the clients task without the cooling overhead," says Leupe.
The company developed what it calls an e-Radiator, a computer server that also works as an alternative heating source. Leupe says that five Dutch homeowners are experimentally using them in their homes.
"We reimburse the electricity the server uses, and that we can do because of the computer clients on the other side, and, in that way, home owners actually get heating for free, and computer users don't have to pay for the overhead of the data center," says Leupe.
One of the participants in the year-long experiment, Jan Visser, says the amount of heat produced by e-Radiator depends on the work being done by the server's processors so it cannot be used as the primary source. But he is ready to try it.
"If it gives good enough warmth, you can use less of your existing central heating, and there is the chance for a home owner to pay less bills."
Nerdalize says e-Radiators generate temperature of up to 55 degrees Celsius and could save up to $440 in annual heating costs. | high18833.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "experience the effect of his body on the musical sound"
},
"options": [
"test music scholars' ideas about the resonating properties",
"experience the effect of his body on the musical sound",
"reduce his muscular tightness in... | An idea came to me, and I turned off the lights in the studio.In the darkness, I took off my shirt and took up the cello ; it was the first time in my life I'd felt the instrument against my bare chest.I'd never thought about that; music scholars always talk about the resonating properties of various instruments, but surely the performer's own body must have some effect on the sound.As I dug into the notes I imagined that my own chest and lungs were extensions of the sound box; I seemed to be able to change the sound by the way I sat, and by varying the muscular tightness in my upper body.
After improvising for a while, I started playing, still in the darkness.I heard the music through my skin.For the first time I didn't think about how it would sound to anyone else, and slowly, joyfully, gratefully, I started to hear again.The notes sang out, first like a trickle:, then like a fountain of cool water bubbling up from a hole in the middle of a desert.After an hour or so I looked up, and in the darkness saw the outline of the cat sitting on the floor in front of me, cleaning her paws and purring loudly, I had an audience again, humble as it was.
So that's what I do now with my cello.At least once a day I find time to tune it, close my eyes and listen.It's probably not going to lead to the kind of comeback I'd be thirsty for--years of playing badly have left scars on my technique--but I might eventually try giving a concert if I feel up to it.
Occasionally I feel a stab of longing, and I wish I could give just one more concert on a great stage before my lights blink off, but that longing passes more quickly now.I take comfort in the fact that, unlike the way I felt before, I can enjoy playing for myself now.I feel relaxed and expansive when I play, as if I could stretch out my arms and reach from one end of the apartment to the other.A feeling of completeness and dignity surrounds me and lifts me up. | high20360.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they had different views on things"
},
"options": [
"they lived very far from each other",
"they had different views on things",
"they only communicated by phone",
"they seldom went to see each other"
],
"questi... | As I grew older, my dad and I grew further apart.We always had totally different opinions.He thought that college was a waste of time,but for me it was important to finish college.He wanted me to work my way to the top as he had done in his field,but l wanted a different life.There was a time when we did not talk with each other.
A few months ago, I heard that my 84-year-old dad was in poor health.When he called and asked whether I could move from Colorado back to Tennessee to help him,I knew he was seriously ill.I am his only child and so it was time to meet my father's requirement.
Two weeks after moving back,we bought a boat and started fishing again.Fishing was one of the few things that we did while l was young and that we both enjoyed.It is strange but true that as we are fishing we are able to put things that have kept us apart for so many years behind us.We are able to talk about things that we have never talked about before.Fishing has been healing the old wounds that have kept us apart.
It is not important how many fish we catch.It is about enjoying the relationship that we have not had for years.I'm 62 and he is 84.When we are on the lake fishing,it is like two kids enjoying life.It is far better to find a way to put the unhappy past behind.I am so lucky to spend the happy time with my father in his last years.Now my heart is filled with love.A smile always graces my lips. | high4395.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "People can practice their English via Ellie's website."
},
"options": [
"The Gloria Barron Prize honors people showing leadership and courage.",
"Each year ten winners share US$2,000 to support their higher education.",
"Elli... | The Gloria Barron Prize honors American young people from 8 to l8 who have shown leadership and courage in public service.Each year ten winners each receive$2,000 to support their higher education or their service work.
Ellie Wen,18,was volunteering at a community center in Los Angeles.The center was set up to help immigrant families.She happened to meet adults in an EFL(English as a foreign language)class."When I saw them struggling hard,I wondered how people in poor countries could learn English,"Ellie said.
So she started a Website,"Repeat After Us",where people can listen to English and practice their accents.Volunteers have helped Ellie record more than 6,600 texts,including Abraham Lincoln's"Gettysburg Address".
Hard work pays off.There were so many times that Ellie was discouraged,but she stuck to it.The Website crashed early on,and all the recordings were lost.But volunteers worked together vigorously to start over,and the visitors returned to the site.
"Just follow your idea and know that the world is so kind.Even if you do have trouble,people will help you,"Ellie said.
"I was really excited the first month,when we had 49 visitors,"she said.Now,more than 480,000 people from a11 over the world have visited the site."I get e-mails from China,Egypt,India,and Brazil."They say,"Thank you so much for this resource,we've been waiting for it for so long!"Ellie loves knowing she is helping so many people.
Gloria Barron Prize winners like Ellie are enthusiastic about the work they do.And they encourage others to join in if they see a need.Anybody can be negative,but it needs somebody brave to be positive.Are you the brave one? | high18827.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Curious and scared."
},
"options": [
"Angry and sad.",
"Excited and moved.",
"Curious and scared.",
"Happy and interested."
],
"question": "How did the author feel when he saw his brother for the first time?",
... | I clearly remember the day when my little brother was born: January 1, 1994. One of my favorite family photos shows me lying with my mother in the hospital bed, happy but un-aware of the small, sleeping baby in the background.
I stayed with my grandparents for the weekend of my brother's birth, excited about my new brother but not yet aware of what having a little brother would mean. I didn't truly realize what was going on until we were in the hospital room at Duke University----
coincidentally , the same room in which I had been born two years earlier.
When I looked at my brother for the first time, I felt a mixture of fear and interest. Little did know that small, pink creature would grow up to be one of my favorite people in the world.
In reality, though I am two years older than my brother, I am more often than not the real baby in the family. I am very lacking when it comes to common sense. Instructions constantly confuse me and I frequently find myself totally puzzled by things like knowing how to start the washing machine or manage the storage settings on my iPhone.
That's where Gibson comes in. The poor kid has had to guide me through more tasks than I would care to admit, but he never complains. Though I should probably be told to figure it out myself, he always comes through.
I'm envious of his ability to readily answer the ever-present, "What do you want to do with your life?" question at family gatherings. "Be a doctor," he says----a solid answer, completely opposite to my shaky one, "Well, I'm an English major, so..."
My brother truly is my best friend. No one understands me better, and there isn't anyone else I would want to be stuck with in our family. I may not have a clear idea of where I'm headed, but he is stuck with me. | high9869.txt |
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