questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he wanted to find a short way to the Indies by sea."
},
"options": [
"he wanted to prove the earth was round.",
"he wanted to find a short way to the Indies by sea.",
"he found Latin was very useful at that time.",
"he ... | Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy. He was the oldest of five children in his family. His father was a wool weaver. He helped his father with the weaving, but he always wanted to sail the seas.
He didn't get to school very much, but he learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Some people thought he was trying to prove the world was round, but this is not true. He wanted to find a short way to get to the Indies by ship.
He was a Christian and wanted to tell the story of Christ to the people he would find in the far-away lands. He also wanted wealth for himself and for Spain, and he wanted to be famous. He tried for eight years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money.
They left Spain on August 3, 1492 and sailed toward the west. After many days, the sailors had covered a long distance on the sea and were ready to turn around for home when they saw land, an island Columbus named San Salvador. He thought he had found the Indies and called the people he saw there "Indians". When they got to Cuba, he thought he was in Japan. The world was a lot larger than he thought.
On Christmas Eve, the Santa Maria was wrecked near Haiti. Columbus built a fort and left 40 men to hunt for gold. Then he returned to Spain on the Nina. The people of Spain welcomed him as a hero. He made three more voyages across the ocean. His 13-year-old son, Ferdinand, went with him on the fourth voyage.
Columbus did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and the queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis . Columbus not only discovered a New World, but he led the way for other explorers. | high1206.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He thinks it is unacceptable."
},
"options": [
"He thinks it is necessary sometimes.",
"He thinks it is unacceptable.",
"He thinks it requires good computer skills.",
"He thinks it is good for Internet service providers... | Is it wrong to use someone else's wireless(Wi-Fi) connection?Just recently,a man was arrested for doing just that.At that time,he was sitting in the street with a laptop and using an unsecured wireless connection to surf the Net.What do you think about this topic?Listen to the following different views on it.
For a start,if someone is using your Internet service or downloading,this will affect your speed of access or download limit.Also,it's bad for Internet service providers.They will suffer in the long run because fewer people will pay for an Internet service if they know they can get it for free.And finally,just imagine this:what if the person who is stealing your Internet connection is involved in an illegal activity?I think the police are totally right to arrest these criminals.
--by Sandra Wilkins
Basically,if the person who paid for the service still has everything they paid for,what's the problem?It's just like using the light from streetlamps to read your book,or watching someone else's firework display.It's not stealing.
Also,if you leave your wireless connection unsecured,then it is your own fault if someone else uses it.Just as you wouldn't leave your front door unlocked,or your car door open,neither should you leave your wireless connection open.By leaving your wireless connection open,you are inviting people to use it.Securing your wireless connection is as easy as clicking a few settings on your router .And finally,haven't the police got more important crimes to solve?They're always saying how they haven't got the manpower to solve real issues.But this is just ridiculous .
--by James Hoarley | high13999.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because its influence becomes bigger and bigger"
},
"options": [
"Because it represents noble and rich",
"Because it has the same meaning with an English word.",
"Because its influence becomes bigger and bigger",
"Becau... | China's new popular word, "tuhao", may be taken in next year's Oxford English dictionary. The word caught the attention of the dictionary's editing team after BBC's recent program on influential Chinese words.
"If its influence continues, it is very likely to appear on our updated list of words," said Julie Kleeman, project manager with the editing team. Kleeman told the Beijing Youth Daily that "tuhao" has some similarities with the English word "bling", which refers to expensive, ostentatious clothing or jewelry. Both the two words have existed for long but later on took a new meaning.
In Chinese, "tu" means rude and "hao" means rich. It has traditionally been referred to rich people who throw their weight around in China's rural areas. In recent years, people in the ACG (anime, comic and game) circle borrowed the term to describe those who spend money in an unreasonable manner.
The word gained acceptance in September with the launch of Apple's new gold-colored iPhone, an item loved by China's nouveau riche . The color became known as "tuhao gold".The word is now often used by the online community to refer to people who have the cash but lack the class to go with it.
Kleeman also mentioned another Chinese word "dama" which may also be taken in the dictionary.
"Dama", meaning middle-aged women, was first used in the Western media by the Wall Street Journal in May when thousands of Chinese women were buying up record number of gold. They were the driving force in the global gold market between April and June when the gold prices had dropped. "People can have an intuitive grasp of the meanings if they see pinyin", Kleeman said adding that people avoided using an English word to keep the original meaning. The new words will be first uploaded on the official website before the dictionaries arrive. The online version is also renewed every three months. | high8544.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "US Military Plans"
},
"options": [
"US Military Plans",
"The Global Arms Race",
"A Comparison between Two Presidents",
"President George W. Bush and the World Peace"
],
"question": "Which of the following might ... | United States President George W. Bush is expected to issue a directive in the next few weeks. It will give the US Air Force a green light for the development of space weapons, US media reported last week.
This would potentially start a new global arms race, some experts have warned.
To keep that from happening, last Wednesday the White House explained that it was not considering putting weapons in space. It said it was making a shift in US space policy to allow for protection of satellites.
But some defense analysts and arms control advocates argue that the policy will pave the way for the US to put both defensive and offensive weapons in space.
"No one should be fooled," said Theresa Hitchens, an American weapons expert.
The US is now restricted by a 1996 directive signed by President Bill Clinton. Plans for space weapons were vetoed by the Clinton cabinet. The directive emphasized the peaceful use of space , in agreement with almost unanimous global opinion.
The US military has placed importance on space and has sent up numberous satellites for troop communications and to provide intelligence and data to guide bombs to their targets.
The US Air Force wants to develop space- based weapons that could strike targets anywhere in the world within 90 minutes of receiving the order to open fire.
These new weapons under development cover a wide range. They include hunter- killer satellites and orbiting weapons. And they use lasers, radio waves, or even dense metal tubes, known as " Rods from God", dropped from space to do the damage.
There are many barriers to the setting up of this kind of program, experts say.
First is the coast. It is estimated that the budget may be US $220 billion to US $ 1 trillion .
The technical difficulties of developing reliable space weapons are also a problem.
And, the program will draw strong criticism from around the world. Experts worry about starting a space arms race. | high15330.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "clever"
},
"options": [
"clever",
"surprising",
"silly",
"funny"
],
"question": "What did the writer think about the elephant? He thought it _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer":... | Have you ever heard the saying, "An elephant never forgets?" I do not know whether it is true or not, but I do think that elephants are certainly very clever. They can be taught to do things. That is really interesting.
Once upon a time there was an elephant near a town in India. The elephant went to work with its master every day. It had to go along a certain street. A tailor lived in this street, and used to sit at the door of his shop. Every day when the elephant came to this shop, it would stop and put out its trunk towards the tailor. This was because it knew that the tailor was a friendly man. He would give it something nice to eat.
One day it happened that the tailor had nothing to give to his big friend. Perhaps he wanted to make fun of it, because he was not an unkind man. What did he do? When the elephant put out its trunk to the tailor, he pricked the end of the trunk with a needle. The elephant drew back quickly, looked at him angrily and went off down the road.
The tailor thought no more about it during the day, but the elephant did! That evening before it went home the elephant filled its trunk with water from a dirty pond. When the tailor saw it coming along the road, he laughed at the trick that he had played on the beast that morning. But he became very sad when he received a trunkful of dirty water between the eyes! | high21095.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Two prints by Pablo Picasso and two oil paintings by two Brazilian artists."
},
"options": [
"Two prints by Pablo Picasso",
"Two oil painting by Brazilian artists",
"Two prints by Pablo Picasso and two oil paintings by two Br... | Three armed robbers stole two Pablo Picasso prints from an art museum in downtown Sao
Paulo on Thursday, which was the city's second high-profile art theft in less than a year. The bandits also took two oil paintings by well-know Brazilian artists Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and Lasar Segall, said Carla Regina, a spokeswoman for the Pinacoteca do Estado museum.
The Picasso prints stolen were "The Painter and the Model" from 1963 and "Minotaur, Drinker and Women" from 1933, according to a statement from the Sao Paulo Secretary of State for Culture, which oversees the museum. The prints and paintings have a combined value of $612,000, the statement and a museum official said.
About noon, three armed men paid the $2.45 entrance fee and immediately went to the second-floor gallery where the works were being exhibited, bypassing more valuable pieces, authorities said. "This indicates to us that they probably received an order" to take those specific works, Youssef Abou Chain, head of Sao Paulo's organized crime unit, told reporters at a news conference. The assailants overpowered three unarmed museum guards and grabbed the works, officials said. The robbery took about 10 minutes and the museum was nearly empty at the time. The assailants took the pieces -- frames and all -- out of the museum in two bags. The institution has no metal detectors.
In December, Picasso's "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch" and "O Lavrador de Cafe" by Candido Portinari, an influential Brazilian artist, were stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art by three men who used a crowbar and car jack to force open one of the museum's steel doors. The framed paintings were found Jan. 8, covered in plastic and leaning against a wall in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, South America's largest city. One of the suspects in that robbery -- a former TV chef -- turned himself over to police in January, who already had two suspects in custody . | high11156.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "natural minerals contain more precious metals"
},
"options": [
"the weight of e-goods is rather small",
"natural minerals contain more precious metals",
"E-waste deserves to be made good use of",
"the percentage of prec... | In the United States alone,over 100 million cell-phones are thrown away each year.Cell-phones are part of a growing mountain of electronic waste like computers and personal digital assistants.The electronic waste stream is increasing three times taster than traditional garbage as a whole.
Electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold and silver.A Swiss study reported that while the weight of electronic goods represented by precious metals was relatively small in comparison to total waste,the concentration of gold and other precious metals was higher in So-called e-waste than in naturally occurring minerals.
Electronic wastes also contain many poisonous metals.Even when the machines are recycled and the harmful metals removed,the recycling process often is carried out in poor countries,in practically uncontrolled ways which allow many poisonous substances to escape into the environment.
Creating products out of raw materials creates much more waste material,up to 100 times more,than the material contained in the finished products.Consider again the cell-phone,and imagine the mines that produced those metals,the factories needed to make the box and packaging it came in.Many wastes produced in the producing process are harmful as well.
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency notes that most waste is dangerous in that"the production, distribution,and use of products-as well as management of the resulting waste-all result in greenhouse gas release." Individuals can reduce their contribution by creating less waste at the start-for instance,buying reusable products and recycling.
In many countries the concept of extended producer responsibility is being considered or has been put in place as an incentive for reducing waste.If producers are required to take back packaging they use to sell their products,would they reduce the packaging in the first place?
Governments' incentive to require producers to take responsibility for the packaging they produce is usually based on money.Why,they ask,should cities or towns be responsible for paying to deal with the bubble wrap that encased your television?
From the governments' point of view,a primary goal of laws requiring extended producer responsibility is to transfer both the costs and the physical responsibility of waste management from the government and tax-payers back to the producers. | high10248.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "gerontorogy has suddenly become popular"
},
"options": [
"America has suddenly become a nation of old people",
"gerontorogy has suddenly become popular",
"more elderly professors are found in American colleges",
"older ... | For an increasing number of students at American universities , Old is suddenly in . The reason in clear : the aging of prefix = st1 /Americameans jobs . Besides the aging of the body--boom population , a longer life means that the nation's elderly population is certain to grow greatly over the next 50 years . By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65 , up from 14 percent in 1995. The change causes some questions for government and society , of course . But it also creates jobs in medicine and health fields , and in law and business as well. "Besides the doctors , we're going to need more sociologists , biologists , city planners and lawyers," says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California's (USC) School of Gerontology .
Lawyers can major in "elder law" , which covers everything including nursing-home abuse and age discrimination . Businessmen see huge opportunities in the elder market because the baby boomers , 74 million strong , are likely to be the wealthiest group of retires in human history. "Any student who combines an expert knowledge in gerontology with , say , an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money," one professor says .
Margarite Santosis a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major but found she was "really bored with biology". So the took a class in gerontology and discovered that she liked it . She says, "I did volunteer work in retirement homes and in was very satisfying." | high17527.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "There are always difficult students like John."
},
"options": [
"There are always difficult students like John.",
"John will always be an ordinary student.",
"It is important to change John.",
"John is a very common nam... | Here are a few of our favorite entries so far in our "Your Life: The Reader's Digest Version" contest.After reading these, head over to Face book and sublimit your own story a-bout a special moment or lesson that shaped your life.
"There's Always a John" By Darla Boyd
My first year of teaching, there was a kid named John in my class. John was difficult to control and he nearly drove me crazy. While talking about him one day, an old teacher put his hand on my shoulder and said, "There will always be a John. Your job is to learn to discover what makes him different and help him succeed." The next year, there was indeed another John. But that advice taught me that there is something to appreciate in everyone.
"An Early Key Lesson" By Elaine West
Before I began my first teaching job, my mother, a teacher of 30 years, gave me a very special gift, five simple words that have had an effect on my entire life. "Make friends with the janitor ." Her wisdom taught me the respect for all types of characters and continues to enrich my life to this day. Just five little words but what an impact they can have when you take them to heart.
"Raising Mommy" By Jan Davis
Being a mother can always present challenges and rewards. Someone told me early that children will teach you everything you need to know. Being a mother is being raised. Our children become our advisers. Their dreams become our professors, as we are taking notes carefully. The sounds of their laughter and smiles are a great reward to us. Their tears remind us that it is okey to fail, and that we should wipe the tears away and try again. | high18614.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "to develop"
},
"options": [
"to ask the IOC for more money",
"to break away from Georgia",
"to challenge the world",
"to develop"
],
"question": "Although Sochi has poor transportation and unsatisfying facilitie... | Few in the west seemed to notice when the International Olympic Committee(IOC) decided to award the 2014 Winter Games to the Russian town of Sochi. Yet this choice if full of geopolitical meaning.
President Vladimir Putin flew to Guatemala to address IOC delegates before they voted, and surprised them by speaking in French and - for the first time ever in public - English. Later he declared that Sochi's victory was "not only a recognition of Russia's achievements in sports but also an assessment of our country".
Sochi, located between the Caucasus and the Black Sea, has poor roads, one old resort and out-of-date facilities. In the next five years it will be transformed by a burst of constructions unprecedented in the history of Russia. Winning the Olympic bid has given Russian politicians a focus, a $ 12 billion project they can use to showcase their power and that of their country. Several have already announced bid investments in Sochi.
Olympic planners will have to assure that the Sochi project dose not collapse under the weight of corruption , which Russian officials are famous for. With many eyes watching, they will also have to green landscape around Sochi, where some of Europe's last wild bears roar in primitive mountain forests, with more care for the environment than Russia has traditionally shown.
Sochi also sits on the edge of a region that has been boiling with ethnic and political tensions since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In past centuries it was ruled by both Georgia and Abkhazia, which is now a breakaway region of Georgia. Russia backs the rebel regime in Abkhazia, but as the Olympics approach, it may feel it needs to be careful.
The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, might have bitterly protested the Olympic Committee's decision to award the Winter Games to a country that actively supports rebels within Georgia. Instead he was wise enough to realize that this event could push Russia toward compromise solutions in Abkhazia and perhaps even in Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh and Chechnya. | high21081.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The quickly changing technological environment."
},
"options": [
"The quickly changing technological environment.",
"The plan to stop the use of the fixed lines.",
"Breaking up telecom giants.",
"The ongoing public deba... | According to a survey,more Europeans go digitalchanging from fixed lines to mobile phones and from narrowband to broadband Internet connections.
The survey showed that 22 percent of EU households use only mobile phones, up from I8 percent a year ago,while the percentage of households with at least one fixed line decreased by 5 percent to 72 percent, although the percentage of households with at least one mobile phone remains fairly stable at 8l per cent.
Broadband is presenting a rapid upward trend in the EU, showed the survey, which polled(...)27,000 households across the union. 'Itventy-eight percent of households are now connected to the Internet via high-speed "broadband" links, up six percent from last year, while narrowband usage has dipped by three percentage points to 12 percent. More than half of households access the Internet via an ADSL line and 34 percent of broadband connections are wireless.
"Europe's digital economy is growing strongly as more and more households love to choose between fixed, mobile and Internet services," said EU Information Society and Media Commissioner wiane Reding. "The challenge of this year's reform of the EU's telecom rules will be to respond to this rapidly changing technological environment while enhancing at the same time effective competition:'
Meanwhile, nearly 20 percent of Europeans buy two or more telecom products from a single service provider, the combination of fixed telephony and.Internet access being the most common. The result may strengthen the commission's case for breaking up telecom giants, whose control over the fixed line networks~accused of hindering competition."Today's survey findings will feed into the ongoing public debate on the reform of the EU telecom rules, planned for summer this year," said Reding. | high11142.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "to say what you want in another's voice"
},
"options": [
"to improve a famous person's speech",
"to say what you want in another's voice",
"to make a speech much more easily",
"to help you to find a better job"
],
... | The next time you try for a high-ranking post, you could let your possible boss listen to a recommending phone call "made" by US President George W Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Of course, neither of them could really do that for you-you would just "borrow" their voices.
AT & T labs will start selling speech software that it says is so good at reproducing the sounds of a human voice that it can recreate voices and even bring the voices of long-dead famous people back to life.
The software, which turns printed text into speech, makes it possible for a company to use recordings of a person's voice to say things that the person never actually said.
Possible customers for the software, which is priced in the thousands of dollars, include telephone call centers, companies that make software that reads digital files aloud, and makers of automated voice devices . The advances raise several problems. Who, for example, owns the rights to a famous person's voice? (Some experts even believe that new contracts will be drawn that include voice-licensing clauses.)
And although scientists say the technology is not yet good enough to commit fraud , would the synthesized voices at last be able to trick people into thinking that they were getting phone calls or digital audio recordings from people they know?
Even Mr Fruchterman, one of AT & T lab's possible first customers, said he wondered what the new technology might bring. "Just like you can't trust a photograph anymore." He said, "you won't be able to trust a voice either." | high17533.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To offer tips on writing book reviews."
},
"options": [
"To offer tips on writing book reviews.",
"To give advice on reading books.",
"To introduce writing styles.",
"To comment on a book."
],
"question": "For w... | Most magazines, whether online or print, will include book reviews. However, most editors and staff writers are usually too busy to read books and review them themselves. Therefore, writing book reviews can be a great way to get started with a writing career. How do you write a great book review that will be sure to be noticed? Follow these tips to write a really interesting and unique book review.
Start with a description of the book. Many people that are reading your review may not know anything about the book you're reviewing. Instead of making readers go find information on their own by searching for the book title, start out with a little description of the book. Make sure you avoid too long of a summary. Start with a short paragraph or so that hits all the major points but doesn't give too much away. You don't want to tell your readers everything about the book, because then they won't have to read it at all. Just give enough information so your readers are interested in reading the book.
Be objective. Some magazines like to publish book reviews that are completely impersonal. This means that they want a review of the book that doesn't share your opinion and that in which your opinion isn't obvious from reading what you wrote. If you hated a book, it might not be a great book to review. You probably want to review books that you enjoyed. Avoid talking about how much you liked the book, however. You should not include your personal reaction to the book until the very end, where you include a sentence or two about whether or not you would recommend a book and to whom you would recommend it.
Look through a lens . A great way to get your review noticed is to look at a book through a specific lens. Read the book as a feminist would, for example, and talk about what a feminist might say to applaud or criticize the book. You can choose any number of lenses, and feminism is just one choice. An economic lens, a family lens, the lens of a different nationality, or the lens of a child could all be interesting ways to look at a book. If you look at a book in this way, instead of just reading it and forming your own opinion, it will be much more interesting and marketable. This is especially the case if you look at a lens that relates to the subject of the magazine to which you are submitting. Feminist magazines love book reviews about books read through a feminist lens, for example, because it is appropriate to their readership.
Talk about the writer's style. Another great way to write a book review is to talk about the writer's style. Anyone can pick up a book and read the story, but it takes an experienced writer to note interesting things about another writer's style and write about them intelligently. Furthermore, most people want to know if a book is easy or fun to read over whether or not the subject matter will interest them. | high5074.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Interesting."
},
"options": [
"Puzzling.",
"Interesting.",
"Unbelieving.",
"Tiring."
],
"question": "How does Chris think applying laser scanning to famous World Heritage Sites?",
"question_type": "factiod_q... | A team of British scientists is preparing to create a digital model of Mount Rushmore using laser scanning so that the iconic U.S. monument can be recreated if it were to be damaged.
The survey work is part of a project to accurately record the exact dimensions of 500 of the most famous World Heritage Sites, including the Acropolis in Athens and the Great Wall of China.
The joint team, from the Glasgow School of Art and Historic Scotland, are currently surveying 10 World Heritage Sites in Britain before they aim their laser beams at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. There they will team up with members of the CyArk Foundation, a non-profit organization that has identified several "at risk" World heritage Sites. Mount Rushmore is on their list because of concerns over deterioration of the faces of four former presidents on the sculpture.
Laser scanning itself is not new but applying the technology to historic sites or buildings is a new approach. "At first, these laser scanners were produced for things like refineries where there are lots of pipes and things or atmosphere that are different for humans to actually tolerate," Chris McGregor of Historic Scotland told Reuters Television. "They hadn't really thought about the built heritage as being a market for such a machine but its use and the work that we are doing with it is really innovative and really exciting.
CyArk's goal is to create a huge database of detailed surveys of sites so that they can be maintained or even rebuilt if they should be damaged by a natural disaster, climate change or even war. They cited as an example the Buddhas or Bamiyan in Afghanistan, two monumental statues of standing Buddhas carved into the side of a cliffduring the sixth century that were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. Despite offers from the governments of Japan and Switzerland, among others, to help rebuild the Buddhas, the team believe an accurate laser survey would have made the task more achievable.
Doug Pritchard from the Glasgow School of Art's Digital Design Studio said, "We are discovering new things about the buildings which are hundreds, thousands of years old," he said.
CyaArk said the loss of architectural and archaeological cultural heritage is becoming a crisis of global proportions with an urgent need for reliable documentation as a key step to help preserve heritage sites. The development of laser scanning technology has given a greater accuracy to surveys and thrown new light on ancient monuments. | high18600.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "effective measures have not been taken"
},
"options": [
"there are no laws to ban this crime",
"this crime has not been that serious",
"effective measures have not been taken",
"the author's plan has not been adopted"
... | When you think of environmental problems you probably think of pollution, but the poaching of wild animals is one, too. Poaching has worried environmentalists for years and, despite laws, this terrible crime has yet to be stopped.
Poaching is a serious problem, especially in Africa and Asia. This crime is done for commercial profit , meaning hunters kill animals illegally and sell their most worthy parts. Although poachers usually hunt tigers, elephants and rhinos, they kill sharks and whales, too. This illegal hunting has led to decreasing populations of many species.
Many nations have banned poaching, but enforcement is difficult. The small number of police officers trained to deal with this creates an unfair advantage for poachers.
Poachers usually kill animals for only one product: tigers are killed for their striped fur, elephants their ivory tusks and rhinos their large horn. The bodies of the animals are left to rot. Sharks' fins are cut off and their bodies thrown back into the ocean. Without fins they can't swim and will die. The illegally obtained fins are used to make shark fin soup.
The laws that "protect" animals are no more than pieces of paper. The current poaching bans need better enforcement, and I have a plan.
The number of enforcers needs to be increased so that there are enough to watch the herds and make sure poachers can't shoot the animals. The reserve parks in Africa should become a huge zoo so that the animals can move but within a fenced area. Another idea is to build a concrete enclosure instead of fences. Watchtowers could be constructed so enforcers can monitor a wide variety of poacher targets. This may not completely end the problem, but it would slow it down.
Poaching is a serious problem and a criminal act. The effects of poaching will be felt for centuries to come, and if there are any still alive, the only place to see animals might be in a zoo. | high23696.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he hoped his father would spend some time with him"
},
"options": [
"his father didn't like him",
"he hoped his father would spend some time with him",
"he was quite satisfied with his family life",
"he had the dream to... | I don't think a day goes by when I don't think of my father. He died twenty-one years ago when I was twenty-six. He was a good man , but I hardly saw him around home, for he ran a big company. I secretly wished something could bring him closer to me.
It wasn't until he became seriously ill that we really got to know each other and had a place in each other's lives. After his near death and many operations, I was trained as his nurse to take care of him. Although the job seemed boring and tiring in certain people's eyes, I liked it. Taking care of him seemed to reduce the pain of his absence from my younger life. I enjoyed his company and attention and, though through a sad situation, I was finally getting my fill .
Now I am a dad myself, but certainly not a _ as my father. Although I work away from my home, I always have my meals with my family. Father's Day is coming I still have the pencil holder made from a decorated tin sitting on my desk. It's a gift from my only son. Each year, the gift is something different and each year, I couldn't care less about the gift itself. You see, the gift I enjoy is the pleasure of my son's company and knowing that we have a place in each other's lives.
At heart , all men know their fathers are important. Want a great Father's Day? Tell your dad you love him and give your kid a hug today-before Father's Day actually arrives. | high13755.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He helped his father, but not very happily."
},
"options": [
"He helped his father happily.",
"He never helped his father.",
"He helped his father, but not very happily.",
"He only helped his father take a walk after su... | When I was growing up, I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was badly crippled , and when we would walk together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare, I would be ashamed of the unwanted attention. If ever noticed or bothered, he never let on.
It was difficult to walk together--and because of that, we didn't say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, "You set the pace. I will try to follow you."
Our usual walk was to or from the subway, which was how he got to work. He went to work sick, and even in bad weather. He almost never missed a day, and would make it to the office even if others could not. It was a matter of pride for him.
When snow or ice was on the ground, it was impossible for him to walk, even with help... Such times my sister or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn, N.Y., on a child's sleigh to the subway entrance. Once there, he would try to grasp handrail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept ice free. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building, and he would not have to go outside again until we met him in Brooklyn on his way home. w.w.w.k.s.5.u.c.o.m
When I think of it now, I am surprised at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to suffer from shame and disability. And I am also surprised at how he did it--without bitterness or complaint.
He never talked about himself as an object of pity, not did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a "good heart", and if he found one, the owner was good enough for him.
Now that I am older, I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people, even though I still don't know exactly what a "good heart" is. But I know the times I don't have one myself.
He has been away for many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my reluctance to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about my troubles, when I am envious of another's good fortune, when I don't have a "good heart". | high1212.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "robots are very popular"
},
"options": [
"robots are very popular",
"there are various kinds of robots",
"we see robots only at certain times",
"robots can be easily controlled"
],
"question": "In this passage t... | There are robots all around us. Some do very complicated jobs like flying airplanes and driving subway trains. and some do one simple job. When an automatic washing machine is switched on, water pours in. The machine waits until the water is warm enough for washing clothes. It does this by "feedback" . Information about what is happening is feedback into the robot to tell what to do next. Our eyes, ears and other senses are our feedback. They tell us what is going on around us. So robots are like human beings in two ways. They work and they have feedback.
In some ways robots are better than human beings. They work quickly and do not make mistakes. They do not get bored doing the same job over and over again. And they never get tired. So robots are very useful in factories. They can be taught to do many different jobs. First their electronic brain must be shown how the job is done. A person moves the robot's "arms" and "hands" through each part of the job.
The most intelligent robots can move and see. Their eyes are cameras. Their fingers can feel shapes and sizes of the objects. These robots have computer brains linked to their eyes and fingers, which control their actions. The expensive robots are used in scientific research. They do such job as handling radioactive materials. | high786.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "not to believe everything you hear"
},
"options": [
"not to believe everything you hear",
"not to eat soup that is too hot",
"not to eat in inns",
"to cry when we burn our mouth"
],
"question": "This story teach... | A nobleman and a merchant once met in an inn. For their lunch they both ordered soup. When it was brought, the nobleman took a spoonful, but the soup was so hot that he burned his mouth and tears came to his eyes. The merchant asked him why he was weeping. The nobleman was ashamed to admit that he had burned his mouth and answered, "Sir, I once had a brother who committed a great crime, for which he was hanged. I was thinking of his death, and that made me weep." The merchant believed this story and began to eat his soup. He too burned his mouth, so that he had tears in his eyes. The nobleman noticed it and asked the merchant, "Sir, why do you weep?" The merchant, who now saw that the nobleman had deceived him, answered, "My lord(="master)," I am weeping because you were not hanged together with your brother." | high9896.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "with tests in life, we shape our personalities"
},
"options": [
"sometimes things may happen because of luck",
"with tests in life, we shape our personalities",
"we shouldn't let other people affect us",
"life with thos... | Sometimes people come into your life and they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be-----a roommate, a neighbor, a professor, a friend, a lover or even a complete stranger------but when you lock eyes with them, you know at the very moment they will affect your life in some profound way.
Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection , you find that without overcoming those obstacles , you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart. Every thing happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of good or bad luck. Illness, injury, lost moments of true greatness, and pure stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved straight flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience, help to create who you are and who you want to become. Even the bad experience can be learned from. In fact, they are sometimes the most important ones. If someone loves you, give love back to them in whatever way you can, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things. If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart.
_ . Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and listen to what they say. Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you. | high7663.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "it was located too far away from the city center"
},
"options": [
"it was located too far away from the city center",
"it was a new brand for customers",
"its goods are much too expensive",
"it was inconvenient for cust... | At 20 year of age F.W. Woolworth found work in exchange for room and board at a local dry goods store , and after his employers held a successful clearance sale he saw the possibilities of a discount store. His key improvements were having the goods on open display instead of behind the counter , and having prices plainly marked instead of bargaining.
With borrowed funds he opened his first F.W. Woolworth store in the suburb of Utica, New York in 1879, but the store closed the following year . Deciding that his problem had been a poor location. He opened a new store in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylyania in 1881. Within months he was opening multiple stores in business partnerships with local retailers,and within a few years Woolworth was a millionaire. In 1909 he opened his first store in England, and in 1913 the company opened its new headquarters in New York's Woolworth Building--then the tallest building in the world.
Woolworth had a deep fear of dentists , allowing his teeth to rot ,and died of a dental lunch counters in many stores , Woolworth was America's largest restaurant chain through the 1940s. The company peaked as the world's largest department store chain in the late 1970s, with more than 4 . 000 stores. By the late 1990s business was sputtering , and the company closed all of its American department stores,renamed itself Venator, and sold the Woolworth Building . In 2003 Venator renamed itself after the company's most successful division, Foot Locker, Inc . Under separate ownership , Woolworth stores are still operated in Austria , Germany , Mexico, South Africa , and the United Kingdom. | high15324.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Being Palestinian leader, Arafat would rather die in his own country than be driven away from his people."
},
"options": [
"In 1992, Arafat's plane crashed in South Africa.",
"Israeli officers thought Arafat himself sent the terror... | He has lived through various dangers but time may be running out for the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
On September 11, Israel announced its decision to remove him, following several Palestinian suicide bomb attacks on Israel. "He should be punished for the killings," an Israeli official said, "He has done nothing to stop the terrorist groups."
But the decision has angered many other countries. China said that Arafat is the true leader, elected by the Palestinian people, and removing him would harm the peace in the Middle East. Other governments share this idea.
Arafat himself said: "They can kill me, but never get me out of my country." He has spent most of his life in danger as the most important aim of Israel. But, just like a cat with nine lives, Arafat escaped every time.
For years he has made a practice of sleeping in a different bed each night, thinking a moving person is harder to hit. In 1985, Israel sent fighter planes to kill Arafat. The wild bombing destroyed his office in Tunis but Arafat himself was unhurt. In 1992, the aircraft in which he was flying over North Africa broke in two during a crash landing. The pilot was killed but he managed to remain alive.
What is so unbelievable is that he always remains calm in great danger. Israeli tanks and planes attacked his office building in Ram Allah in December 2001. When they saw the attackers coming, Arafat's bodyguards _ his orders to stay still and carried him to safety underground. Seconds later, several bombs were dropped nearby. Though safe, his bodyguards were so frightened that they were wet in sweat.
But, Arafat, with Israeli tanks only 200 meters away, showed no fear at all. He stayed in the damaged office, talking by phone with foreign leaders in hope of preventing further attacks from Israel.
All these experiences have made him a beloved leader to his people and an enemy to some others.
But has he used up the last of his nine lives? Only time will tell. | high22588.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To consider and judge the situation."
},
"options": [
"To consider and judge the situation.",
"To check whether there was gas.",
"To prevent the car breaking down.",
"To turn to somebody for help."
],
"question"... | I finished my last evening shift of the week and could hardly wait to get home. I took off my nursing shoes, relaxed and then said goodnight to the rest of the girls and headed out of the door.
It was so cold and I could see the ice crystals in the air. As I approached my car, I saw one of my coworkers standing by the bus stop. I thought it would only take a couple of extra minutes to give her a ride home, and besides, it was too cold to be standing outside on the coldest night in January.
We chatted as I drove and before we knew it, we arrived at her house. As she headed up the steps to her door she turned around. "Do you know how to get to your house from here?" "How hard can it be? I'll just backtrack the way I came."
I started driving. Nothing looked familiar, but at first that didn't bother me since I'd never been to this neighborhood before. I kept driving, and soon I sensed that something was wrong. I recognized nothing, not the neighborhoods, not even the street names. My husband would be worried about me. I looked down at my watch. It was now 2:30. I'd left work at 11:30 pm.
I stopped my car. I thought I'd better take stock of my situation. My gas gauge was slowly going down. In total defeat I put my head down on the steering wheel and asked for help. I lifted my head. I saw a shadow down the road in front of me. It was a car. What was a car doing in the middle of nowhere at 2:30 in the morning?
Hesitantly, I got out of my car and knocked on the window of the other car. An elderly man slowly rolled his window down.
I said, "I'm lost and don't know how to get back into town."
In silence, he started driving. I drove behind him.
Finally I recognized a familiar street. As I turned to head home, I lost sight of my guiding angel. When I pulled into my driveway the warning light for my gas tank turned on. | high7105.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A disabled lawyer."
},
"options": [
"A disabled lawyer.",
"A reporter.",
"An actor",
"An interviewer"
],
"question": "What's the author according to the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer"... | Tomorrow evening I will be interviewed on stage by a museum official. I will be an interpreter, talking from experience as a disability rights lawyer and activist.
In "special" schools and camps for children with physical and mental disabilities, I grew up knowing we were a category of person that the world did not want. Most of us had a story of some doctor advising our parents to put up away or to let us die. We owed our survival to parents who had irrationally bonded with us. We knew we were lucky and hoped our luck would hold. To increase the chance of surviving, we tended to be charming. We developed
By the time I roll onto the stage the next night, I've thought a lot about there and here, then and now. When the first question comes, I tell them about my fascination with the wheelchair, and somehow it sounds funny, and laughter fills the room. We talk from the horror of Nazis killing (Nazis once killed the disabled patients as useless) to a funny confession that I, too, tend to stare at disabled people on the street.
What has come over me? In this room, people with disabilities in thrilling variety make me feel at home. Here people, disabled and not, are gathered by choice.
I haven't forgotten that 2 million people remain in US disability institutions, that some disabled children still cannot attend mainstream schools, that too many of us live in poverty. But I can't hold onto anger and sorrow for I feel a shared sense of possibility, a drive for a world that will embrace both the fit and the unfit and hold them so dear that the division dies. | high15442.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "they are becoming less patient"
},
"options": [
"they are becoming less patient",
"they are growing too independent",
"they have to handle many important messages",
"they have to follow an evolutionary step backward"
... | "People are ruder today because they are rushed and more 'time poor' than ever before," says Patsy Rowe, " _ " Due to our strong attraction to electronic equipment it is a wonder more people don't wake up each morning and greet the singing birds with a complaint about the noise. Here are some examples of rudeness.
Some people prefer to do almost everything over the internet. To them, dealing with an actual human is like an evolutionary step backward. It feels very slow because humans don't work at 4G speeds. When you have dinner with friends, you will often notice someone paying more attention to his mobile phone. We have programmed ourselves to think that every new message brings life-changing news, so taking calls and checking our texts are more important than talking to the people we are with. What is worse, some people even tend to send anonymous rude messages by email.
However, rudeness is never acceptable. Don't assume it is OK to be rude if the person you're in touch with won't recognize you. If you have something awful to say, have the courage to face the person and say it, write a letter or email and sign it, or forget it. Upsetting people with unsigned messages is cruel and annoying.
We shouldn't blame technology for our shortcomings. Technology is here to help us, but we should not allow it to take over our lives. An important step is admitting our shortcomings. People spend a lot of time pointing out bad manners but it would be even more helpful if we'd publicly recognize good manners when we see them. | high14984.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "more varieties of rainforests"
},
"options": [
"stranger flower plants",
"More animals",
"more varieties of rainforests",
"more visitors"
],
"question": "Compared with Amazon, Khao Sok National Park has _ .",
... | Asia has many wild places. The following national parks are among the most famous in Asia. People come to visit them from near and far in order to appreciate the unique qualities of the land and everything on it. Have you ever visited any of these Asian national parks?
Jiuzhai Valley National Park, China
The extraordinarily beautiful park is famous for its fascinating blue-green lakes, waterfalls and its unique wildlife. Located in the Minshan Mountain, Sichuan Province, it is a breathtaking park because of its scenery and it is also home to nine Tibetan villages, over 220 bird species as well as a number of endangered animals and plants, such as giant pandas, Sichuan golden monkeys and numerous _ . This park was also declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.
Khao Sok National Park, Thailand
This extraordinary park is several miles away from Phuket , yet its remoteness prevents it from being visited. Even so, it is well worth a visit as scientists have noted that is rainforest stretches are not only longer than those of the Amazon, but also more divers . Animals like tigers, Asian elephants, and macaaues make their home here. Everyone who visits the park, however, seems to want to have a look at the amazing Rafflesia, one of the strangest flowering plants on earth; it smells like smelly meat when it blooms.
Nikko National Park, Japan
It is lovely to visit this park all the year round with its waterfalls and picturesque Lake Chuzenji. And it is especially worth visiting in autumn when the leaves change from green to deep red and orange. Set with UNESCO protected shrines and temples, the park is a unique mixture of natural and man-made attractions. With various routes perfect for adventurous hikers, a visit to the Nikko National Park is not to be missed.
If you want to know more information about Asian famous national parks, you can log in http://www.travel.Amerikanki.com. If you want to enjoy all the above, welcome to call 050-24689120, and we can give a reasonable price. | high13033.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in the category of fear"
},
"options": [
"in the use of the words of historical events",
"in the category of fear",
"in the category of literature",
"in the category of joy"
],
"question": "A study of more than ... | A study of more than five million books, both fiction and non-fiction, has found a marked _ in the use of emotional words over time.The researchers form the University of Bristol used Google Ngram Viewer, a facility for finding the frequency of terms in scanned books, to search for more than 600 particular words identified as representing anger, dislike, fear, joy, sadness and surprise.
They found that almost all of the categories showed a drop in these "mood words" over time.Only in the category of fear was there an increase in usage.
"It is a steady and continuous decrease," said Dr Alberto Acerbi.He assumed that the result might be explained by a change in the position occupied by literature, in a crowded media landscape."One thing could be that in parallel to books the 20th century saw the start of other media.Maybe these media -- movies, radio, drama, had more emotional content than books."
Although both joy and sadness followed the general downwards trend, the research, published in the journal PLOS One, found that they also exhibited another interesting behaviour:the ratio between the two varied greatly, apparently mirroring historical events.
During the Roaring Twenties the joy-to-sadness ratio reached a peak that would not occur again until before the recent financial crash.But the ratio plunged at the height of the Second World War.Nevertheless, the researchers held a reserved opinion about their claim that their result reflected wider social trends.In the paper, they even argue that the reverse could be true.
"It has been suggested, for example, that it was the suppression of desire in ordinary Elizabethan English life that increased demand for writing 'filled with romance and sex'... perhaps," they conclude, "songs and books may not reflect the real population any more than catwalk models reflect the average body." | high9128.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "not at all surprised"
},
"options": [
"angry",
"not at all surprised",
"pleased",
"surprised"
],
"question": "When the tired man telephoned Mrs Turner by mistake, she was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_que... | Mrs Turner's telephone number was 3463, and the number of he cinema in town was 3464. People often made mistakes and telephoned her when they actually wanted the cinema.
One evening the telephone rang and Mrs Turner answered it. A tired man's voice came over the phone, "At what time does your last film begin?""I'm sorry," said Mrs Turner, "but you have the wrong number. This is not the cinema." "Oh, it began twenty minutes ago?" said the man. "I'm sorry about that. Well, good-bye." Mrs Turner was very surprised, so she told her husband. He laughed and said, "No, that wasn't a mistake. The man's wife wanted to go to the cinema, but he was feeling tired, so he telephoned the cinema. His wife heard him, but she didn't hear you. Now they will stay at home this evening, and the husband will be happy." | high17255.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Starting your own business."
},
"options": [
"How to start a business.",
"Starting a business soon.",
"Starting your own business.",
"Preparations for starting a business."
],
"question": "What's the best title ... | It was once unheard-of to be a businessman in China. Nowadays, though, it's quite common to become your own boss. Let's say you have an idea. Maybe you want to open an English school or sell Japanese comics. First, you need a business plan. It sets out what you'll sell and how much everything will cost. Most businesses that fail didn't have this. If you need to borrow money at the start, banks will ask for a detailed plan.
The best starting place for a business plan is the 4Ps: product, place, price and promotion. All these must be strong to be successful.
#Product
Your product must have something unique. What makes it special compared to other similar products? If you want to start a noodle shop that has nothing new, don't expect people to show much interest. You can research your product. For food, let people try it for free. For toys, let a few children play with them to see if they like them.
#Place
There's no point having a product that people want to buy if your shop is in an empty mall. Think about which type of person is going to buy what you sell. Where do they usually go shopping? When looking at possible places, spend the day there. See how many people pass by. Also, are there other shops nearby selling similar products? _ , how can you be better than them?
#Price
Work out how much it costs to make or provide your product. As a general rule, your price will be double the cost. After all, you're also paying for rent, staff and you need to eat too!
#Promotion
How can you attract people to your shop? Advertising in newspapers and on TV is expensive. Perhaps you can get free advertising by getting a newspaper to write about your business. | high5712.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "environmentally friendly"
},
"options": [
"not ripe or modern",
"covering green color1",
"environmentally friendly",
"fresh or new"
],
"question": "\"A green building\"most refers to a(n) _ building according ... | For many years, environmental problems have been a major concern to people. Almost all things are related to the word "Green", say, green buildings. A green building means not only the colour of the paint. Also,it refers to environmentally friendly houses,factories and offices.
Green building means "reducing the impact of the building on the land", Taryn Holowka of the US Green Building Council in Washington D.C.said. According to Holowka,buildings account for 65 percent of total US electricity use.
But green buildings can reduce energy and water use. Also,the buildings are often located near public transportation such as buses and subways,so that people can drive their cars less.That could be good for the environment,because cars use lots of gas and give off pollution. Green buildings are often built on developed land,so that the buildings don't destroy forests.
Marty Dettling is the project manager for a building that put these ideas into action.The Solaire has been called the country's first green highrise building. According to Dettling,"We've reduced our energy use by onethird and our water by 50 percent."
The Solaire cuts energy in part by using solar power."On the surface of the building we have solar panels which change the sun's energy into electricity,"Dettling explained.
The Solaire also has lights that automatically turn off when people leave the room. In addition,the building has lots of windows,allowing people to use the sun for light during the day.The Solaire cuts water by reusing it.
Not everyone is eager to move into a green building,however. Some people think that things like solar panels cost more money than more traditional energy source. Anyhow,Holowka said,"It is going to take off." | high18166.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Train to Gain can Help your Business Succeed"
},
"options": [
"How to be a Successful Businessman",
"The Way to Succeed in your Business",
"Train to Gain can Help your Business Succeed",
"Good Training is Essential in W... | Good training plays an essential role in the development of an efficient workplace. Ensuring that employees receive the appropriate skills training for their job is the type of preparation that future success in business is predicated on. Seeking out experienced guidance better enables businesses to compete and succeed.
Gainful employment is made even more worthwhile with help from Train to Gain. Funded by the Government, Train to Gain is a service that's managed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). Its purpose is to help businesses throughout England to choose the best and most suitable training to meet the needs of their particular environment and a competitive global marketplace. Train to Gain is responsible for introducing employers to independent and experienced Skills Brokers who identify and form a range of services vital to a productive working atmosphere. These Skills Brokers offer advice, match any training needs identified with training providers and will ensure that training is delivered to meet business needs.
Train to Gain Skills Brokers review and analyze the employer's business needs to assess what skills are needed both now and in the future. The next step is the selection of the right training providers and the choice of how and when the training is delivered. A Train to Gain Skills Broker will recommend the best funding options available to the business and Train to Gain may even provide some funding itself to organizations.
Over 43,000 companies have already engaged with the Train to Gain service. As a result, more than 175,000 employees have begun their training with over 77,000 first full Level 2 achievements over the past 12 months. By the end of 2013 it is expected that over 500,000 learners will have achieved a first full Level 2 qualification through Train to Gain. The service will increase the opportunity for employees from a low skills base to reach Level 2 and beyond.
For more information about Train to Gain, visit traintogain.gov.uk, call 0800 015 55 45 or visit a Skills Broker in your area. | high3363.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the education reform"
},
"options": [
"the education reform",
"adding more teachers",
"the mother tongue",
"ways of teaching"
],
"question": "The text is mainly about _ in Singapore.",
"question_type": "cl... | Speaking in his first National Day Rally speech on 15 August, Prime Minister Lee Hsien said Singapore's education system was set for more reforms in the years ahead, particularly for the primary and secondary education.Read the summary of his thoughts on education below.
For a start, the Government is prepared to send and additional 3,000 teachers to Singapore schools, cut the courses of study even further and change the way the mother tongue, especially Chinese, is taught.But, for the changes to be successful, parents need to help.
Singapore has a devoted group of teachers and principals and quite a few of them are outstanding, but the Republic's schools can be even better.To help the schools make a jump in quality, the Government plans that within the next 6 years, it will send 1,000 more teachers to primary schools, 1,400 to secondary schools and 550 more to junior colleges.Each school would decide how to use its extra teachers.Some may want to make classes smaller so students get more individual attentions while others may have new teachers assist more senior teachers, but the overall goal is to give teachers the time and space to come up with ways to bring out the best in their students.
More teachers must not mean more homework, however.In fact, the Prime Minister wants to see the courses cut down so that there is less pressure on the students.Good grades are important but they should not be the only goal students have.PM Lee is convinced that "we must teach less so that our children can learn more."
Another change will be in the teaching of the mother tongue so that students can become more fluent.The key is to teach Chinese as a living language not just an academic subject like Latin.Therefore, the focus should be on speaking and reading the language.To do this, there must be an environment outside the classroom that is contributing to strengthening the Chinese lessons. | high11624.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The family wouldn't see it suffer in its later life."
},
"options": [
"The cat had changed its color1.",
"The vet himself had no way to save its life.",
"The family wouldn't see it suffer in its later life.",
"The cat s... | DEAR AMY: We recently had to put our cat down. It came out of the blue. We had no idea that he had health problems, and we woke up early one morning to the cat crying out painfully. We immediately rushed him to the vet's where the vet said that at best treatment might lengthen his life by two to three months. We did not want to see him suffer, so we chose to kill the cat in a painless way.
I am having a rough time! I cry when I am alone. I cry when I see pet commercials on television. I put away everything that reminds me of the cat. But the last sight of seeing the cat in pain plays over and over in my head. My kids seem alright with what has happened, but why am I struggling?
It has only been one week since his passing, so I hope things will get better. Do you have any suggestions?
Yours,
Sad
DEAR SAD: There is no loss quite like the loss of a pet; these animals keep us company through important life passages and are beloved witnesses to our human lives.
I understand your instinct to put away all of your cat's things, but it may help you now to memorialize your pet by using these things. Each family member can write down favorite things about him or memories of him; read their memories aloud and put the papers inside his bowl. The idea is to replace those painful last memories with much more lively memories taking place over the most of the animal's life.
Time will then do its job, which is to affect your feelings. And then, when you're ready, I hope you will adopt another animal and give it the opportunity to share your life.
Yours,
Amy | high19278.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "buy products in large quantity"
},
"options": [
"buy products in large quantity",
"avoid buying vegetables in bad weather",
"choose local seasonal goods",
"plant vegetables in the community yard"
],
"question": ... | More and more Chinese mainland buyers have in the past few weeks been queuing to cross the border into Hong Kong to _ growing financial pressure led by rising food prices at home. Their shopping baskets are full of sugar, salt and even tissue paper.
While prices are rising so fast, many people are worrying out ways to cut down their expenses. Du Zhenqi, an 80-year-old Beijinger, grows different vegetables in the community yard. But this year, before they turned ripe, they were all picked by his neighbors. "The prices of vegetables have gone up dramatically," said Du. "So I understand those people and it pleased me to offer them my help." Du expressed his sympathy for these who took away his vegetables without permission.
The rise of food price in China has made people with low incomes feel serious financial pressure and forced them to spend wisely.
A collection of practical money-saving tips is thus becoming increasingly popular among Chinese citizens. If you search "money-saving strategies" in Baidu, you will find 4.27 million entries in 0.19 seconds. The collection provides tips such as choosing local and seasonal products, avoiding buying vegetables on rainy or snowy days when higher transport costs increase prices, using websites for purchases, and planting vegetables on the balcony. Some consider buying in large quantity to stay within a tight budget.
Fei Yuqin, who lives in Shanghai, frequently hurries to a farmers' market before 6 a.m. to buy large amounts of vegetables for her family and neighbors. "Instead of buying small amounts, I buy large amounts of vegetables at the market and get a 50-percent discount."
With these tips, many people have become experts in cutting household expenses. However, financial pressure caused by the current round of price rising still troubles many Chinese people. | high21268.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "different standards of selection"
},
"options": [
"different purposes in the interview",
"different experiences in interviews",
"different standards of selection",
"different ways of selection"
],
"question": "P... | It often happens that a number of applicants with almost the same qualifications and experience all apply for the same position. In their educational background, special skills and work experience, there is little, if anything, to choose between half a dozen candidates. How then does the employer make a choice? Usually on the basis of an interview.
There are many arguments for and against the interview as a way of selection. The main argument against it is that it results in a wholly _ decision. As often as not, employers do not choose the best candidate. They choose the candidate who makes a good first impression on them. Some employers, of course, reply to this argument by saying that they have become so experienced in interviewing staff that they are able to make a good assessment of each candidate's likely performance. The main argument in favor of the interview is that an employer is concerned not only with a candidate's ability, but with his or her suitable personality for the particular work situation. Many employers, for example, will overlook occasional mistakes from their secretary if she has a pleasant personality.
It is perhaps true to say, therefore, that the real purpose of an interview is not to assess the assessable aspects of each candidate but to make a guess at the things that are hard to measure, such as personality, character and social ability. Unfortunately, both for the employers and applicants for jobs, there are many people of great ability who simply do not interview well. There are also, of course, people who interview extremely well, but are later found to be very unsatisfactory employees. Candidates who interview well tend to be quietly confident, but never boastful , direct and straightforward in their questions and answers; cheerful and friendly, but never over-familiar; and sincerely enthusiastic and optimistic. Candidates who interview badly tend to be either very shy or over-confident. They either talk too little or never stop talking. They are either over polite or a bit rude. | high4183.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The man didn't give up though he failed the interview"
},
"options": [
"The man was one of the biggest food retailers in the world",
"The man didn't give up though he failed the interview",
"He started his career by selling t... | A jobless man applied for the position of "office boy" at Microsoft.The HR manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test."You are employed," he said."Give me your e-mail address and I'll send you the application to fill in, as well as the date when you may start." The man replied, "But I don't have a computer, neither an e-mail." "I'm sorry," said the HR manager."If you don't have an email, that means you do not exist. And who doesn't exist cannot have the job."
The man left with no hope at all.He didn't know what to do, with only ten dollars in his pocket.He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10 kg tomatoes.He then sold the tomatoes from door to door.In less than two hours, he succeeded to double his capital . He repeated the operation three times, and returned home happily with 60 dollars.
The man realized that he could survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier, and return later.Thus, his money doubled or _ every day.Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles.Five years later, the man was one of the biggest food retailers in the US.
He started to plan his family's future and decided to have a life insurance.He called an insurance broker and chose a protection plan.When the conversation was concluded, the broker asked him his e-mail.The man replied, "I don't have an e-mail."The broker said curiously, "You don't have an e-mail, and yet have succeeded to build an empire.Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?" The man thought for a while and replied, "Yes, I'd be an office boy at Microsoft !" | high3834.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A monkey invented a gesture."
},
"options": [
"How humans influenced monkeys.",
"A monkey invented a gesture.",
"A new social culture was discovered.",
"How experts made the new discovery."
],
"question": "What'... | To the untrained eye it might seem like just a bit of a monkey trick. But when Milly the mandrill (, ) covers her face with her hand she is actually sending a serious message to her fellows: "Leave me alone!"
Experts believe the 15-year-old mandrill invented the gesture to warn other monkeys at Colchester Zoo to give her some space. And, surprisingly, the signal has been picked by other members of the group, who use it when they too require _ .
Biologist Mark Laidre believes the behavior is evidence of social culture among the mandrills. Importantly, the sign language is unlikely to have been influenced by human activities because mandrills do not copy humans. Mr. Laidre expects further research will uncover other monkeys using cultural gestures -- the ability to communicate with the hands in a meaningful way. "By covering their eyes with their hands, possibly conveyed to others that they wanted to be left alone and this message may have been respected as a 'do not disturb' sign," said Mr. Laidre.
While the hand is in place, other monkeys are not likely to approach or touch the monkey. Those who rank lower in the social order also use the technique to avoid attacks from more powerful group members. As the discovery appears to be unique to Colchester Zoo, it suggests it is a local phenomenon that arose naturally in the community of 25 mandrills.
Curator Sarah Forsyth said: "We believe Milly made up the signal and over the past five years some of the younger mandrills have picked it up. We're not sure why she started doing it but it could be as simple as 'I can't see them, so they can't see me'. It really does show you how intelligent mandrills are." | high8961.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the opinions on health risk of volcanic ash"
},
"options": [
"the effect of volcanic ash",
"the health risk of volcanic ash",
"the disadvantages of volcanic ash",
"the opinions on health risk of volcanic ash"
],
... | Europeans should try to stay indoors if ash from Iceland's volcano starts settling, the World Health Organization warned Friday as small amounts fell in Iceland, Scotland and Norway.
WHO spokesman Daniel Epstein said the tiny ash is potentially dangerous for people when it starts to reach the Earth because particles taken in by people can enter the lungs and cause breathing problems. And he also said Europeans who go outside might want to consider wearing a mask.
Other experts, however, weren't convinced the volcanic ash would have a major effect on peoples' health and said WHO's warnings were " _ ." They said volcanic ash was much less dangerous than cigarette smoke or pollution. Volcanic ash is made of fine particles of fragmented volcanic rock. It is light gray to black and can be as fine as talcum powder . During a volcanic eruption, the ash can be breathed deep into the lungs and cause irritation (,) even in healthy people. But once it falls from a greater distance -- like from the cloud currently hovering above Europe -- its health effects are often minimal, experts say.
"Not all particles are created equal," said Ken Donaldson, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, "In the great scheme of things, volcanic ash is not all that harmful." And he said most Europeans' exposure to volcanic ash would be ignored and that only those in the near districts of the Icelandic volcano would likely be at risk.
Dr. Stephen Spiro, a professor of the British Lung Foundation, said the further the particles travel, the less dangerous they will be. "The cloud has already passed over northern Scotland and we haven't heard of any ill effects there," he said. Spiro said to wear masks or stay indoors to avoid volcanic ash was "over the top" and "a bit hysterical." | high22761.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Pleasant."
},
"options": [
"Hard.",
"Ordinary.",
"Lonely.",
"Pleasant."
],
"question": "What did the author think of the beginning of his college life?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | I still remember my college days after I was initiallygiven my assignments of writing different papers. I enjoyed my first week with new friends and teachers as they were quite friendly and sociable. But I didn't realize that there was a dark era in my life, which was the horrifying day after I found that my term papers with empty pages. I had no way out. I was not alone. All the new students were feeling exactly the same way.
I gathered some courage and started thinking to find methods to help me write my term papers. I went to my history teacher. She was very kind and always prepared to help new students. She told me that I should act like a professional student and not take my work lightly. She also provided some encouraging tips which really improved my confidence. I was instructed to go to the library and gather books that have relevant material or topics about the term papers. The next step was to find related chapters in those books. I did as I was ordered.
Throughout the whole process of term papers there was something quite interesting and pleasing. She didn't assist me in doing any practical thing, but gave instructions one by one. With a large pile of reference books, we left the library and she told me to review those chapters. I got a lot of information and data. I had been feeling proud and happy as I got a good idea about the topics. She told me to create a 2000-word essay in my own words. I had been happy that it took only two days to finish my task. She did further editing and told me to make a bibliography , which was not a hard task.
I felt quite lucky to see the term papers had a professional appearance. I also felt lucky to have such a good teacher as her. | high23319.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Students consult with \"advisers\", who \"teach\" in the traditional sense."
},
"options": [
"New Country students sit in an open environment that looks a lot like a typical \noffice.",
"Students consult with \"advisers\", who \"te... | Enter a typical high school, and the first thing you see is the front office, where the principal dwells and grades are stored. The front office also reinforces familiar hierarchy : principal at the top, teachers in the middle, kids on the bottom, sitting with hands folded at their desks.
Now, imagine a school where the organizational structure is completely flat. At the New Country School in Henderson, Minn, there is no front office. Visitors are immediately embraced by an airy atrium that is the centerpiece of this one-room schoolhouse. And all around the room, 124 students sit at desks -- real office desks -- working at their own personal computers on their own projects.
When Dee Thomas and her colleagues got together 15 years ago to design a new high school, they knew there was one thing that had to go: The bell. "You don't go into your job in the morning and say, 'OK, for the first 45 minutes of my job, I'm going to do the math part.' And then a bell goes off, and you do the social history part of your job. You don't do that," Thomas said.
There are no teachers at New Country. Every few weeks, students must present projects they've been working on to the rest of the school community. To prepare for their presentations, they gather at tables in the middle of the school atrium and present their work to their "advisers."
Kids at New Country test better than their peers on the state tests and on the pre-college ACT. The school sends 90 percent of its graduates to college. But that doesn't tell the whole story. New Country struggles to keep its seniors from leaving. The school's senior project is demanding -- 300 hours of work.
But for some students, New Country offers a rare alternative, a choice they can't find anywhere else. And the school is constantly visited by educators from around the world looking for new ideas. That's the foundation of efforts to reform American high schools today -- that there's a need to experiment with an institution that is failing millions of students | high209.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "about half of them are for it and the other half against it"
},
"options": [
"a lot more of them are for it",
"a lot more of them are against it",
"very few of them are willing to tell their opinions",
"about half of th... | Every pet owner loves his pet .There is no argument here.
But when we asked our readers whether they would clone their beloved animals , the responses were split almost down the middle . Of the 228 readers who answered it ,108 would clone, 111 would not and nine weighed each side without offering an opinion .
Clearly, from readers' response, this is an issue that reaches deeply into both the joy and eventual sadness of owning a pet. It speaks, as well, to people's widely differing expectations over the developing scientific procedure
Most of the readers who favored the idea strongly believed it would produce at least a close copy of the original; many felt the process would actually return an exact copy. Those on the other side, however, held little hope that clone could truly recreate a pet; many simply did not wish to go against the natural law of life and death.
Both sides expressed equal love for their animals. More of them owned "the best dog/cat in the world". They thought of their pets as their "best friend" or "a member of the family". They told moving stories of pets' heroism, intelligence and selfless devotion.
No wonder the loss is so disturbing---and the cloning so attractive. "People become very close to their animals, and the loss can be just as hard to bear as when a friend or family member dies," says Gary Kowalski, author of goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet. "For me, cloning feels like an attempt to turn death away...It's understandable. Death is always painful. It's difficult to deal with. It's hard to accept."
But would cloning reduce the blow? This question seems to be at the heart of this problem. | high15873.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "will be sold in America"
},
"options": [
"was invented in Japan",
"has developed quickly",
"will be sold in America",
"sells well for its price"
],
"question": "This passage mainly tells us that Bowlingual _ ... | A Japanese toy maker declares that they have developed a gadget that translates dog barks into human language and plans to begin selling the gadget----under the name of Bowlingual----in U. S. pet stores and gift shops this summer.
Tokyo-based Takara Co. Ltd. says about 300, 000 of the dog translator gadgets have been sold since it was on sale in Japan late last year. It is forecasting far bigger sales once an English language translation for dogs comes to America in August. The United States is home to about 67 million dogs, more than six times the number in Japan.
"We know that the Americans love their dogs so much, so we don't think they will mind spending $ 120 on this product, " the Takara marketing manager said during an interview at a recent pet products conference in Atlanta.
Regarded as one of the coolest inventions of 2002 by Time magazine, Bowlingual is made up of a 3 - inch long wireless microphone that is fastened to a dog collar and sends out sounds to a small console that is connected to a database . The console divides each bark into six emotional types----happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, threat and desire----and shows common phrases, such as "You're ticking me off," that fit the dog's emotional state.
Takara says it has spent millions of dollars developing the gadget in cooperation with famous sound experts and animal behaviorists.
One thing that does appear certain is that the markets for animal translation products will likely remain a dog's world since Takara has no plans to develop a similar gadget for cats. " _ are too unpredictable , " the marketing manager said. | high2294.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "controversial viewpoints on the DREAMAct"
},
"options": [
"controversial viewpoints on the DREAMAct",
"the content of the DREAMAct",
"the necessity for the DREAMAct to get through",
"the possibitlity of the passage of t... | Yves Gomes is now a university student in Maryland, but he may soon have to leave the country. "I still want to continue with my college education and I want to be able to study here and go to medical school," he said.
Gomes is one of thousands of young illegal immigrants who grew up in the United States and are now studying at American colleges and universities. He is doing well in his studies, but he is fighting deportation to India, a country he left with his parents when he was just 14 months old. They were deported more than a year ago.
"If I was to go back to India I would just feel like all of that would have gone to waste because here at least I am still able to go to college," he said.
Immigration is a divisive political issue in the United States with some 11 million people in the country illegally. One element of the debate is the hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants brought to the United States before the age of 16. Pending legislation know as the DREAMAct would give them a chance to become legal residents if they complete two years of college or join the military.
Milanie Schwartz, a politically conservative student at the University of Texas, explains why some Americans oppose the legislation.
"We think it's unfair that students who are illegal immigrants would get a fast track to citizenship, while people who did come here legally wouldn't have those same opportunities," she said.
"The question is legalization or not, " said Jon Feere, who also opposes the DREAM Act. He is a policy analyst with the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington and is concerned about the act's effect on the economy. "There's a lot of unemployment in the United States right now. And there are already many legal immigrants who are already here who are desperate for those jobs," he said.
But supporters of the DREAMAct say well-educated immigrants would help the economy. Raul Hinojosa is an immigration research analyst at UCLA." Not letting them contribute to the economy would not only lose all the financial investment we have already made in these youths, but we would lose literally trillions of dollars of potential value because they want and are ready to contribute to the US economy," he said.
That's exactly what Yves Gomes wants to do -- finish school and become a doctor. He says without the DREAMAct, many students' dreams will be lost. "They are studying at Harvard, they are studying at UCLA--the top universities -- and they all have bright futures and because of the system they are going to be told to go home, go back to a country they don't even know, " he said.
The DREAMAct has failed to win passage in Congress since it was first introduced 10 years ago. Now time is running out for passage this year, and opposition Republicans have threatened to block it. Yves Gomes hopes that won't happen. He wants to finish school and eventually become a US citizen. | high20610.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He wanted to live his dreams."
},
"options": [
"He was out of work.",
"He wanted to treat his illness.",
"He wanted to live his dreams.",
"He suddenly found running interesting."
],
"question": "Why did the auth... | I got tired of living the life that everybody told me I "should" be living , so one day I decided to start living life on my own terms. Frustrated with my job, I came home, put on my shoes, and just started running. It felt so good to be free. That first day I ended up running 30 miles without stopping. Yes, I had rediscovered my old passion ( ) -- and it felt so good I set a goal to support myself and my family from my running alone.
I trained hard every day. Since I wanted to be the best I could be, I knew I would have to set some clear goals for myself. A couple of my goals were: run a 135-mile ultra-marathon across Death Valley, win the Badwater Ultra-Marathon, and run a marathon to the South Pole.
I had no idea how I was going to achieve these goals, but they certainly encouraged me to work hard. Today, I am really grateful to say that I have achieved all of them. Shortly after completing these goals, I set another goal: to run fifty marathons, in fifty states, in fifty days. Nobody had done anything like this before. To be honest, I was not quite sure if I could. But there was only one way to find out...so I just started training and preparing to give it my best try.
I completed _ one year ago, and it felt great! But for me, life is not all about achieving goals. Sure, it feels good to succeed, but the greatest reward for me was learning more about myself and what I was able to do.
Only by stepping out into the unknown and stretching ourselves can we really discover what our true potential is. | high2280.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the influence of Hinduism on their culture."
},
"options": [
"people's tight family relationship.",
"the family customs and traditions.",
"people's great affection for religion.",
"the influence of Hinduism on their cul... | Bali is an Indonesian island rich in indigenous culture. A lot of people say that Balinese culture is unique and that the people of Bali have always been content with the "now". If you ask a Balinese person what heaven is like, the probable answer will be "just like Bali". This only goes to show that most Balinese people are happy to be where they are and never worry.
One factor that contributes to this laidback lifestyle is the culture of close family ties in Bali. In the Balinese culture, support is always available. Balinese extended families are so tightly knit that all members usually reside in the same complex.
Balinese culture is based on a form of this religion, which is called "Hindu Darma". This religion reached the island during the eleventh century. Most of the family customs and traditions as well as community lifestyles of the Balinese people are influenced by this.The religious influence even expands widely into the arts, which makes Bali distinct from the rest of Indonesia.
In spite of the fact that tourists flood to the island every year, Balinese people have managed to conserve their culture. Almost every native of Bali is an artist in some form or another. Parents and villagers have passed on their skills to their children, who all seem to have preference either for music, dance, or painting.
Another remarkable mark of the Balinese culture is the series of ceremonies and rituals known as the Manusa Yadnya. This marks the different stages of Balinese life. Cremation is very popular on this island--and unlike in the West, death is a joyous and color1ful event for the Balinese. | high19085.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "their shape and color1"
},
"options": [
"their living environment",
"their aggressive character",
"their way of attacking others",
"their shape and color1"
],
"question": "The brown recluse spider and the black ... | There are about 34,000 different known species of spiders in the world, but only a dozen of them are harmful to humans. Four of the deadliest spiders in the world are the following. These spiders should undoubtedly be avoided.
Brown Recluse Spider
The brown recluse spider is native to the United States. It prefers areas that are dark and quiet. They can be found both indoors and outside. Their characteristic marking is a dark violin shape on top. The brown recluse spider is not an aggressive spider, but will inject venom into its victims if it is pressed against the skin. In children, the elderly, and those with lowered immune systems, the venom will cause serious illness or death.
Black Widow Spider
The black widow can be found in the southeastern United States. Their characteristic marking is a red hourglass shape on their black stomach. It is not an aggressive spider. The black widow injects a neurotoxin into its victims. The neurotoxin can interfere with nerves to muscle tissue. In children and the elderly, the neurotoxin can be fatal.
Brazilian Wandering Spider
The Brazilian wandering spider has a few names such as the banana spider and the armed spider. They can be found in the regions of Central and South America where the climate is warm. These are highly aggressive spiders and are extremely dangerous. They wander around the forest floor and are commonly found in people's homes. It injects a neurotoxin which can cause death.
Sydney Funnel-Web Spider
The Sydney funnel-web spider resides near Sydney, Australia. They can grow to 3 inches in length and have a dark and smooth body. They are extremely aggressive and are the most poisonous spiders. They will strike repeatedly, possibly causing death by injecting a neurotoxin into their victims.
These four species of spiders are not all aggressive, but all can cause painful bites and serious bad reactions. Keep your eyes open because the best way to deal with these dangerous creatures is to avoid them. | high22013.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Do not expect me to be a supporter of the Internet."
},
"options": [
"Get me out of the Internet world.",
"Computers are trying to take control of life.",
"Modern technology pushes old people away.",
"Do not expect me t... | Count Me Out
Call me old-fashioned. Call me old. Call me what you want, but I refuse to become part of this new Internet world.
I do not possess a computer at home or at the office. Actually, I stopped going to an office 35 years ago, when all communications were done with a pen, a typewriter, or, if the matter was of world-shaking importance, over the telephone. Likewise, if you like something advertised in a newspaper or magazine, you visited the shop selling it at the given address, or you phoned the number shown. Then you spoke to the fellow and asked for further details.
Tell me what you think of the following ad that appeared the other day in the newspaper. It was for a cure for cancer and this is what it said: "Awareness is the key. Visit
com at the awareness site." There was no address or telephone number for the site. So what do unfortunate people without a computer do if they are seeking a cure for their illness?
There are, I am told, certain advantages in having access to the Internet. You can, for example, send love messages across the world or even get married to someone that you meet online. This bit doesn't interest me; I have been happily married for 60 years. There are, of course, other activities for Internet users besides finding love. They can pay bills, order groceries, or discuss with their doctors.
And this is by no means all. More amazing things are yet to come in the near future. I read a newspaper report recently that quoted Stephen Hawking, an important British scientist. "The complexity of a computer as it exists today is probably less than the brain of an earthworm," he said. "But, as technology advances, computers will become more complex, and a time may come when the Internet may develop 'consciousness.' In other words, the Internet will be able to think, have feelings, and may well be able to act on its own."
If Professor Hawking is right, I may change my attitude to computers. As I grow older each day, I would like one of those that not only thinks for me but also accepts responsibilities for all my mistakes. | high15867.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Dealing with the pain left behind after the earthquake"
},
"options": [
"The scare caused by the earthquake",
"Dealing with the pain left behind after the earthquake",
"How to get a sense of safety",
"The psychological ... | The earthquake affected the students of the destroyed areas in many ways: losing parents, being scared and feeling lonely. How can we help them? Teens reporter talked with Lin Dan. the program director of the Sunshine in Your Heart Project at the Red Cross Society of China.
How will the earthquake affect the teenagers mentally?
They'll have feelings of fear, anger and feel they are not safe. They will find it hard to focus. They will tend to cry and shout and tremble. And they might be afraid to be alone.
What will happen if they are not helped?
The teenagers will find it hard to live in a balanced way. If things get worse they might not be able to focus on their studies. They might give up on life.
How can we help them overcome these problems?
The first thing is to build up trust with them. Show your sympathy and sadness, and be their friend. Then you have to give them a sense of safety. Tell them that there's a solution to every problem. Thirdly, try to satisfy their psychological needs. Be a good listener if he or she needs to talk.
Some of us were not directly affected by the quake but have seen images on TV and feel scared. What should we do?
Talk with an adult and/or share your feelings with someone who might feel similar. If this doesn't help then you should see a doctor for professional help. | high8975.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Happiness is all around us."
},
"options": [
"Money means happiness.",
"Happiness is all around us.",
"Dreams make our life rich.",
"Satisfaction is unacceptable."
],
"question": "What is the best title of the t... | This the best time and this the worst time;this is the time of great material richness and this is the time of desert of soul.Everyone seems to be rushing around for something but they have never fulfilled they dream.Everyone tries to seek happiness but it seems to be nowhere to be found.
When asked"what on earth can make you happy?",most modern man would give similar replies such as becoming extremely wealthy,or getting promoted in work and then becoming very wealthy.When asked"what will you do with your wealth?",they would make a long list of things they have been longing for.However haven't you noticed the multibillionaires are not as happy as we common guys suppose them to be?Haven't you noticed that the multibillionaire celebrities don't even enjoy the fundamental freedom of going shopping with their own families without being followed by annoying paparazzi?
If we hinge our happiness on such big issues,we are bound to be unhappy all through our life, because those big issues might just occur to us _ .
As Socrates once put it,"He is the richest who is content with the least,for content is the wealth of nature".But how can we "be content with the least"?If you pay due attention,our life is loaded with little joys,sometime too little to be noticeable.Stop once in a while in your rush to your destination,look around and you will see that there are always little things worth cheering for. You got an"A"in a test.Good!You listened to all inspiring lecture.Great!You offered a helping hand to someone who had a flat tire! Amazing! Your dream girl/boy greeted you with a sweet smile!Fantastic!And so on and so forth!Let's cheer for the little joys in life!
Please keep in mind that never should we wait to be happy! | high6780.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "say no and tell them that they must stop"
},
"options": [
"have your kids express their opinions fully and then discuss with them",
"think about how you can be their close friends",
"report that to their school immediately",
... | 1) Your teens don't want you to be their friends. What they need is for you to be a reliable responsible role model worthy of their respect, and not some overgrown child who wears too tight jeans or T-shirts with slogans advocating the good points of 100 proof liquor.
2) Don't debate the teen ever. If she wants to debate, suggest she sign up for the Debate Club. If you buy into their teen logic (which is basically illogic, the product of an immature brain and every extreme of emotion known to mankind) your mouth will go dry. Teens need to know that no means no. Remember when your teen was two years old and he said "no" a lot? Well now it's your turn, particularly when your teen wants to engage in behaviors that are dangerous.
3) Don't buy your teen a car. If you do, he will _ it in record time. Guaranteed. The teen should earn the car, or at least a portion of it (and by that I don't mean one of the tires). You know how you take much better care of an item of clothing you spent a fortune on compared to one you bought in a bargain basement? It's the same thing, only a car can do serious damage.
4) Encourage sports participation even if your teen has two left feet. In some sports, two left feet won't knock him out of the box, so to speak. Sports participation develops perseverance and cheerfully functioning as a team member. You also will know where your child is every day after school (on the field, that is, or at a rival school). Just make sure you root for the right team, okay? Been there, done that.
5) Let the school know you in a good way so that school personnel do not dive under the desk when you approach. If you are asked to speak at the school, your teen will feel mighty proud. If you make something for the bake sale, try to make it taste edible and if you can't see it through, do yourself and your child a favor and buy something at the local bakery or supermarket.
6) To know your teens' friends is to know your teens. Teens have a secret life, and a parent's goal is to find out secrecy that is sometimes thicker than the CIA and the KGB combined. If you really want to know what your kid is up to, get to know their friends. How? By being warm and kind, and by asking questions that don't sound like an interrogation , but serve that purpose without their knowing it. | high22775.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "after a series of laboratory tests"
},
"options": [
"because he has shared his thoughts on happiness with a worldwide audience",
"after he has explained his insights into happiness to everyone",
"after a series of laboratory ... | Finding true happiness is a universal aspiration . We all want it, but can we all have it? Genuine happiness is written all over our faces when we are truly contented, and, likewise, a forced smile does nothing to hide underlying sadness.
Believing that everyone can create their own lasting joy, Matthieu Richard has been declared the Happiest Man in the World. Richard earned his "happiest man" status after a series of laboratory tests in 2004. Richard has shared his thoughts on happiness with a worldwide audience. As an experienced speaker, he has explained his insights into happiness to everyone, from students to corporate groups. Looking inwards to find joy rather than relying on outer conditions, he believes, is the way to achieve well-being.
"It's quite clear that the outer conditions are not enough. The way we interpret those outer conditions in our inner experience is what determines either a sense of well-being or misery. We love to go jogging for fitness and we do all kinds of things to remain beautiful, yet we spend surprisingly little time taking care of what matters most: the way our minds function. It's the essential thing that determines the quality of our experience." Besides this, Richard stresses that it is not what's happening around us that makes us unhappy, but rather the way we choose to react to it.
The pursuit of happiness is becoming a modern obsession . As life becomes more complex, our ability to process our reactions to various outside influences comes under strain. "Genuine happiness" he says, "doesn't mean pleasant feelings one after the other. It's more like a series of qualities that we can develop as skills -- like openness, genuine love, compassion, inner strength and inner peace." | high6958.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "2."
},
"options": [
"1.",
"2.",
"3.",
"4."
],
"question": "How many passengers died in the accident?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_tex... | GOLDEN, British Columbia (AP)---A 3-year-old girl found alive in the upside down wreckage of an airplane survived because she was _ in a car seat, rescuers said. They said they knew she was OK when she cried for her teddy bear.
Sunday's crash killed Kate Williams' pilot-grandfather, Allen D. Williams, 65, and another passenger, authorities said. The plane was found nose down and turned over in the icy water at the edge of a riverbank in the mountains of southeast prefix = st1 /British Columbia.
"What saved her life was being strapped into that car seat," said Mike Plonka, a member of the search-and-rescue team. "You could see that she was very frightened. Her big concern at the time was her little teddy bear. She didn't want to leave without it. . . " "She was just pointing at it and calling it 'Baby'. " he said Monday. The girl suffered head injuries but was reported as stable, hospital officials in Golden said. She was reunited with her parents.
Police said the Cessna 172 was on its way to Edmontonwhen it took off from Golden around 1 pm Sunday into low clouds and snow. Visibility was poor. An hour later, the Search and Rescue Centre in Victoria picked up the plane's emergency signal from somewhere near the BlaeberryRiver.
A team using a hand-held beacon locator found the wreckage, and two military search and rescue technicians--Sgt. Scott Elliston and Master Cpl. Bruno Lapointe---landed nearby in a helicopter. As they checked for survivors, they discovered the girl alive but surrounded by debris in the back of the plane. The two soldiers tried to remove her from the wreckage, but she made it clear she didn't want to leave without her teddy bear.
"I got her out and I handed her to Bruno. She was calling out for her teddy bear. I picked up the teddy bear to give it to her but it was covered with snow. She wasn't too happy that it was covered with snow so I brushed it off. "Elliston said.
Williams was CEO and founder of Edmonton-based A. D. Williams Engineering Inc. The passenger who was killed, Steven T. Sutton, was chief financial officer. The two had been attending a business meeting in Golden. The cause of the accident was under investigation. | high17916.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Tech products become the new \"luxury goods\"."
},
"options": [
"Nobody likes luxury goods any more.",
"Luxury goods are of poor quality nowadays.",
"Tech products become the new \"luxury goods\".",
"Iphones have taken ... | Market analysts in the United States have recently been quoted as saying that the biggest threat to the luxury industry in the US is the tech industry. This is according to an article by fellow journalist Ashley Lutz. Her suggestion is sound. The main idea of her article is that products from Tiffany & Co. find their biggest competition not from other luxury brands but from companies like Apple. Lutz points out that luxury products are often only for "show," while the attraction behind tech products is functionality.
You find few people in the United States today willing to purchase luxury goods at full price. It didn't use to be that way. Luxury goods used to be actually _ . That meant you needed to travel to the right store to purchase them, and you didn't even have the option of getting a deal.
Today, no one wants to pay full price for luxury goods. People have the unfortunate belief that fakes somehow are equal to originals, and if you can't get a deal on eBay, Amazon, or in an outlet store, purchasing a luxury product probably isn't worth it. Luxury brands struggle to remain high-end images despite the reality that the American consumer is motivated much more by discounts than they are by brand names or image.
Yet people stand in line to pay full price for a new product from Apple and crowds gather to hear about a new smart phone. While electronics are updating every day, people are purchasing technology at full prices much more than they are purchasing luxury goods. What are high-tech makers doing right that luxury makers are pitifully failing at?
Carefully looking at the situation, it would appear as if the Internet didn't hurt the luxury industry, expectation from the consumers did. What people want these days more than anything is stuff that does something. They want cars that drive, shoes that are comfortable, games that are fun to play, screens that are beautiful to look at, tools that are useful, and entertainment that is entertaining. Little of that fits into what the luxury industry has typically offered with its status, image, and fine materials. The sad reality is that luxury products aren't that luxury any more. | high4197.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "grey and black"
},
"options": [
"pink and red",
"grey and black",
"blue and green",
"yellow and orange"
],
"question": "The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | When Christopher Columbus landed on a land without name in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means "rich coast" in Spanish.
Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported to other countries like America and West Germany. Bananas are the country's second most important export.
Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.
Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans. | high3820.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "recognizing and getting away from them"
},
"options": [
"attracting more public attention",
"shutting down the \"myspace.com\"",
"learning different ways to try other sites",
"recognizing and getting away from them"
... | Of all the websites, one that has attracted attention recently is myspace.com. Most of this attention has come from the media and tells every reason why the website should be shut down. The danger of internet predators is indeed a tough reality, but shutting down the site is not the answer. If myspace.com were shut down, another site would quickly take its place. Therefore, the right way is to teach teens how to use the site safely and educate them about who may be predators and how to avoid them.
The key to staying safe on the Internet is to make sure that your profile is secure. The simplest way is to change the privacy setting on your profile to "private", which protects your information so that only the people on your friend list can view it. Although this is effective, it is not perfect. Predators can find ways to view your profile if they really want to, whether through hacking in or figuring out their way onto your friend list. Thus, you should never post too much personal information. Some people actually post their home and school addresses, date of birth, and other personal information, often letting predators know exactly where they will be and when. The safest information is your first name and province. Anything more is basically inviting a predator into your life.
Another big problem is photos. I suggest completely skipping photos and never posting a photo of a friend online without asking permission.
Most importantly, never, under any circumstances, agree to a real-life meeting with anyone you meet online. No matter how well you think you know this person, there are no guarantees that they have told the truth. But you could feel free to chat with people you meet on the site, but just remember that not everyone is who they say they are. Hopefully, the next time you edit your profile, you'll be more informed about the dangers of Internet predators and take the steps to defend yourself.
Lastly, do not send money to anyone you meet online. A common _ among Internet criminals is to request to pay for "expensive Internet charges" or "unreasonable Internet cafe fees". While it is indeed true that many countries in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America do not yet have Internet service readily available in all cities and towns, a sincere friend from one of these countries will be more than happy to pay their own Internet charges. Never, under any circumstances, should you send money to a stranger from another country(or within your own country for that matter) who claims monetary assistance is required to continue their contact with you. | high5289.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Place the potato in the jar."
},
"options": [
"Add the salt to the water.",
"Stir the salt into the water.",
"Place the potato in the jar.",
"Pour warm water into thejar."
],
"question": "In the experiment, what... | It is easier to float in the ocean than it is to float in a swimming pool. Do you know why?
Ocean water is full of salt-- and salt water can hold up more weigh than fresh water. See for yourself!
You Will Need:
* 3 cups of warm water
* Measuring cup
* Wide-mouthed jar
* Salt
* Spoon
* Raw potato
You Will Do: Pour 1.5 cups of warm water into the jar.Add 1/3 cup of salt.Stir until the salt is completely dissolved.Add another 1.5 cups of water. Pour it slowly over the back of the spoon into the jar so that the two liquid will not mix together. Gently place the potato into the jar. Do not drop it.
What Will Happen:
The potato will sink-- but only halfway!
Why?
Salt water is heavier than fresh water, so it will stay on the bottom. The fresh water will remain on top.
The potato is heavier than the fresh water, but it is lighter than the salt water. That is why the potato will sink halfway down. | high22985.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Enough vitamins are vital to keep healthy."
},
"options": [
"There are thirteen kinds of vitamins in total.",
"One can not live without enough vitamins.",
"Vitamins can carry out chemical changes within cells.",
"Enough... | Scientists have discovered thirteen kinds of vitamins. They say vitamins help to carry out chemical changes within cells. If we do not get enough of the vitamins we need in our food, we are at risk of developing a number of diseases. Which foods should be eaten to keep us healthy? Let us look at some important vitamins.
Vitamin A helps prevent skin and other tissues from becoming dry. People who do not get enough vitamin A cannot see well in darkness. Vitamin A is found in fish liver oil and the yellow part of eggs.
Vitamin B-1 is also called thiamine. Thiamine changes starchy foods into energy. Thiamine is found not just in whole grains like brown rice, but also in beans and peas, nuts, and meat and fish.
Vitamin B-12 is needed so folic acid can do its work. Together, they help produce red blood cells. Folic acid has been shown to prevent physical problems in babies when taken by their mothers during pregnancy. Vitamin B-12 is found naturally in foods like eggs, meat, fish and milk products. Vitamin B-12 is found in green leafy vegetables and other foods, like legumes and citrus fruits .
Vitamin C is needed for strong bones and teeth. The body stores little vitamin C. So we must get it every day in foods such as citrus fruits, tomatoes and uncooked cabbage.
Vitamin D prevents the children's bone disease rickets . Ultraviolet light from the sun changes a substance in the skin into vitamin D. Fish liver oil also contains vitamin D.
Vitamin K is needed for healthy blood. It thickens the blood around a cut to stop bleeding. It can also be found in pork products, liver and in vegetables like cabbage, kale and spinach .
Vitamins are important to our health. A lack of required vitamins can lead to health problems. | high13580.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She had learned something from the farmer."
},
"options": [
"She had learned something from the farmer.",
"She disliked waiting for a long time.",
"She had a lot of money on her.",
"Her husband told her to do so."
]... | Many years ago a kind farmer bought a tank of gas for a mom with two children. He didn't accept any money but just smiled and said, "Pass it on to someone else." The mom was my mother. After many years, I had a similar experience.
A few weeks ago as my husband and I were filling up our car with a coupon for 99 cents a gallon, I got into a long line to pay. I could see that the young man before me was having some kind of problem; I quickly realized that he had misunderstood the coupon and thought it was 99 cents to fill his small truck.
Everyone was saying, "99 cents a gallon is so cheap - they can't give the gas away." He was embarrassed and was just calling his wife when I got to the counter . He said to his wife, "Just come here because I don't have enough money on me." I asked the cashier how much his was, and she told me.
I told her I would pay for it and touched the man on the arm and told him to tell his wife it had been paid for. He nodded and turned back to the phone, then stopped and looked at me. "What?" I told him again, and I was so surprised to see everyone stop what they were doing to watch me as if I had just grown another head. When he asked how he could give the money back to me, I just said, "Pass it on to someone else in need!" | high23443.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Mark used to be a thin, handsome boy."
},
"options": [
"Mark had bought a new sports car for Mary.",
"Mark used to be a thin, handsome boy.",
"Mark and Mary had been in love for years.",
"Mary felt strange when she saw ... | Seated in a convertible with the top down at 60 miles an hour, Mary looked at the flies that sat on top of Mark's hair. How could they stay there? She wondered.
Mary had not seen Mark in years, until the other day when he came into the cafe where she worked. His appearance was different from when he was in high school. Now, he was a bit fat and thick glasses covered his eyes. However, that didn't change Mary's feelings for him at all. He had just bought a brand new red sports car and asked her if she would like to go for a ride and then have dinner with him. Her heart beat with excitement as he opened the door for her. She noticed something very strange as Mark got into the car and started to drive away. On the hair was a group of flies just sitting there.
Mary stared in amazement. It seemed the faster they drove, the more determined the flies were to stick to his hair.
Mary remained silent. She leaned forward and turned the radio on, to try to _ her attention away from the flies, but she couldn't help thinking about them. She looked up at Mark, who was completely devoted to what was going on and continued to sing to the music while driving merrily along.
Finally, Mark pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road beside a diner and looked in the mirror and said, "Mary, I would like to comb my hair before we get something to eat. Could you reach under the seat and give me my hair cream?"
Mary reached under the seat and pulled out a camping backpack, which contained a round jar and started to laugh wildly as she pointed to the label .
"That's not hair cream on your hair, Mark! It says it's Fly Trap Glue!" | high12846.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "factors affecting employee turnover and performance"
},
"options": [
"the way of preventing employee turnover",
"methods of improving employee performance",
"factors affecting employee turnover and performance",
"pay st... | The following card includes a brief summary and a short assessment of a research paper. It can provide a guide for further reading on the topic.
Trevor, C. O., Lansford, B. and Black, J. W., 2004, "Employee turnover and job performance: monitoring the influences of salary growth and promotion", Journal of Armchair Psychology, vol. 113, no.1, pp. 56-64.
In this article Trevor et al. review the influences of pay and job opportunities in respect of job performance, turnover rates and employees' job attitude. The authors use data gained through organizational surveys of blue-chip companies in Vancouver, Canada to try to identify the main cause of employee turnover and whether it is linked to salary growth. Their research focuses on assessing a range of pay structures such as pay for performance and organizational reward plans. The article is useful as Trevor et al. suggest that there are numerous reasons for employee turnover and a variety of differences in employees' job attitude and performance. The main limitation of the article is that the survey sample was restricted to mid-level management, thus the authors indicate that further, more extensive research needs to be undertaken to develop a more in-depth understanding of employee turnover and job performance. As this article was published in a professional journal, the findings can be considered reliable. It will be useful additional information for the research on pay structures. | high8785.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "didn'tbreakthewindowonpurpose."
},
"options": [
"didn'tbreakthewindowonpurpose.",
"lackedthestrengthtoadmithisguilt.",
"triedtothinkaboutwhathehaddone.",
"didn'tknowwhattheteacherwouldfindout."
],
"question": "F... | My teacher held up a piece of broken glass and asked,"Who broke this window?" Thirty boys tried to think about not only what they had done,but also what our teacher may have found out.She seldom became angry,but she was this time.
"Oh," I thought.I was the one who broke the window.It was caused by a naughty throw of a baseball.If I admitted guilt,I would be in a lot of trouble.How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? I didn't even get an allowance. "My father is going to have a fit,"I thought.I didn't want to raise my hand,but some force much stronger than I was pulled it skyward.I told the truth. "I did it." It was hard enough to say what I had.
My teacher took down a book from one of our library shelves and I had never known my teacher to strike a student,but I feared she was going to start with me. "I know how you like birds," she said as she stood looking down at my guilt-ridden face."Here is that field guide about birds that you are constantly checking out. It is yours now.It's time we got a new one for the school anyway.You will not be punished as long as you remember that I am not rewarding you for your misdeed, I am rewarding you for your truthfulness." I couldn't believe it! I wasn't being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide--the very one that I had been saving up money to buy.
All that remains of that day is my memory and the lesson my teacher taught me. That lesson stays with me every day and it will echo forever. | high11397.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "fight crimes scientifically"
},
"options": [
"bring young men into police work",
"reduce crimes",
"change people's attitude towards police",
"fight crimes scientifically"
],
"question": "The FBI was begun in ord... | "Wanted by the FBI".To the murderer,or the bank robber,these are the most frightening words in the world.When the criminal hears them,he knows that six thousand trained persons are after him.
Why should he be so afraid? There are thousands of cities and villages where he can hide,and forests and deserts,as well.Besides,he's usually rich with stolen money.
Money can make it easier to hide.With money,the criminal can even pay a doctor to operate on his face and make him hard to recognize.But the criminals know that as public enemies,they can be found by the FBI,no matter where they hide.
They know every trick the criminal knows and many more.If he makes just one mistake,they'll get him.That's why the man who is wanted can't sleep.That's why he becomes nervous,and why he jumps at every sound.
The FBI began on May 10th,1924.General Harlan Stone chose Edgar Hoover,a young lawyer,to hold the new agency."What we need is a wholly new kind of police force."he said."Criminals today are smart.They use stolen cars and even planes to make their gateways.They have learned to open any lock,using advanced technology.We can't beat them with old methods.We have to train officers to work scientifically."
Edgar Hoover quietly went ahead with his plans.He picked his men carefully.They had to be between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-five.He wanted only men with good manners and good character.When working as his officers,they would have to meet all kinds of people.Hoover wanted men who could _ .But the FBI cannot help in every police problem.It can look into only certain crimes against the government.Solving all other crimes is the duty of local police forces. | high21254.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET"
},
"options": [
"ROBOSAPIEN",
"MINI PEDAL CAR",
"FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET",
"TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL"
],
"question": "Which toy is said to have the special des... | OUR KIDS ARE AMAZING-especially compared with everybody else's (who seem to cry all the time). How do you show your love for your kids this holiday season? With toys that are smooth and colorful, interactive and exciting. And with ones that have educational value-because you are the boss.
1. FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET
Here is a toy that doesn't need power-and the bike have to put it together themselves. This 50 piece puzzle set is made of soft edged hardwood and makes a complete hospital, with an X ray room. It also includes eight patients, a car and a driver. $135; flaxart.com.
2. TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL
Sure, it's cool, but this colorful baby toy also develops problem solving and motor skills. It has a head and legs, a magnetic hand and a tail. Suitable for little ones from 6 to 36 months. $19.95; tinylove.com.
3. ROBOSAPIEN
This small, remote control robot is really powerful. It performs 67 preprogrammed functions , including throwing, kicking, picking up and dancing. You can even program your own function which, sadly, does not include doing windows. $99; robosapienonline.com.
4. MINI PEDAL CAR
Want a Mini Cooper but can't fit the family inside? Get one for the kids. They can jump into this Mini car, which comes in hot orange with a single adjustable seat, and ride away. But it could spoil them for that used car they'll be driving when they turn 16.For ages 3 to 5.$189; minus A. com (click on "gear up," then "Mini motoring gear"). | high10089.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Apart from Information Technology, Minsky's invention is also used in medical field."
},
"options": [
"Minsky himself invented the term \"Artificial Intelligence\" in MIT.",
"Minsky transformed computer into a machine more intellig... | Marvin Minsky is often called the Father of Artificial Intelligence. His work helped inspire the creation of the personal computer and the Internet.
Artificial Intelligence
Before Minsky, computers were more like calculators, performing math operations at speeds much faster than humans. Minsky was the first to say that computers can one day be as intelligent as human beings. He was so convinced about this, that in 1959, he and his friend John McCarthy invented the term "Artificial Intelligence" at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Minsky wrote a book called Perceptrons, describing a particular type of "artificial neural network". Neural networks have made a comeback in a new field of Computer Science called Deep Learning. Deep Learning is used to recognize things and people in pictures (as seen in Facebook and Google Photos), language translation( try Google Translate sometimes), and so on.
Robotics, Microscopes and Virtual Reality
How many of you have done Robotics at school and loved it? You have Minsky to thank again, for his work on Robotics. One of his biggest inventions was the confocal scanning microscope, an instrument that is still widely used today in medical and scientific research.
Minsky was really futuristic. He created one of the first head-mounted graphics displays , which gave rise to the exciting area of Virtual Reality. This year, Facebook is releasing Oculus, a virtual reality headset, which you can use to play games with your friends in a 3-D environment.
Minsky's major prediction that computers will one day become as intelligent as humans is now called the Theory of Singularity. | high19913.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Germany in 1609"
},
"options": [
"Rome in 59 BC",
"Germany in 1609",
"Amsterdam in 1620",
"England in 1621"
],
"question": "The first regularly printed European newspaper started in _ .",
"question_type":... | The first newspaper was written by hand and put up on walls in public places. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700s the world's first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn't have a regularly printed newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in English was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant, which came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston .But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started the Boston Newspaper, the first newspaper published daily in the American colonies . By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers.There are now about 1, 800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, newspapers in English have the largest circulation in the world .But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun . It sells more than eleven million copies every year. | high4801.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because he enjoyed the feeling of possessing a new pair."
},
"options": [
"Because he bought a pair every year.",
"Because he wanted to send a new pair to a friend.",
"Because he hoped to keep it for memory.",
"Because ... | It had been a long time since I had been to Jacksonville, Florida. I had driven to town hoping to see the old barber shop where my hair had been cut as a child.
I parked my truck and decided to try and locate a telephone to see if the Florida Barber College had moved to a new location.
After walking about a block I saw an open shoe store. I walked inside and asked if I could use their telephone book. Unable to find a listing for the Barber College, I picked out the number of a local beauty salon, hoping they might tell me if the barber college was still in business. The number was busy, so I decided to wait and try again in a few minutes.
As the salesman and I stood talking the front door opened and a young man about twenty came into the store pushing himself in a wheelchair. "I need a new pair of shoes," said the customer. As he turned the corner, there was a blanket across his lap. I was shocked to see that the young man had no legs.
"A gift for a friend?" I asked the boy. "No," he replied. They are for me," he continued, with a smile on his face. I just smiled back and watched to see what would happen next.
"What type of shoe would you like?" asked the clerk. "How about a pair of cowboy boots?" The man pointed to the back wall where three or four pairs of boots were displayed. The salesman, sharply turning, headed off to the backroom.
"Isn't this fun?" the boy asked me. I moved my hand to let him know that I did not understand his question. "When I was a kid, my parents used to buy me a new pair of shoes every year. That was such a wonderful feeling. Something I have never forgotten. The smell of the leather and the pride I felt when I walked around the store showing off my new shoes."
The salesman came walking down the aisle with a large box. He sat it down on the floor, took out one boot and handed it to the young man. The boy closed his eyes. He placed the boot against his nose, and drew in a large breath. I did not know what to say as tears began to fall on the young man's cheeks. "What type of accident did you have?" I asked him. "Farm accident," he said, as he tried to clear his voice.
"Do you want the cowboy boots?" the salesman asked him.
"Oh, yes!" he answered.
"I see buying a new pair of shoes still gives you that good feeling you talked about," I told the young man, as I smiled.
"Yes it does." he said "And I may have someone, and his feet to share it with some day." | high17080.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "enjoys high quality food"
},
"options": [
"does a lot of running",
"enjoys high quality food",
"has many expensive toys",
"is not allowed to sleep on her bed"
],
"question": "At the writer's home, Henry _ .",
... | I've always felt a bit sad for weekend fathers, who are divorced and must maintain a bond with their children through visits on the weekend.Not having the opportunity for a lot of quality time, they go in for quantity giving lots of gifts and taking the children on non stop outings.
But now I can understand.I'm a weekend mom.My child, Henry, is a dog.
Henry just returned to his father, Jack, after a happy stay with me.For ten days, I fed him the best food, canceled plans to stay home with him and let him sleep on the bed every night.
Jack and I broke up a year ago.But neither of us wanted to part with Henry, so we share him.Not surprisingly, Henry is a willing participant in our contest for his love.
Jack doesn't let Henry sleep on his bed, so that's where I can always gain big points.I feed Henry higher quality food.I am always replacing his expensive "thingy" ,a cotton knot he likes chewing on.It' s his favorite toy, and the only one he has is at my house.Score another one for me.
Jack now has a girlfriend, Lucy.At first she was afraid of dogs, which secretly delighted me.But that Henry, just trying to be polite(the way I taught him to be),won her over.
If truth be told, as time passes, there has been a slight change in Henry' s behavior toward me.The worst was one day when Jack dropped him off for a two week stay.Henry and I were in the backyard playing as Jack was driving off.When he heard Jack's truck, he ran after it for two blocks until Jack had to stop and bring him back.
That hurt, especially since I had friends over at the time.In a rare conciliatory mood, Jack said to me, "You know, I' m his best friend, but you'll always be his mom."
Whatever it takes, I plan to make sure it stays that way. | high10937.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "flies to a distant place"
},
"options": [
"keeps his or her body rhythms",
"feels hard to sleep and eat",
"takes a jet plane",
"flies to a distant place"
],
"question": "We learn from the text that jet lag happe... | When a person travels over long distances, the place may not be the only change. When his or her body rhythms get thrown off, he or she suffers from jet lag -- it's hard to sleep and eat at the right times in the new location. Humans and animals have a biological clock in their body that tells them when to sleep, and when to wake. When someone comes to a different place far away, this biological clock takes a while to match the day and night time of the new place.
In a new study, reported in November's Science News, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley tested the effects of jet lag on hamsters . They wanted to know how serious jet lag would affect the brain and thinking habits of the animals. They think what happens to hamsters may happen to humans, too.
In their experiments, the researchers first moved the hamsters' schedules forward by six hours. The animals' eating schedules, for example, were changed. If a hamster was often fed at noon and 4 pm, then it ate at 6 pm and 10 pm on the new schedule. People who travel from China to Europe experience the same shift, since the two regions are about six hours apart, half the shift between China and the USA.
After three days, the scientists did it again - they shifted the hamsters' schedules forward by another six hours. Three days after that, they did it again; and then again three days later. For a full month, the scientists changed the hamsters' routines every three days.
During the study, the hamsters slept the same amount every day as they did before the study. However, their sleep patterns had a hard time keeping up with the changing schedule.
What's more, they seemed to feel low. The researchers also found that the hamsters had trouble with basic learning exercises during the study. The animals' thinking problems didn't go away when the experiment was over. A month after they went back living on a normal schedule, the hamsters still had trouble with basic mental tasks, such as learning and memory.
The scientists concluded that serious jet lag has serious side effects, including stupidity . They are now trying to find out how jet lag is causing these problems, and then it will be possible for them to work out a solution. | high21532.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Learn to control oneself and keep using the motto in life."
},
"options": [
"Eat fewer candies than before.",
"Count to five before crying.",
"Talk with parents and follow their advice.",
"Learn to control oneself and k... | Jonny Jones was a nice and popular boy, who everyone loved.He was so much fun, so good and so kind to everyone that they treated him wonderfully. But as everything he needed was given to him without asking, Jonny became a _ . He was so spoiled by everyone that he couldn't stand any hardship.
One day Johnny heard a mother saying to her son "Come on, my boy, get up and stop crying. You are behaving like Johnny Jones." That made Johnny feel very ashamed. But he was sure that he would prefer to be known as a good boy rather than a fool. Worried, he spoke to his father about all this, though he was afraid that maybe he would be laughed at for having such worries. His father, far from laughing at Johnny, told him that a teacher had taught him a secret trick to turn him into the toughest boy off all. "Eat a candy less, study a minute more, and count to five before crying." Johnny asked, "Just that? " "Yes, just that," said his father, "It's very simple, but I warn you that it won't be easy."
Johnny was happy like a bird, ready to follow the advice. He went to see his mother, and she noticed how happy he was when she offered him candies. "One candy less", thought Johnny, so he only took one. That afternoon he had another chance to put it into practice by studying one minute more. The result was that he missed the first minute of his favorite program! But having achieved this gave him a great feeling of satisfaction. The same happened when he ran up against the corner of the kitchen table. He only managed to count to four before crying, but that was left deeply in his mother's memory.
Over the following days Johnny kept using the motto in his life as his father told him. And the more he put this into practice ,the easier it got. Before long he realized that he could also do things that would seem impossible before. | high1979.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a newspaper"
},
"options": [
"a travel guide",
"a newspaper",
"a textbook",
"a telephone book"
],
"question": "You can most probably read the text in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | King's College Summer School
King's College Summer School is an annual training program for high school students at all levels who want to improve their English. Courses are given by the teachers of King's College and other colleges in New York. Trips to museums and culture centers are also organized. This year's summer school will be from July 25 to August 15.
More information is as follows: | high15697.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "offer Internet users the chance to communicate with experts"
},
"options": [
"discuss important people",
"show Internet users funny videos",
"introduce the latest IT knowledge and help Internet users solve problems",
"o... | Where can you go to listen to important people talk about important subjects? BigThink.com is a new website that allows Internet users to discuss certain topics with world experts . Subjects discussed on BigThink include the environment, music and questions about happiness and personal identity. The website has been called a YouTube for thinkers. Victoria Brown and Peter Hopkins created BigThink.com. They said that people needed an international place to communicate with each other and discuss the important issues of our times. On the BigThink website, when you click on a subject, you will find a video of a person talking about his or her ideas. For example, you can listen to United States Senator Ted Kennedy talking about education and other things. Besides, you can read the comments and questions written by other visitors to the website. More than one hundred experts have expressed their ideas on the website. BigThink's creators started the website by first getting famous people to agree to be videoed. They began by interviewing several well-known professors from Harvard University. Then they used the names of these professors to gain the trust of others and get them to take part in the project. The website says BigThink belongs to everyone. Its motto is: "We are what you think." So, go online and start thinking big. | high14589.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "be laughed at by New Yorkers"
},
"options": [
"be fined by the policeman",
"miss the subway you'll take.",
"be looked down on by New Yorkers",
"be laughed at by New Yorkers"
],
"question": "If you don't use the ... | Subway is always my favorite transportation. To me , it is more than just a convenient way to go around, it is also a way you can feel the heart-beat of a city. In Shanghai, it jumps in perfect. In Paris, it is silent and slow. In New York, it is busy, busy and busy.
During rush hour in New York, it will be full of people. You'd better be careful which stairs you are using. If you go wrong , don't be surprised if someone calls "idiot", and don't be shy to call back. The trains here are like working bees, running within the day's enormous underground system. They live in the dark all year long, breathing hard together with shameless NY rats and trash.
In summer , the underground is nasty since there is no air conditioning. However, it can be street performers' favorite in winter--- dry, warm, fits so well with the free, creative atmosphere. They can be bands, doing music or dance, with instruments or voices. There was a young man making storm like intense music by hitting some buckets with hands. There was also a band of three black men, singing together with their pure voices. It is New York City. You are expecting to see those performers in different color1s , ages doing all sorts of stuff from Chinese Erhu to African drums. It is like a romance between a small, beautiful ballad dancer a giant, iron cold wrestler.
Late night, when everything dies down, the trains are still running but picking up fewer and fewer people. They are like the city, too tough to feel lonely, too focused to stop working. | high23325.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The doctor wasn't sure whether the author would like to cover the expenses."
},
"options": [
"The damage was not serious at all.",
"The cat was too young to be X-rayed.",
"The doctor wasn't sure whether the author would like ... | Driving home from work one evening in the heavy rain, I found a very wet, injured cat on the side of the road. He looked up at me, meowing pitifully. A car must have hit it so it wasn't able to move. I stopped my car and carried the cat in and went on driving.
At the nearest vet clinic, the vet gently examined it. "He's about eight months old and has two broken legs, but I would need X-rays to know how serious the damage is," he told me. "As he's not your cat, I don't know if you want to go ahead with this. It could be rather expensive."
I knew it would cost me hundreds of dollars, but I agreed with his advice. The following morning the vet rang to say the X-rays confirmed two bad breaks in his legs. "I'll operate on his legs and put metal pins in them to keep them fixed." he told me.
That afternoon I went to pick up my little friend. There I could hardly recognize him. His previously dirty fur was now a beautiful silver grey. His front legs were in two casts and he lay there looking at me, purring happily.
I thanked the doctor and went out to pay the bill. "I think you've given me the wrong account," I said to the clerk. "This is only $85. He's had X-rays and an operation on his legs." "No, that's right," she replied. "The vet has only charged you for the medication. There's a message on the bottom."
Written under the total were the words "SPECIAL RATE FOR ADOPTIONS." I was speechless at his kind and generous gesture. I paid the account and under his message I wrote "WITH GRATEFUL THANKS, CAT AND MUM." | high235.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they hoped that visitors just liked their own tower."
},
"options": [
"Because the tower blocked the way of their tourists.",
"Because the tower had the same building style as theirs.",
"Because they hoped that the to... | A long time ago, in an Italian city, the people there built a tower which was admired by everyone passing through. A little further down the road, in a neighboring city, they had built a tower of similar beauty. The two towers were equally well known. The people of the second city, envious and filled with pride, planned to destroy the neighboring tower so it wouldn't take attention away from their own. One night, they came to the tower and began to quietly
its foundations .
The next morning, the tower was leaning slightly ,but nobody noticed. The same happened for the following few days, until a little girl who was passing by pointed up at the tower and said: " I think the tower is going to fall down." And everyone around looked closely, and could see that she was right .Nervousness spread through the city. And they tried many methods to try to straighten the tower, but nothing seemed to work. That was, until one day when the same little girl was walking up again, and she put her arm on the side of the tower to rest. She felt the tower shaking slightly. When she took her hand off it, the movement stopped. And when she put it back on again, the same thing happened. The girl spent a while doing this, until she was completely certain of what she had discovered: " The tower is ticklish ( ) !" She ran to get some plants, and she planted them right next to the tower. Now if the tower leant over any further it would be tickled by the leaves of those plants. Being a ticklish tower, it would then return to where it had been. In this way, the girl managed to make sure that the tower didn't fall down, but still kept it leaning a little.
The fact that it was leaning made it even more famous, and this taught a fine lesson to the envious people of the neighboring city. | high15683.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "19"
},
"options": [
"12",
"13",
"14",
"19"
],
"question": "How old is the writer now?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "should be ... | I believe I've gotten this more than once. One lady told me she thought I was 12 and even told her 14-year-old daughter the same. I saw lots of surprised faces because people were told I was actually 19 years old.
I'm actually 19 years old, which isn't much of a problem. I'm like the oldest of my friends and the shortest, which is pretty funny. That's probably one of the reasons I fit in so well with them.
I volunteered at a weekend school teaching young children. Parents always looked me up and down like "why is this 13-year-old girl teaching my child?!??!?" I guessed it was because I'm also petite ,and I didn't know whether I had a childish face...??? Sometimes I found it funny, sometimes I found it annoying . But I just shrugged it off at last. You know, soon enough people got to know me and then realized I was not actually a 13-year-old girl.
This short thing used to be a problem for me, though. I was very very small when I was younger, so kids would _ me. When I was 12, 8-year-old girls would look down at me like "I CAN'TBELIEVEYOU'RETWELVE!" I had always wanted to be tall. But now that I'm older, I got used to it, and I actually love it. You know, I'm fun sized! | high23331.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Berry pie."
},
"options": [
"Berry pie.",
"Banana pie.",
"Apple pie.",
"Peach pie."
],
"question": "Which of the following pies is the most expensive?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"... | Here is some information about several famous local bakeries in Indiana, the US. They serve as a social gathering place for locals.
Maple Lane Bakery
At 8260 S. State Rd. Claypool, IN. (574) 566-2917, it offers a variety of cooked pies, cookies, and bread. With 20 years' experience Maple Lane Bakery has specialized in the making of pies. The menu includes peach pie $7.19, berry pie $ 7.70, apple pie $7.19 and banana pie $6.99. Feel free to place an order at least 24 hours in advance.
Betty's cakes & Candy Shop
At 816 E. Winona Avenue Warsaw, IN. (574) 269-1231, it specializes in cakes and offers cookies and candies. The chocolate cookies are sold at $ 8.99 a dozen. Betty's cakes & Candy Shop, started half a century ago, specializes in wedding cakes and birthday cakes. Buying a cake from Betty's will not disappoint you as they are always excellent.
Crepes' Quality Bakery
At 217S. Cavin Street Ligonier, IN.(260) 894-3024, this third generation bakery is located downtown Ligonier. It offers cookies and cupcakes, and specializes in rolls and bread. If you plan to buy cookies for the office or work area, you had better get there early as the building workers arrive just before 5:00 am waiting for the doors to open.
Olympia Candy Kitchen
At 136N. Main Street Goshen, IN. (574) 533-5040, it has been welcoming visitors for almost a century in its unchanged location in downtown Goshen, Indiana. Its tradition began in 1912 when Greek Nicholas began making his own chocolates. Today this family-owned operation offers all kinds of candies and boxed candies. If you need an order, you should call ahead of time to see if they can meet your request. | high221.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Half-Minute Horrors"
},
"options": [
"Old Bear",
"Half-Minute Horrors",
"Leaves",
"Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'."
],
"question": "Which book has the most pages?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},... | Old Bear
Kevin Henkes(2008), under 40 pages
Target Audience: Preschoolers
Price: $3.8
Content: It is snowing really hard and Old Bear is getting ready for his long nap. As he sleeps, he dreams of being a cub again and enjoying the wonders of nature. He dreams about summer, fall, winter and spring and how each season brings him so much joy! The illustrations show the beauty of the seasons that Old Bear dreams about. Great book!
Half-Minute Horrors
Susan Rich(2009), 120~160 pages
Target Audience: Intermediates (4th~6th grade)
Price: $9.6
Content: Looking for a scary book that is also quick to read? How about a one-paragraph tale of terror or a simple drawing that will make your skin crawl? This book is a collection of very short stories, pictures and cartoons from an impressive group of authors and illustrators.
Leaves
David Ezra Stein(2007), under 40 pages
Illustrated by David Ezra Stein
Target Audience: Toddlers, Preschoolers
Price: $3.4
Content: It's Little Bear's first year. Fall has come to his island. When the leaves begin to fall, he wonders what to do. However, after following his instinct and sleeping through the winter, he awakens in spring to find everything blooming once again.
Thanksgiving at the Tappletons'
Eileen Spinelli (2003) , under 40 pages
Illustrated by Megan Lloyd
Target Audience: Preschoolers
Price: $3.5
Content: The Tappletons (bears) are gathered together for their big Thanksgiving feast. However, all is not going well during the preparations. The turkey slides out of the house, down a hill and into a pond. There are no pies at the bakery and the lettuce for the salad has been given to the rabbits. As they sit down for the feast, Grandmother Tappleton reminds them that although they have nothing to eat, they can still be thankful that they have each other. | high4815.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the use of telemedicine"
},
"options": [
"the use of telemedicine",
"the on -lined doctors",
"medical care and treatment",
"communication improvement"
],
"question": "The writer chiefly talks about _ .",
... | Want a glance of the future of health care? Take a look at the way the various networks of people about patient care are being connected to one another, and how this new connectivity is being exploited to deliver medicine to the patient - no matter where he or she may be.
Online doctors offering advice based on norman symptoms are the most obvious example. Increasingly, however, remote diagnosis will be based on real physiological data from the actual patient. A group from the prefix = st1 /UniversityofKentuckyhas shown that by using personal data assistance plus a mobile phone ,it is perfectly practical to send a patient's important signs over the telephone. With this kind of equipement, the cry asking whether there was a doctor in the house could well be a thing of the past.
Other medical technology groups are working on applying telemedicine to rural(countryside) care. And at least one team wants to use telemedicine as a tool for disaster need - especially after earthquakes. On the whole, the trend is towards providing global access to medical data and experts' opinions.
But there is one problem. Bandwidth is the limiting factor for sending complex ( )medical pictures around the world,--CU photos being one of the biggest bandwidth users. Communication satellites say be able to deal with the short - term needs during disasters such as earthquakes or wars. But medicine is looking towards both the second - generation Internet and third generation mobile phones for the future of remote medical service.
Doctors have met to discuss computer - based tools for medical diagnosis, training and telemedicine. With the falling price of broadband communications, the new technologies should start a new time when telemedicine and the sharing of medical information, experts'opinions and diagnosis are common. | high17094.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "What Makes Me the Weight I Have?"
},
"options": [
"What Makes Me the Weight I Have?",
"How Can I Lose More Weight?",
"What Makes Me the Height I Have?",
"Is the Way You Live Important?"
],
"question": "Which one... | Your genetic makeup plays a big part in determining your size and weight. If both your parents are tall, there is a good chance you'll be tall. But if your parents are smaller than average, you may want to rethink that professional basketball career!
The same goes for your body type. Have you ever heard someone say a person is "big boned?" It's a way of saying the person has a large frame, or skeleton . Big bones usually weigh more than small bones. That's why it's possible for two kids with the same height, but different weight, to both the right weight.
Being overweight can run in someone's family, but it may not be because of their genes. Poor eating and exercise habits also run in families and these may be the reasons the members of a family are overweight. And even though some kids gain weight more easily than others, when they eat right and exercise, most kids can have a healthy weight that's right for them. It's true- the way you live can change the way you look.
How much your weight is a balance between the calories you eat and the calories you use. If you eat more calories than your body needs to use, you will gain too much weight. If you spend you free time watching TV, your body won't use as many calories as it would if you played basketball, skated, or went for a walk. But if you eat more and exercise less, you may become overweight. On the other hand, if you eat less and exercise more, you may lose weight. | high10923.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "it has a good environment"
},
"options": [
"it has a good environment",
"it is not far away from big cities",
"they want to be a help to the village",
"they prefer to study rare plants in this area"
],
"question... | Dear Sir,
I am writing to express my concern about the plans to build a motorway near our village. Haldersham is one of the loveliest villages in England. It is peaceful and quiet, and it is situated in a very attractive valley. There are also several beautiful countryside walks in the surroundings, with a view of many rare trees and plants.
Most of the people who live in Haldersham have moved here from other places, often from London and other big cities. They have bought houses here to live in a place far away from the noise and the stress of the big city. They paid a lot of money for their houses, but they knew they would get a high quality of life for it.
If the planned motorway is built, life in Haldersham will change greatly. There will be a lot of noise around us, and nobody will want to go on the walks. House prices will certainly go down, because nobody will want to buy houses in a place close to a motorway. Haldersham will become an ugly place.
I don't think any of the people living in this beautiful village want that, and we all believe exposure to noise pollution can have a direct influence on our health. So, let's all tell the politicians who support the motorway plans what we think about them!
Yours faithfully,
Hilary Riley | high19907.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because he assumed they had no concern for him."
},
"options": [
"Because he was waiting for the last rider.",
"Because his efforts failed to get their attention.",
"Because he assumed they had no concern for him.",
"Be... | It was a bitter cold evening in northern Virginia many years ago. The old man's beard was glazed by winter's frost while he waited for a ride across the river. The wait seemed endless. His body became numb and stiff from the frigid north wind.
It was long before he heard the faint, steady rhythm of hooves along the frozen path. Anxiously watching several horsemen coming up, he let the first one pass by without any effort to get his attention, then another passed by, and another. Finally, the last rider drew near where the old man sat like a snow statue when old man caught his eyes and said, "Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side?"
Stopping his horse, the rider replied, "Sure! Jump aboard." Seeing the old man unable to lift his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman got down to help him. The horseman took him not just across the river, but to his destination just a few miles away.
As they approached the tiny but cozy cottage, the horseman's curiosity caused him to inquire, "Sir, I noticed you let several other riders pass by without making an effort to secure a ride. Then I came up and you immediately asked me for a ride. I am curious why, on such a bitter night, you would wait and ask the last rider. What if I had refused and left you here?"
The old man looked the rider straight in the eyes and replied, "I reckon I know people pretty good. I looked into the eyes of the other riders and immediately found no concern for my situation. It would have been useless even to ask them for a ride. But when I looked into your eyes, your gentle spirit would welcome the opportunity to give me assistance in my time of need."
Those heart-warming comments touched the horseman deeply. "I'm so grateful for what you have said," he told the old man. "May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion."
With that, Thomas Jefferson turned his horse around and made his way back to the White House. | high8949.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they were getting nowhere with their work for a week."
},
"options": [
"they were suffering dry weather for a week.",
"they were getting nowhere with their work for a week.",
"they were having a hard time finding their way fo... | Once, looking for stories on the back roads of Ohio, _ . A beekeeper we'd been told about was away from home when we called on him. An amusement park where we thought we might find a story had shut down for the season. We began to get a little discouraged.
When passing a farmhouse, we found a banner in the front yard. The banner said in huge letters: WELCOME HOME, ROGER! We drove on for a mile or two. Somebody said, " wonder who Roger is ?" We turned around, went back and knocked on the door.
Roger was a soldier on his way home from the Vietnam War. His family knew he was coming, but weren't sure what day he was going to arrive. We asked if they 'd mind if we brought the camera into the house. Roger's mother said it would be all right if we could give her a few minutes to fix her hair. We weren't there more than an hour, talking to those people who were all excited about Roger coming home.
That afternooon I wrote a simple story letting Roger represent all the soldiers coming home from war. We sent the film with the story to New York, and the anchorman put it on the Evening News.
Rarely has any of our stories caused such a reaction from viewers. There were dozens of calls from people moved by it, and hundreds of letters came in, some of them suggesting that the story be repeated.
That hour with Roger's family made it a good trip to Ohio, after all. I had done a lot of careful planning for the week's work, but in vain. Then along came a banner in a farmhouse yard.
Back at the office, people asked , " How do you find these stories ?"
"Well," I said," you do have to work at it."
All you really have to do is look out of the window. | high22991.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "are friendly to one another"
},
"options": [
"are friendly to one another",
"teach one another new ways of building houses",
"live together but do not work together",
"spend 8 weeks together, working as farmers."
],... | Young people and older people do not always agree with each other. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. But in one special program in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way.
Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and enjoyment in work. Some teenagers work in the woods or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and to build houses. The adults teach them these skills.
There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo-taking or painting. Others sit around and talk to sing. Each teenager chooses his own way to spend his free time.
When people live together, rules are necessary. In this program the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, "Why did it happen? What should we do about it?"
One of the teenagers has this to say about the experience: "You stop thinking only about yourself. You learn how to think about the group." | high547.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "around the world."
},
"options": [
"in London.",
"around the UK.",
"all over Europe.",
"around the world."
],
"question": "The company provides service _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Moving made easy !
Okay, this is how we do it. Send your suitcases, backpacks, souvenirs, books, guitars, surfboards, TV or other items with us and We'll provide you with:
Free boxes & packing material.
Free first delivery, pick-up & redelivery (subject to area)
Multilingual customer service.
However, if you have larger furniture items you could use a MoveCubeTM(MC). We deliver the MoveCube TM to your address for you to pack (4hrs packing time). When ready, we collect it & deliver it to your new address for you to unpack.
We are the best when it comes to personal relocation, whether you're a part-time or full-time student or backpacking around the globe.
Baggage Worldwide
You can send bags, boxes, backpacks and many other items with us wherever you want them to go. Send by our sea &/ or air service, depending on how quickly you want them to get there.
30 kg per box
Economy (by sea) First large box, from PS65
Express (by air) First large box, from PS97
Moving City-to-City
For moving your belongings from your address in one major city to another, within the UK.
30 kg per box
2 large boxes minimum for PS84
Affordable Storage
Pack the belongings you need to store & we will collect them. When you are ready to end the storage, we deliver your belongings back to you.
30 kg per box
First standard box per week from PS1.25
MoveCubeTMUK & Worldwide
If you're moving "from" or "to" university, we can help you move. From a single room up to a one bed flat including bags, bed, boxes, chairs, desks, sofa & kitchen appliances , you pack up & we collect & transfer the sealed MoveCubeTMto your new location. (Boxes are supplied at an additional cost).
Small studio flat, 11sqft Small MC from PS199
Studio flat, 17sqft Medium MC from PS299
I bed flat, 35sqft Large MC from PS570
For an additional charge we can load & unload your MoveCubeTMfor you. | high13594.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "smaller amounts of good cholesterol"
},
"options": [
"larger amounts of good cholesterol",
"smaller amounts of good cholesterol",
"higher blood pressure",
"lower blood pressure"
],
"question": "Experiments showe... | Does a drink a day keep heart attacks away? Over the past 20 years, numerous studies have found that moderate alcohol consumption, that's to say, one or two beers, glasses of wine or cocktails daily helps to prevent coronary heart disease. Last week a report in the New England Journal of Medicine added strong new evidence in support of that theory. More important, the work provided the first solid indication of how alcohol works to protect the heart.
In the study, researchers from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School compared the drinking habits of 340 men and women who had suffered recent heart attacks, with those of healthy people of the same age and sex. The scientists found that people who sip one to three drinks a day are about half as likely to suffer heart attacks as nondrinkers are. The apparent source of the protection:those who drank alcohol had higher blood levels of high-density lipoproteins , the so-called good cholesterol , which is known to prevent heart disease.
As evidence has mounted, some doctors have begun recommending a daily drink for patients of heart diseases. But most physicians are not ready to recommend a regular happy hour for everyone. The risks of teetotalling are nothing compared with the dangers of too much alcohol, including high blood pressure, strokes and liver troubles--not to mention violent behavior and traffic accidents. Moreover, some studies suggest that even moderate drinking may increase the incidence of breast and colon cancer. Until there is evidence that the benefits of daily dose of alcohol outweigh the risks, most people won't be able to take a doctor's prescription to the neighborhood bar or liquor store. | high23457.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he left many trails of destruction"
},
"options": [
"he lost his way in the woods",
"he could find his tracks so easily",
"he left many trails of destruction",
"God was very disappointed in him"
],
"question": "... | When I was a boy, I used to love walking in the woods around my home.My mom warned me several times never to travel so far that I would lose sight of the house.Being a typical boy, however, I soon found myself hiking further and further away, testing just how far I could go into the woods without getting lost.After losing my way once for two hours, though, I decided that I had better leave a trail the next time I went for a walk.
The very next day I decided to try it.I walked into the woods until the house was out of sight.Then I broke a small branch on a young tree to mark my place.I wandered further in and broke another limb and then another.In a few spots where there were no limbs small enough, I snapped the heads off the low plants that were growing where the sunlight broke through the trees.After a while I finally got tired and decided to head back.Turning around I easily found my tracks, but instead of being proud I felt sad.I could see the trail of destruction I had left in the woods going on and on.Looking at the broken limbs and dead flowers I wondered if God was disappointed in me and I vowed never to do that again.Instead, I started to cherish my times alone in the woods with nature.I'd sit by the streams and listen to them sing.I'd watch the birds and squirrels.I'd bend down to smell the flowers.And I even buried an acorn or two hoping that one day an Oak might grow.
There is an old Native American Saying that goes "We will be known forever by the tracks we leave." As I have grown older and wiser, I have done my best to never leave a trail of destruction in my life as I did in the woods that day.I have instead tried to leave tracks of love, kindness, goodness, and compassion and I have strived to show others that they can do the same.May you always leave tracks of joy as you follow your own trail of love. | high12852.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "have achieved a great deal in"
},
"options": [
"have achieved a great deal in",
"get ready to start",
"have completed what was started",
"put an end to"
],
"question": "The phrase \"be well on with ......\" (Par... | With fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste. The word "rubbish" could lose its meaning because everything which goes into the dumps would be made into something useful. Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else.
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out. The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant for recycling waste were built just outside the city. This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish. When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: First, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids; after that rollers will break up everything that can be broken. Finally, the rubbish will pass under magnets , which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.
The first full-scale giant recycling plants are perhaps fifteen years away. Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long. | high8791.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "$572.2"
},
"options": [
"$142.77",
"$572.2",
"$552.2",
"$420"
],
"question": "If you buy ten TeleNav GPS Navigators, you can save _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | TeleNav GPS Navigator
TeleNav Talks. You drive. Voice and Onscreen Directions.
TeleNav is easy to use. As you drive, TeleNav GPS Navigator will give you all the information you need, such as:
*The current street.
*The next turn to take.
*The next street to turn onto.
*The distance remaining before next turn.
*The number of miles left on your trip.
Along the way, directions will be announced in a clear voice and displayed on your phone. For example, it will say, "Go 1.2 miles and turn right on Elm Street." As you approach the turn, you will hear, "Turn right on Elm Street." TeleNav GPS Navigator will even tell you that the destination is on your left-or right-hand side of the street.
Automatic Reroute
If you miss a turn or meet the traffic jam--no problem. TeleNav GPS Navigator will quickly update your route and redirect you to your destination.
Route Preview
Hit the road by previewing your route before you go. You even get the total distance and estimate travel time to your destination.
Biz Finder
With TeleNav GPS Navigator, it's easy to find restaurants, banks, cafes, hotels and more from over 10 millions points of interest across the US.
Search by category, such as "Thai restaurant" and "hotel".
Search by name, such as "Thai Basil Cafe" and "Luck Hotel".
Once you've found what you are looking for, you can use TeleNav to get driving directions or call ahead to make reservations. Best of all, updates are free and automatic, unlike expensive GPS systems that charge for updates and require manual intervention.
Order TeleNav GPS Navigator You Can Get a Favoured Price Now!
List Price: $199.99
Price:$142.77&this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
You Save:28.6%
100% Secure
Every transaction on TeleNav.com is guaranteed to be secure. Any personal information you give us will be handled according to our Privacy Policy.
Need Help?
Questions about your order? Call us at 1-888-353-6288 for help.
Buying More Than 10?
Call 408-207-4103 to process your order more quickly.
Comments from the Users
"It's easy to use...the voice that tells you the turn directions--with names and streets--is clear and easy to understand." --Dory Delvin
"It's clear that TeleNav helps professionals on the road make the most of their time." --Dale Hein | high22749.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She is being troubled by roaches in her apartment."
},
"options": [
"She is being troubled by roaches in her apartment.",
"The exterminator fails to kill the roaches on time.",
"She has become more afraid of roaches than befo... | Dear Mr. Smith,
I currently rent APT#832 in the Canyon Crossing apartments. Overall, I am happy with the location. At the beginning I had planned to live here for at least two years. I like here.
However, I am very disappointed in that there seems to be a terrible roach problem. I can't invite any guest over because of this problem and I cannot recommend Canyon Crossing to any of my classmates either.
I have left two voice mails for you which are concerned with this problem. You have not returned either one. Therefore, this letter is my next step in hoping to solve the problem. I am kindly asking you to ask an exterminator by July 15th. If you fail to do so, I will have no choice but to make a complaint to the BBB (Better Business Bureau).
You are welcome to text me anytime at (435) 234-3452. I hope this problem will be solved soon.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely, Unhappy Ursula
Dear Sir,
I am a new resident at Sunning Court. I have seen the condition of the building becoming worse and worse since I moved here last year.
First of all, the management of the building is really terrible. Sometimes, there is a bad smell when I walk on the road. I see much rubbish there. No cleaners clean the rubbish. Many roaches and rats run around the building.
My second problem is about the security . I always see the guards reading newspapers or smoking when they are on duty. The security room is very dusty too. When I want to use the phone, they say, "We can't help."
I am therefore writing to demand your company's action to improve the situation. Thank you for your consideration.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong | high7449.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the theory of general relativity is mainly about space and time"
},
"options": [
"the theory of general relativity is mainly about space and time",
"the theory of general relativity proves that the speed of light is the fastest of ... | When NASA astronaut Scott Kelly completes his yearlong mission on the International Space Station next year, he'll come back just a little bit younger than his twin, Mark, than he was before. This is because time travels more slowly in space, a phenomenon first described by Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity.
This December, universities and academies around the world are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the theory's publication.
Even 60 years after his death, Einstein is still the most important scientist of the modern era. Looking back as far as 2,400 years ago, only Newton, Galileo and Aristotle were his equals.
Born in the era of horse-drawn carriages, his ideas started a technological revolution that brought about more change in one century than in the 2,000 years before.
In 1905, Einstein published four important scientific papers. These completely changed people's ideas about space, time, light and matter. In one of these papers Einstein. introduced his theory of special relativity. Two groundbreaking parts of the theory were about the relationship between mass and energy and the speed of light. Einstein was able to show that mass and energy were connected through the formula E=MC2. The theory also says that no object can travel faster than the speed of light.
About 10 years later came his theory of general relativity, the theory that modern physics is really based on. In Einstein's mathematics, space has three dimensions, and the fourth dimension is time. Space and time are part of one continuum, called space-time. The presence of mass changes space-time, which explains where gravity comes from.
Computers, satellites, telecommunication, lasers, television and nuclear power, many of the biggest developments in the modern world, can be linked to Einstein's work.
"We are a different people than we were a century ago," said astrophysicist Michael Shara of the American Museum of Natural. History, "completely different, because of Einstein."
However, there's more to him beyond the image of a science mastermind. Einstein, as a person, has also become a grandfatherly icon in our culture.
He liked playing Mozart on his Violin and keeping fit by hiking and walking. Power was not his goal. In 1952, the young nation of Israel asked Einstein to be its president, but he refused.
And, yes, he was eccentric. With hair like that, how could he not be? | high12661.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They may make mistakes."
},
"options": [
"They can't remember words.",
"They may make mistakes.",
"They are not interested in writing.",
"They are afraid of writing."
],
"question": "Students who never use dicti... | Language-learners who say they never or hardly ever use dictionaries often speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.
The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. So they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.
The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, or divide it into syllables , they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check these in a dictionary. | high1038.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it is more difficult to go somewhere on foot"
},
"options": [
"it has a larger population",
"there are more traffic jams",
"it is more difficult to go somewhere on foot",
"night clubs are sometimes empty"
],
"qu... | Tokyo is one of those places that you can love and hate at the same time.
In Tokyo there are always too many people in the places where I want to be. Of course there are too many cars. The Japanese drive very fast, but in Tokyo they often spend a long time in traffic jams . Tokyo is not different from London, Paris and New York in that. It is different when one wants to walk.
At certain times of the day there are a lot of people on foot in London Oxford Street. But the streets near the Ginze in Tokyo always have a lot of people on foot; and sometimes it is really difficult to walk. People are very polite; there are just too many of them.
The worst time to be in the street is at 11: 30 at night. That is when the night-clubs are closing and everybody wants to go home. There are 35,000 night-clubs in Tokyo, and you do not often see one that is empty.
During the day, most people travel to and from work by train. Tokyo people buy six million train tickets every day. At most stations, trains arrive every two or three minutes, but at certain hours there do not seem to be enough trains. Although they are usually crowded, Japanese trains are very good. They always leave and arrive on time. On a London train you would see everybody reading a newspaper. In Tokyo trains everybody in a seat seems to be asleep, whether his journey is long or short.
In Tokyo, I stood outside the station for five minutes. Three fire-engines race past on the way to one of the many fires that Tokyo has every day. Tokyo has so many surprises that none of them can really surprise me now. | high9464.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Between paragraphs 7 and 8."
},
"options": [
"Between paragraphs 5 and 6.",
"Between paragraphs 6 and 7.",
"Between paragraphs 7 and 8.",
"Between paragraphs 8 and 9."
],
"question": "Where should the sentence \... | He leant down to the pickpocket. The heaving and gasping had stopped, but he was still making a show of his breathlessness.
"That's better," Mallon said. "Can you stand up? Try to stand up. Here," he said, and gripped the pickpocket's arm and forced him upright until he saw his face for the first time. As the pickpocket labored for breath, he gazed up at Mallon with his dark eyes. "How could you?" they asked.
Mallon might have said, "Because you tried to steal from me." But he was still conscious of the flush of joy he'd felt when his blow struck home -- when he knew he'd hurt the man. Where that joy came from he couldn't say, but he knew that its roots were deeper than some clumsy failed theft.
Fat drops of rain began to patter on the awning .
"How are you?" Mallon said. "Can you walk?" The pickpocket turned away and leant against the store window with both hands, and his head sank lower as his shoulders rose and fell. A gray-haired woman inside the store rapped on the glass and made a shooing motion. When the pickpocket ignored her, she rapped harder and kept rapping.
"I have to go," Mallon said. "I'm sorry." He looked up at the sky. "I'm sorry," he said again, and stepped into the rain and walked quickly up the street.
One of the Bangladeshi umbrella sellers was working the corner, and Mallon had just paid seven euros when he heard a woman shouting. He didn't want to look back but did. It was the woman from the shop, pushing and batting the pickpocket away from the window while he bent down and covered his head like a boxer trying to get through the last seconds of a round. Mallon slipped his wallet back into his jacket pocket and took the umbrella that the Bangladeshi had opened for him.
The pickpocket was out on the sidewalk now, in the rain. The woman stood just under the awning with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Excuse me, madam," Mallon said, coming up to them. "This man isn't well. He needs to rest a moment."
"I know these people," she said. "Our Romans don't want them here."
The rain fell in sheets, ran down the pickpocket's shiny scalp and face, down his leather jacket.
"Here," Mallon said, and offered him the umbrella, but he only looked at Mallon with his hurt dark eyes and then lowered his head again. Mallon bumped him in the shoulder with the handle of the umbrella. "Go on -- take it!" he said. And finally, with a beaten, unwilling look, the pickpocket did.
And that was when he saw a taxi round the corner with a light glowing on its roof. Mallon ran out waving his arm and the cab turned sharply to the pavement, sending a lot of water over his shoes. He opened the door but couldn't help looking back. The pickpocket had lowered the umbrella to the ground upside down and was leaning on the shaft, head low, neck bared to the sky.
"Wait," Mallon said to the driver. He went back and grabbed the pickpocket's sleeve and pulled him to the cab. "Get in," Mallon said, and took the umbrella and pushed him into the back seat. He leaned inside. "O.K., where do you live?"
"No Gypsies!" the driver said. He was twisted around, glaring at the pickpocket.
"Gypsy? Look, he's not well. I'll pay," Mallon added.
The driver shook his head. "No Gypsies. Get him out,"
Mallon looked at the driver's nameplate: Michele Kadare. "It's the law," he said, "If you don't take us, Signor Kadare, I'll report you and you'll lose your license. Believe me -- I am quite serious."
The driver fastened those pale eyes on Mallon and turned and put his hands on the steering wheel. He raised his eyes to the rearview mirror and he and Mallon exchanged stares.
"O.K., Mr. American," he said. "You pay." | high17719.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "We can touch the things we see on TV."
},
"options": [
"We can use a computer to turn off the TV set.",
"We can talk with the characters appearing on TV.",
"We can choose whatever we like to see on TV.",
"We can touch t... | Will life in the future be better, worse or the same as now? Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
First of all, it seems that TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. A computer will send the program directly to the television. On TV screen appear holograms , which are pictures with certain height, width and depth. We will be able to see, smell and touch the things that we see on television.
Water has become one of our most serious problems. Agriculture is changing and people are growing more fruit and vegetables to export. Demand for water will increase ten times in 2050. Some futurologists predict that water will be the cause of war if we don't act now.
In transport, cars will run on new fuels and go very fast. A car will have computers to control its speed and there won't be any accidents. On the other hand, space planes will take people around the earth in about three hours. People will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo by space plane in just half an hour.
In the field of technology, robots will have replaced people in factories. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere. They do not ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day.
Medicine technology will have conquered many diseases by 2050; we will be able to help blind and deaf people see again and hear again. Scientists have discovered how to control genes. They have already produced clones of animals and will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have. If you want all this to come true, you should study science and technology hard. | high2531.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "care more about what their mothers wear"
},
"options": [
"show more interest in science than boys",
"care more about what their mothers wear",
"can help a lot to solve family problems",
"are good at encouraging other pe... | Michelle Obama, Kate Moss and Samantha Cameron are three of the most stylish women on the planet but it seems they have their daughters rather than their style know how to thank for that. New research has shown that women with daughters tend to be more stylish than mothers of sons; a fact partly because of the style advice their daughters offer as they get older.
78 percent of women over the age of 50 say they would be more than happy to let their daughters choose a complete outfit for them. However, just five percent of women say they would turn to their sons for style advice, while 28 percent believe that mothers of boys are less fashionable than women with girls.
"Women who don't have daughters become less interested in style as they grow older but having a daughter may keep alive her interest in looking great," comments psychologist Honey Langcaster - James. "And, because of their close relationship, they also have a source of support and encouragement when it comes to their style decisions."
More than a quarter of women believe that Mums who have sons are less fashion - conscious than Mums with daughters. The most common reasons for this are that daughters are more critical , offer good advice and inspiration, and add an element of competition to look the best while sons don't seem to care and aren't as strict as daughters.
Interestingly, although mothers tend to rely on their daughters' style tips, their confidence isn't reciprocated, with 40 percent of women between the ages of 19 and 34 saying they wouldn't allow their mothers to shop for them as what their mothers would choose for them would not be as good as they expected.
And although they might not appreciate the fashion advice, the research, which was conducted by online retailer Gray & Osbourn, showed that daughters do still need their mothers with 71 percent saying they chat to their female parent every day.
"Overall, the research shows just how important relationships are between mothers and daughters," added Langcaster - James, "and just how much women appreciate an honest and trustworthy opinion." | high10076.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "nuts"
},
"options": [
"nuts",
"I'm giddy.",
"---stunning",
"---stunning"
],
"question": "If a man wearing suit and a tie is climbing a mountain, what can we say to him according to the passage?",
"question_t... | You must have a favorite line or _ you repeat often in your conversations. Studies say that pet phrases can reflect our changing society and reveal information about a person's personality. Here are some of the most popular pet phrases among young people.
---nuts
I love the word and use it whenever I think a person is stupid, or a behavior is crazy. I learned the term from one of my classmates. Once, we saw two high school girls wearing miniskirts on a very cold winter day and my classmate called the two girls "nuts". I don't think the word reflects my personality. I use it because it sounds cool.
Diao Yujie, 22, computer science major at Nanjing University.
---stunning
I use this word very often. Once, my classmates and I were discussing how amusing QQ is. One guy suddenly burst out, "I have MSN too". This comment had no relation with the topic we were discussing. I used this word and everybody laughed. I think it is a fantastic word that can change awkwardness to amusement.
Mu Li, 20, journalism major at Beijing Normal University.
---I'm giddy!
I use this word a lot---more often than my classmates. It has became a symbol of me, as my friends sometimes refer to me as the guy who often says the word. I am a person who wants to be different and this word gives me that feeling.
Chen Zhou, 21, Nanjing University.
---stunning
I only use this word with my friends. My parents don't understand it. The word, which is only used among people of my age, is intimate. I think it stands for being young and energetic. And I want to be young forever, so I like the word.
Chen Jianjun, 23, senior at Nanjing University. | high11368.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "you have to express your ideas in a brief way"
},
"options": [
"you have to speak fast and fluently",
"you have to express your ideas in a brief way",
"you should speak with wit and humor",
"one should pay much attentio... | If you've been joining in chat room conversations, or trading e-mail with Web pals, you have become one of the millions who write in a peculiarly short form of English.
And you've got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF(="sense" of humor failure) to describe Internet newcomers who don't understand you.
Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are "talking" online--many of them are talking at the same time.
It's fast: try talking to six people at once. It's brief: three or four words per exchange. It takes wit, concentration, and quick fingers.
And it requires tremendous linguistic economy. There's neither time nor space for explanations. Why consume precious key-strokes telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB(="be" right back) will do? Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI(="pardon" me for jumping in). Interested in whom you're talking to? Type A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal's age, sex and location. You may get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal.
If something makes you laugh, say you're OTF(="on" the floor),or LOL(="laughing" out loud),or combine the two into ROTFL(="rolling" on the floor laughing).
And when it's time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG(="got" to go) or TTYL(talk to you later).
People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can. Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing emotion, as it takes more time to hold down the "shift" key and capitals. Punctuation is going, too. | high4140.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Optical illusions."
},
"options": [
"Impressionism.",
"Optical illusions.",
"Nature.",
"Perspective."
],
"question": "What is mentioned as one of the conditions through which art is seen?",
"question_type": ... | Art is visible. However, everything one sees is filtered through certain conditions, some of them historical, and others, natural. The historical conditions include the material which is used --oil, color1s, and the canvas; second, a certain style. There can be a general style, for example, the style of Impressionism, or a particular style, for example, the individual ways in which two painters, both impressionists, paint. The natural conditions include certain unchanging psychological laws of sight, for instance, the effects of color1s or optical illusions.
The conditions of art are nothing but a particular way of interpreting reality. To understand this, one can examine the difference between the classical Greek and the classical Egyptian styles. For the Greeks, the reality of the visible was given by the perspective and the situation in which the object appears; for that reason they presented a person in his individual movements. For the Egyptians, however, this was only the appearance of a brief moment, which, according to their beliefs, was not real. Therefore, the Egyptians searched for the permanent essence and the typical character in their depiction of an object. For the Egyptians, Greek art was an illusion; for the Greeks, on the other hand, Egyptian art was unrealistic constructivism.
The way in which reality appears in art must not be regarded on its own. It is affected by many other systems of recognizing reality, including the political, religious, economic, intellectual, and social -- in short, all the phenomena of human life.
Moreover, art is always of a certain epoch ,with its particular conception of reality. Thus, when discussing, for example, the art of ancient myth, of medieval Christianity, or that of the technological age, one must be aware that myth, Christianity, or technology was the most outstanding feature of the epoch.
It is paradoxical to understand art as some kind of copy of the fields of experience connected with it. So, for example, it is meaningless for the work of art to be compared with the landscape, which served the artist as his model. Even if the artist had tried to make what he painted as similar as possible to the model he used, the landscape which he saw is only the matter from which something completely different emerges since he has submitted his view to the conditions of art: namely to the material used (color1s, canvas, etc.), to his style, and even to the fact that he paints on a flat surface. Thus one must contemplate a work of art by itself. Even if it is connected to other fields of experience it nevertheless displays something unique which appears in that piece of art and there alone. | high19734.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They could marry a promising husband"
},
"options": [
"They could have a family of their own",
"They could marry a promising husband",
"They planned to become neighbors",
"They could go to the same school"
],
"q... | I grew up in Jamaica Plain, an urban community located on the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. In the 1940's it was a wholesome, specific little community. It was my home and I loved it there; back then I thought I would never leave. My best friend Rose and I used to collectively dream about raising a family of our own someday. We had it all planned out to live next door to one another.
Our dream remained alive through grade school, high school, and even beyond. Rose was my maid of honor when I got married in 1953 to the love of my life, Dick. Even then she joked that she was just one perfect guy short of being married, thus bringing us closer to our dream. Meanwhile, Dick aspired to be an officer in the Marines and I fully supported his ambitions. I realized that he might be stationed far away from Jamaica Plain, but I told him I would relocate and adjust. The idea of experiencing new places together seemed somewhat romantic to me.
So, in 1955, Dick was stationed in Alaska and we relocated. Rose was sad to see me leave, but wished me the best of luck. Rose and I remained in touch for a few years by regular phone call but after a while we lost track of one another. Back in the 1950's it was a lot more difficult to stay in touch with someone over a long distance, especially if you were relocating every few years. There were no email addresses or transferable phone number and directory lookup services were available at best.
I thought of her several times over the years. Once in the mid 1960's ,when I was visiting the Greater Boston area, I tried to determine her whereabouts but my search turned up empty-handed. Jamaica Plain had changed drastically in the 10 years I was gone. A pretty obvious shift in income demographics was affecting my old neighborhood. My family had moved out of the area, as did many of the people I used to know. Rose was nowhere to be found.
52 years passed and we never spoke. I've since raised a family of five, all of whom now have families of their own, and Dick passed away a few years ago. Basically, a lifetime has passed. Now here I am at the doorstep to my 80th birthday and I receive a random phone call on an idle Wednesday afternoon. "Hello?" I said. "Hi Natalie, it's Rose," the voice on the other end replied. "It's been so long. I don't know if you remember me, but we used to be best friends in Jamaica Plain when we were kid" she said.
We haven't seen each other yet, but we have spent countless hours on the phone catching up on 52 years of our lives. The interesting thing is that even after 52 years of separation our personalities and interests are still extremely similar. We both share a passion for several hobbies that we each picked up independently several years after we lost touch with one another. It almost feels like we are picking up right where we left off, which is really strange considering the circumstances.
Her husband passed away a few years ago as well, but she mailed me several photographs of her family that were taken over the years. It's so crazy, just looking at the photos and listening to her describe her family reminds me of my own; a reasonably large, healthy family. Part of me feels like we led fairly similar lives.
I don't think the numerous similarities between our two lives are a coincidence either. I think it shows that we didn't just call each other best friend we truly were best friend and even now we can be best friends again. Real friends have two things in common: a compatible personality and a strong-willed character. The compatible personality is what initiates the connection between two people and a strong-willed character at both ends is what maintains the connection. If those two ingredients are present in a friendship, the friendship is for real, and can thus sustain the tests of time and prolonged absence without faltering. | high16361.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it was April Fools' Day"
},
"options": [
"they were talking about the test",
"they began to prepare their lessons",
"it was April Fools' Day",
"they were foolish"
],
"question": "Mike decided to fool his frien... | On April 1st, Mike decided to fool his friends.
At lunch time he said to Tom, "I think we're going to have a test this afternoon." "Test?" said Tom, "Really?"
"Yes, it's quite true," said Mike. "When I was passing by Mr. Green's room, he was talking with another teacher about the test. Tell John, Rose and Joan about it."
Later Tom told them about the test. Soon almost all the students knew about it. "How foolish they are!" he thought.
When class began, Mr. Green said, "Class, we're going to have a test today." Mike was surprised. The test was too hard for him. After class, all his classmates thanked him very much. But he could only smile. "How foolish I was !"he thought.
It really was April Fools' Day for Mike. | high4626.txt |
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