questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "How to do better in the service business."
},
"options": [
"How to make the best use of time.",
"How to do better in the service business.",
"How to turn an interest into your career.",
"How to become a motivational spe... | A taxi driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation. Inspiring speakers charge thousands of dollars to give his kind of training to business managers and staff. It cost me only a$12 taxi ride.
I had flown into Dallas just for the purpose of calling on a client. Time was important and my plan included a quick turn-around trip from and back to the airport. A clean taxi pulled up.
The driver rushed to open the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door. As he got in the driver's seat, he mentioned that the neatly folded Wall Street Journal next to me was for my use. He then showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy.
Well! I looked around for a "Watching Camera!" Wouldn't you? I could not believe the service I was receiving! I took the opportunity to say, "Obviously you take great pride in your work. You must have a story to tell."
"You bet," he replied, "I used to be in Commercial America. But I got tired of that, thinking my best would never be good enough. I decided to find my right position in life, somewhere I could feel proud of being the best I could be. I knew I would never be a rocket scientist, but I love driving cars, being of service and feeling like I have done a full day's work and done it well. I evaluated my personal property and, I became a taxi driver! One thing I know for sure is that to be good in my business I can simply just meet the expectations of my passengers. However, to be great in my business, I have to go beyond the customers' expectations! I like both the sound and the return of being 'great' better than just getting by on average. "
Did I tip him without hesitation? You bet! Commercial America's loss is the traveling folk's friend.
The taxi driver taught me a great life lesson: Go an extra mile when providing any service to others. And there is no good or bad job and you can make any job good. | high17900.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Making choices and completing what they should do on their own."
},
"options": [
"Making choices and completing what they should do on their own.",
"Reforming both the existent mindset more than the education sector.",
"Chang... | Since Amy Chua took the world of Chinese parents by storm with her book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, in 2011 it seems more Chinese mothers have turned into "tiger moms". Several young Chinese mothers are my friends. But rarely any of them is free for lunch or other activities, because they appear to have become their children's "slaves".
One of these young mothers moved from Hebei province to Beijing just to get her daughter admitted to a private and very expensive kindergarten. She closed her booming business and her husband shifted his office to Beijing, where they have bought a house. Another young mother is divorced and always busy with her daughter's dance, piano or English class. And a couple, both professionals in high positions, left their jobs, sold their Beijing house and moved to Australia when their son started going to school.
The offspring of tiger moms rarely play sports, exchange ideas with their peers , take part in social projects, clean their rooms or wash clothes. Since everything such children do is under the guidance of their protective mothers, they don't learn how to manage their time or plan a project. As such, their education is far from complete. They are unable to defend an idea--let alone come up with one--deal with opposing views, accept defeat or organize their life.
Tiger moms want their children to be more competitive so that they can enter the best schools. But school is only one period in a person's life. What about real life? What kind of independence will these children have once they grow up?
Today, children don't get the chance to discuss or choose what they want: learn to play the violin or piano; take up drawing or swimming. Their tiger moms decide for them.
Ideally, parents should discuss with their children, give them a choice and explain to them that they will have to finish what they start. This would help children develop not only their judgment but also their sense of responsibility.
The solution to this problem is total reform of the education sector. And the government knows that. But reform needs time. We can only hope the reform is completed before today's children become the "sacrificed generation".
But we need to reform the existent mindset more than the education sector . Education is not only about memorizing books and taking exams. Therefore, we should stop seeing kindergartens as "schools", and ensure all schools have the same standards, and bookish knowledge is enriched by knowledge from other sources, from society and life itself.
Mothers are not to be blamed for the present situation, for in their desire to provide the best education for their children they become victims of social trends. But let's hope the Chinese view of education will change, gradually if not rapidly, to the benefit of children, families and society as a whole.
This is my wish on Mother's Day. | high19939.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The hut village in the Valley of the Kings."
},
"options": [
"The hut village in the Valley of the Kings.",
"The excavation of the tombs in the Valley.",
"The archaeologists working on the excavation.",
"Everyday life a... | The first field season is now over at the hut village of the workmen who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. However, the archaeologists working on the excavation have found that they still have a great deal to do. The sun, the wind and tourists have left their mark on the village, originally discovered by Bernard Bruyere in 1935.
"From our modern perspective, it is upsetting to see how the village was first excavated and then left to be destroyed. Passers-by have used the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms," says Jaana Toivari-Viitala, a teacher at the University of Helsinki. "Fortunately, while we still have some surface cleaning to do, conservation are off to a good start."
The hut village offers rare insight into everyday life in ancient Egypt.
"In the early twentieth century, archaeologists were only interested in the tombs of kings. The workmen's huts they discovered were seen as a necessary evil in the quest for the real treasures."
"Now several international research groups on different excavations are examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. This seems to be a trend in archaeology right now," Toivari-Viitala says.
Her research group wants to find out why the hut village was built on the slope of a mountain, halfway between the construction site and Deir-el-Medina. They are also interested in how many workers lived in the village at a time, when they lived there, and what their role was in the construction work.
"Comparing the names found in the village and in Deir-el-Medina provides useful information. Judging from the construction methods, settlement in the village can be divided into two separate periods: the initial settlement and a later one."
For the time being, much is up to guessing, but Toivari-Viitala believes that the coming four field seasons, three months each, will see results.
"The working conditions are not nearly as difficult as I thought they would be. The cool winds in the mountains nicely _ the heat."
The research group working on the "Workmen's huts in the Theban mountains" project is planning to return to the Valley of the Kings in October. | high20160.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the mother elephant was unfriendly at first to the rescuers"
},
"options": [
"Fishlock had seen the baby elephant before",
"The mother elephant was a great help to rescuers",
"the well was dug by local people to trap elephant... | An anxious mother watched as rescuers freed her baby from a muddy well. After being pulled from the well,the baby joyfully ran to its mom as the rescuers took a break.
It was a difficult and potentially dangerous rescue: the baby was an 8-month-old elephant, and at first its mother thought the humans were trying to harm it. The baby elephant fell into the five-foot-deep well near Kenya's Amboseli National Park. Local people had dug the well for water.
It took 30 minutes to remove the trapped elephant. While Vicki Fishlock of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants made a loud shout to frighten the mother away, two men struggled to get a rope around the baby elephant. Once the rope was in place, Fishlock used her jeep to pull the baby out.
Fishlock recognized Zombe, the mother of the trapped baby elephant,from a mark on her ear. She believes that in the end Zombe realized the humans were trying to help.
"Rescues where the elephant's family members are around are always stressful, and I'm always happy when everyone is safe," Fishlock said."The reunions always bring tears to my eyes. The depth of their love for each other is one of the things that make elephants so unusual."
The very next day, another baby elephant fell into the same well. The 3-month-old's family had been driven away from the area by local people. Once it had been rescued, the Amboseli Trust had to send it to an elephant orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city.
The rescues showed the _ of elephants across Africa. Elephants are fighting to survive, as conflicts between the animals and humans are increasing. Thousands of elephants are also being killed for their tusks. The tusks are sold in Asia, where ivory trinkets are in high demand.
The Amboseli Trust has been studying elephants and trying to help them since 1972. Fishlock said, "We hope this rescue persuades people that elephants are special and deserve to be protected and treasured." | high3822.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They all charge for admission."
},
"options": [
"They all have a long history.",
"They all charge for admission.",
"They all provide hands-on programmes.",
"They are all in the same city."
],
"question": "What d... | Museums in Texas
Depot Museum And Children's Discovery Center
The museum is in the depot's waiting room and office. The warehouse is a hands-on learning center. See the 1908 "Arnold Outhouse", log cabin, doctor's office, dogtrot cabin, oil derrick, cotton gin, print shop, and syrup mill.
Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sat.
Admission charge.
Address: 514 N. High St. in the restored 1901 Missouri Pacific Railroad depot, Henderson
Phone: 903/657-4303
Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum
It is designed to preserve, collect, operate and interpret a collection of autos and auto transportation equipment. Library and archive collection available.
Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. and 1-5 p.m. Sun.
Admission charge.
Address: 217 Laurel St., Texarkana
Phone: 903/938-9201
Jefferson Historical Society Museum
Find four floors of documents and antiques, including mementos of pioneer days, early steamboat commerce and antebellum society. See paintings and sculpture from the D.D. Feldman collection. It also has an outstanding doll collection.
Open 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily.
Admission charge.
Address: Old Federal Building, Austin and Market streets, Jefferson
Phone: 903/665-2775
The Woodlands Children's Museum
The museum provides hands-on, interactive exhibits designed to immerse children and adults in play that stimulates curiosity and provides opportunities for learning in a nurturing environment.
Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tue.-Sat. and noon-5 p.m. Sun.[:##]
Admission charge.
Address: 4775 W. Panther Creek Drive, the Woodlands
Phone: 281/465-0955 | high4195.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "people keep hands in place long"
},
"options": [
"people cover a long distance",
"people keep hands in place long",
"people wave hands as long as possible",
"people do the same thing as in marathon"
],
"question... | It is probably the strangest sport anyone has ever invented. And at first sight, it looks like the easiest. Competitors have to do two things. The first is to stand still. The second is to place their hand anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.
This is where things start getting difficult. Lots of other people are doing the same thing. And the winner of the "handathon" contest is the person who can carry on doing it for the longest time. That person gets to own the car.
It still seems to be an easy thing to do. At the beginning it is. Anyone can stand still. But when the contest has been going for four or five days, standing still seems like the most difficult job in the world. And keeping the hand in place over this time becomes an act of serious attention. After a few days, the hand seems to belong to someone else--someone who wants to go home and get some sleep.
Competitors are allowed to take a five-minute break every hour to eat, drink or do whatever else is necessary. No one is allowed to lean on the car for support. Winners need to be able to show great powers of attention. They also need to be able to develop special skills.
Maybe the popularity of the handathon is due to the fact that it is not necessary to be a trained athlete to enter. Entrants in the Longview handathon certainly don't seem to do much preparation. Most say they will prepare by "getting lots of sleep". Others say they will "eat healthy food" or "pray for success". The whole event gives ordinary people the chance to do something interesting and win something at the end.
Handathons are competitions, but there is little rivalry between the competitors. They help each other out and keep each other's spirits up. People who drop out early return with food, drink and encouragement for those still standing. | high17914.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it was believed he was recovering well from bypass surgery"
},
"options": [
"he was ly young",
"it was believed he was recovering well from bypass surgery",
"he was a larger-than-life reminder of what America was once capabl... | Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 82. Many people paid tribute to the former astronaut. But other people feel regret that no human has been back to the moon since 1972, just three years after Armstrong landed on it and gave his famous "giant leap for mankind" speech.
Elliot Pulham, Chief Executive of the Space Foundation, thinks that America's space agency NASA should get more money, like in the 1960s, during the moon landings programme, when astronauts went to the moon. "In this age of limited goals and tiny NASA budgets, Armstrong is a reminder of what our nation was once capable of," he said.
Armstrong died because of heart problems after surgery. His recovery seemed to be going well, and his death was a surprise to many people. His family described him as a "reluctant American hero" and said: "Honour his example of service, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."
Speaking from the White House, Barack Obama said Armstrong was "among the greatest of
American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time". He added: "And when Neil stepped on the
moon for the first time, it was a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten."
Buzz Aldrin flew with Armstrong on Apollo 11. He was the second man to walk on the moon. He said he was very sad at the death of his good friend and companion.
"When I look at the moon I remember that special moment, over forty years ago, when Neil and I stood on the moon," he said. "Looking back at our brilliant blue planet Earth hanging in the darkness of space, I realized that even though we were farther away from Earth than two humans
had ever been, we were not alone. Almost the entire world took that memorable journey with us. I know many millions of people around the world will join me in mourning the death of a true
American hero and the best pilot I ever knew. My friend Neil took the small step but giant leap that changed the world and will always be remembered as a historic moment in human history."
In the US, people felt that he represented the achievement of a past age of American greatness. Today, things are very different: NASA has cancelled a number of missions because they don't have enough money.
Former astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man on the moon, said: "Neil did something that people thought was impossible." Others complained about the state of the US. Journalist Andrew Pasternak wrote: "It will take longer to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11 than it took to build an entire space program and send a man to the moon."
Of course, NASA has its modern successes. Its engineers have landed a nuclear-powered robot on Mars. There will also be another Mars mission. It will drill below the planet's surface. But these achievements are not as exciting as Armstrong's. NASA administrator Charles Bolden expressed that in his tribute. "As we enter this next era of space exploration, we are standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong," he said.
Armstrong was disappointed by what NASA has become. Blogger Eric Berger saw an email from Armstrong and other former astronauts. It expressed frustration at the current problems at NASA and quoted Yogi Berra, an American baseball legend: "If you don't know where you are
going, you might not get there." | high23469.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A serious eye problem stopped her"
},
"options": [
"She couldn't get admitted to medical school",
"She decided to further her education in Paris",
"A serious eye problem stopped her",
"It was difficult for her to start ... | Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school, she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women. | high579.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because it doesn't consider the differences in real working environment."
},
"options": [
"Because different people hold different attitudes towards it.",
"Because it doesn't consider the differences in real working environment.",
... | A surprising new research suggests it can actually be good to feel bad at work, and that feeling good in the workplace can lead to negative outcomes.
The study of emotions in the workplace, edited by University of Liverpool researchers Dr. Lindebaum and Peter Jordan, is the topic of a Special Issue of the journal 'Human Relations'. They found that the common belief that being positive in the workplace produces positive outcomes, while negative emotions lead to negative outcomes, may be in need for reconsideration. This is partly due to this belief failing to take into account the differences in working environment which affect outcomes.
For instance, anger does not always lead to negative outcomes and in some cases, anger can be considered a force for good through acting upon injustices. An employee, for example, could express anger constructively after a manager has treated a fellow worker unfairly. In such cases, anger can be useful. _ , being too positive in the workplace, rather than resulting in greater performance and productivity, can lead to self-satisfaction and being too shallow in one's personality.
One article within the issue also finds that, within team work situation, negativity can have a good effect, leading to fewer consensuses but a further discussion or debate on an important issue among workers, which improve team effect.
Lindebaum said, "The findings of the study published in this Special Issue challenge the common belief that in the workplace positive emotions bring about a positive outcome, and vice versa ."
He added, "This Special Issue adds to our knowledge and understanding of how the positive and negative dynamics affect the working environment and is certain to have practical application in the workplace for the years to come." | high8977.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "People who disbelieve the serious situation of our planet."
},
"options": [
"People who agree on the popularity of \"eco-guilt\".",
"People who disbelieve the serious situation of our planet.",
"People who dislike the harmful... | Skeptics are a strange lot. Some of them refuse to admit the serious threat of human activities to the environment, and they are tired of people who disagree with them. Those people, say skeptics, spread nothing but bad news about the environment. The "eco-guilt" brought on by the discouraging news about our planet gives rise to the popularity of skeptics as people search for more comforting worldviews.
Perhaps that explain why a new book by Bjorn Lomborg received so much publicity. That book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, declares that it measures the "real state of the world" as fine. Of course, another explanation is the deep pockets some big businesses with special interests. Indeed, Mr. Lomborg's views are similar to those of some Industry-funded organizations, which start huge activities though the media to confuse the public about issues like global warming.
So it was strange to see Mr. Lomborg's book go largely unchallenged in the media though his beliefs were contrary to most scientific opinions. One national newspaper in Canada ran a number of articles and reviews full of words of praise, even with the conclusion that "After Lomborg, the environmental movement will begin to die down."
Such one-sided views should have immediately been challenged. But only a different review appeared in Nature, a respected science magazine with specific readership. The review remarked that Mr. Lomborg's "preference for unexamined materials is incredible ".
A critical eye is valuable, and the media should present information in such a way that could allow people to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, that is often inaccessible as blocked by the desire to be shocking or to defend some special interests. People might become half-blind before a world partially exhibited by the media. That's a shame, because matters concerning the health of the planet are far too important to be treated lightly. | high15865.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "some people have unclear thoughts"
},
"options": [
"radio stations use hotlines in a wrong way",
"it is a fact",
"it is a good idea",
"some people have unclear thoughts"
],
"question": "The sentence \"some peopl... | Hotlines have become common in China. Some radio broadcasting stations use hotlines to encourage the listeners to take part in the talk shows.
That's a good idea. Yet, the fact is, some people do nothing but break the whole program.
Some people know little about the topic under discussion. Sometimes they do not even know what the host is talking about. So the host has to tell the caller what the show is about. Usually the caller will ask a few questions which express his hope and show his ignorance . Then the host has to answer and explain--how silly this is! It wastes a lot of time.
It seems that some people phone the hotlines for fun. They just want to let the listeners hear them. They don't care what the topic is, whether they themselves are interested or how silly they appear to be.
I'm totally bored by those people. It's necessary for radio stations to improve the hotline programmers. In my opinion, if a caller does not know what is going on, the operator should not let the caller take part in it. | high1953.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "warm-hearted"
},
"options": [
"cunning",
"well-informed",
"warm-hearted",
"wise"
],
"question": "We could see from the passage that the mouse was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"ans... | A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package; what food might it contain? He was astonished to discover that it was a mouse trap!
Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse declared the warning, "There is a mouse trap in the house, there is a mouse trap in the house."
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr.Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me; I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mouse trap in the house." "I am so sorry, Mr.Mouse," sympathized the pig, "but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, "Like wow, Mr.Mouse, a mouse trap; am I in grave danger, huh?"
So the mouse returned to the house, head down and depressed to face the farmer's mouse trap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey.The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.In the darkness, she did not see that it was an evil snake whose tail the trap had caught.The snake bit the farmer's wife.The farmer rushed her to the hospital.She returned home with a fever.Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient .His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock.To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.The farmer's wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.And traps are usually well disguised. | high22011.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Now China is only using an old aircraft carrier platform for scientific research, experiments and training"
},
"options": [
"neither India nor Thailand has an aircraft carrier.",
"it will not be long before China actually has an op... | BEIJING -- China's efforts to develop an aircraft carrier program will not change the defensive nature of its defense policy, said a signed commentary published in Friday's PLA Daily newspaper, the voice of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). After China officially confirmed that it is planning an aircraft carrier program by announcing a refitting project of an imported aircraft carrier for the purposes of scientific research and training, some voices overseas expressed concern that China's possession of an aircraft carrier could upset the regional and global strategic balance.
At present, China is only making use of an old aircraft carrier platform for scientific research, experiments and training, and it still will take a long time before the country actually has an operational carrier, said the commentary signed by Peng Guangqian.
Even when China has a carrier, it will stick to the defensive nature of its defense policy, the commentary said, adding that China has plenty of reasons and legitimacy to have an aircraft carrier. China is currently the only country without an operational aircraft carrier among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Other countries, including Spain, Italy, India, Brazil and Thailand also have carriers. This situation does not _ China's international status, the commentary said. Another article said a carrier will help promote Chinese citizens' awareness of maritime affairs, increase the capability to safeguard the country's maritime interests as well as the capability to participate in international maritime joint operations, such as salvage, counterterrorism and piracy crackdowns, it said. | high21518.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "became a member of the Association of American Universities in 1934"
},
"options": [
"is a public research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.",
"became a member of the Association of American Universities in 1934",
"was ... | The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1861 in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States. The institute stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering. MIT's early emphasis on applied technology at the undergraduate and graduate levels led to close cooperation with industry. Curricular reforms under Karl Compton and Vannevar Bush in the 1930s emphasized basic science. MIT was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1934. Today, the institute comprises various academic departments with a strong emphasis on scientific, engineering, and technological education and research.
MIT is one of the most selective higher learning institutions, and received 18,357 undergraduate applicants for the class of 2018 -- only admitting 1,419, an acceptance rate of 7.73%.
MIT's 168-acre campus spans approximately a mile of the north side of the Charles River basin in the city of Cambridge. The campus is divided roughly in half by Massachusetts Avenue, with most dormitories and student life facilities to the west and most academic buildings to the east. MIT's on-campus nuclear reactor is one of the most powerful university-based nuclear reactors in the United States. In 1999 Bill Gates donated $20 million to MIT for the construction of computer laboratory named the "William H. Gates Building". While Microsoft had previously given financial support to the institution, this was the first personal donation received from Gates. Other notable campus facilities include a pressurized wind tunnel and a towing tank for testing ship and ocean structure designs. | high19087.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the author's father was once very rich."
},
"options": [
"the author's father was once very rich.",
"the author's father didn't love him.",
"the author's father had not enough money to buy a run car.",
"the author's tho... | A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.
As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed,the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible?" He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.
Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.
When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words. "PAID IN FULL".
How many times do we miss blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.
Sometimes we don't realize the good fortune we have or we could have because we expect "the packaging" to be different. What may appear as bad fortune may in fact be the door that is just waiting to be opened. | high20606.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Very sad."
},
"options": [
"Very sad.",
"Quite excited.",
"Very regretful.",
"Greatly surprised."
],
"question": "How did the writer feel when he visited his old neighborhood in Washington D.C.?",
"question_... | Last week I visited one of my old neighborhoods in Washington D.C.I had not been there for twenty years and as I walked along the street, my mind was flooded by memories of the past. I saw the old apartment building where I had lived and the playground where I had played. As I viewed these once familiar surroundings, images of myself as a child there came to mind. However, what I saw and what I remembered were not the same. I sadly realized that the best memories are those left untouched.
My old apartment building, as I remember, was bright and alive. It was more than just a place to live. It was a movie house, a space station, or whatever my young mind could imagine. I would steal away with my friends and play in the basement. This was always exciting because it was so cool and dark, and there were so many things there to hide among. There was a small river in the back of the building. We would go there to lie in the shade of trees and enjoy ourselves.
However, what I saw was completely different. The apartment building was now in disrepair. What was once more than a place to live looked hardly worth living in. The windows were all broken. The once clean walls were covered with dirty marks. The river was hardly recognizable. The water was polluted and the trees and flowers were all dead. The once sweet-smelling river now smelled terrible. It was really heartbreaking to see all this.
I do not regret having seen my old neighborhood. However, I do not think my innocent childhood memories can ever be the same. I suppose it is true when they say, "You can never go home again." | high18399.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "argue for the value of the death penalty"
},
"options": [
"speak for the majority",
"argue against the value of the death penalty",
"speak ill of the government",
"argue for the value of the death penalty"
],
"q... | With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most heated argument across the United States today is the death penalty . Many argue that it is an effective deterrent to murder , while others think there is no enough proof that the death penalty reduces the number of murders. The argument advanced by those who are against the death penalty is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, that it is a mark of a bad society and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime anyway.
In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary action. Throughout recorded history there have always been those peculiar persons in every society who made terrible crimes such as murder. But some are more dangerous than others. For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in time of blind anger, but quite another to coldly plan and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of different degree. While it could be argued with some reason that the criminal in the first instance should be merely kept from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.
The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to discussion. But the majority of people believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is proved by the fact that the death penalty prevents murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was carried out from time to time in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100, 000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been done only once, and the murder rate has risen to10.4 murders for each 100, 000 population. The sharp climb in the state's murder rate, which began when killings stopped, does not happen by chance. It certainly shows that the death penalty does stop many murderers. If the law about death penalty is vetoed , some people will be murdered----some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is really a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of people must be protected. | high2282.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "is just out of work"
},
"options": [
"works for business companies",
"speaks several foreign languages",
"is just out of work",
"runs a hotel or restaurant"
],
"question": "The reading materials above offer info... | Restaurant Assistant manager
Waiting staff Telephonist
The ideal persons must have certain experience gained in a high quality hotel . Please call personnel on 071722--77333, or send your CV to :
prefix = st1 /Regents Park Hilton , Lodge Road,
London NW87 JTLONDON
REGENTS PARK HILTON
JOIN THE STARS ! FOOD SERVERS
The biggest and busiest restaurant in Londonis seeking additional stars for its team of devoted professionals . If you have experience in high volume restaurants and are looking for a challenge, then come on down for an interview . Interview day is on Friday , 26th MAY from 12 noon to 7 p.m.
Planet Hollywoodis located at13 Coventry Street,London,WI
SECRETARY
Busy chartered lawyers require experienced / efficient secretary , accounts , typing experience and an excellent telephone manner ; essential shorthand useful .
Please send CV to : Box No. 9246 c/o evening standard classified , 2 Derry Street, Kensington W85EE.
USE YOUR LANGUAGES AND EARN
450-1200 P. W.
We are one of the largest business publishers , in Europe and have limited vacancies for intelligent young people in our Londonadvertisement sales office .
Enquiries from German , Spanish and eastern European speakers especially welcome .
Phone Andrew Warburton on 071-753-4300
NURSE WANTED
For 9-month-old boy . Artist/ Prof family Notting Hill .
3 days per week . Some extra hours possibly required .
Knowledge German / Hungarian advantage not must .
071-221-7375
TRAVEL COMPANY
Vacanfor self-confident person to look after booking for our Caribbean hotels .
Salary based on applicant's experience & suitability .
Please send CT to.
Lan Taplin , MRILTD, 9 Galena Road,London, WGOLX
Or telephone 071-721-43642 | high17525.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "2"
},
"options": [
"4",
"3",
"2",
"1"
],
"question": "At least how many books are written by women according to the passage above?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
... | Money and Happiness
A Guide to Living the good life
Author: Laura Rowley
Publisher: Wiley (March 1, 2005)
Laura Rowley makes us all understand the money-happiness connection in our own lives so that we spend our time and our efforts wisely. She offers insight that every reader can use to make smarter decisions that will lead to living a rich life in every possible definition of the term.
The Happiness Makeover
How to Teach Yourself to Be Happy and Enjoy Every Day
Author: M. J. Ryan
Publisher: Broadway (May 10, 2005)
Ryan's own desire to be happier first led her to study what is known about happiness from brain science, psychology, and the wisdom traditions of the world. The Happiness Makeover draws on this wide-ranging knowledge and presents a plan that will help you:
Clear away happiness hindrances like worry, fear, envy, and grudges
Discover happiness boosters like meaningful work, challenge, and gratitude
Learn to think optimistically (it is really possible!)
Find daily ways to truly enjoy, even relish, the moments of your life Happiness
The Science Behind Your Smile
Author: Daniel Nettle
Publisher: Oxford University Press (July 1, 2005)
This is the first book to look thoroughly at what happiness is and how it works. Nettle examines whether people are basically happy or unhappy, whether success can make us happy, why some people are happier than others, and much more.
Hormones , health, and Happiness
Author: Steven F. Hotze
Publisher: Forrest Publishing (April, 2005)
Dr Steven Hotze is leading a wellness revolution that advances a new model of health care. In Hormones, Health, and Happiness you are shown how to reach and maintain optional cell, tissue , and organ functioning so that you can enjoy a better quality of life. | high5062.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He spoke Polish with the children."
},
"options": [
"He spoke Polish with the children.",
"He fell from his bike and got injured.",
"He was taken to hospital by the driver.",
"He recovered consciousness in the street."
... | Four schoolchildren from Belgrade, England were out on their bikes on Wednesday evening. Unexpectedly, they saw an elderly man grasping for breath in the street.They tried to call the police and ambulance service, but their phones were not working, due to network problems.
Before the Polish man became unconscious, the children kept him calm while they flagged down a passing driver. The children used words they had picked up from their Polish classmates to translate the injured man's answers to the driver's questions.Gary, 10, and his six - year - old sister, Lily, stayed with the man while Thymus and Owen, both 11, led the ambulance to the spot where he lay. Soon the man was taken to hospital.
The fantastic four children who came to the aid of the elderly man deserve the highest respect for their quick - thinking and courage in an emergency situation. They are a credit not only to themselves, but to their families and their school.And it is great to be able to hear such a positive story about young people.
What is not so positive about this story is the fact that several adults apparently walked by without stopping to help.This seeming indifference to an emergency situation is a well noted phenomenon which psychologists sometimes refer to as "the bystander effect".Research suggests that when a group of people witness an emergency, people are likely to assume that somebody else will intervene and they feel that the burden of responsibility is lifted from their shoulders.
Perhaps the answer to this sort of things is to introduce a " Good Samaritan" law. This already exists in France and places a legal responsibility on people who witness an emergency situation to help out as long as they can do so.This certainly seems to remove any doubt about who bears the burden of responsibility for offering assistance---everyone | high18616.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Space Tourists"
},
"options": [
"Business Travelers",
"Space Tourists",
"A Space Exploration",
"A Frightening Adventure"
],
"question": "Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?",
"ques... | Saturday 28 April, 2001: Dennis Tito was setting off on his holiday. Mr. Tito's journey was certainly unusual! So was the transport he chose, and the price of his trip.
The 60-year-old multi-millionaire from New York was sitting on board a Russian spaceship. He was on a journey to the International Space Station. It might have been a routine trip for the two astronauts who were traveling with him, but for him it was certainly no ordinary journey. Dennis Tito was the first tourist ever in space, and he had paid the sum of $20 million to go there. As the spacecraft left the earth's atmosphere, Tito drank a glass of fruit juice to celebrate and looked down at the earth's blue-green surface. Two minutes later, he was sick. Luckily it was only a minor problem. He soon recovered, and from then on enjoyed a smooth journey. When he arrived at the space station, there was a big smile on his face. "A great trip!" he commented. "I love space."
For a long time space travel was something for heroes. But all this is going to change. Companies like ProSpace are investing large amounts of money in space travel. They want space and space travel to belong to the public, not just governments. There are other plans, like voyages through space from one side of the world to the other. Maybe we will be able to depart from New York at nine o'clock in the morning, and arrive an hour later-- in Tokyo! Such a schedule would allow the business traveler to return to New York on the same day, and still have eight hours for a meeting! | high11154.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "ignoring them"
},
"options": [
"loving them",
"accepting them",
"ignoring them",
"giving them opportunities"
],
"question": "The founder Joseph Shiroko treats children with physical problems except _ .",
... | In Kenya, educational and career opportunities are almost non-existent for people born with physical challenges. They face many forms of discrimination -- including beliefs that their condition was caused by a curse. But one father whose son Brain was born deaf, mute and blind aims to change all that. Joseph Shiroko started a school four years ago that teaches students who can not hear, speak and who have very low or no vision a wide range of skills to support themselves.
The baby clothes the students knit are well known in the local community. And the school has developed a reputation for its dried smoked meat products.
Brain Resource Center, a boarding school, teaches deaf and blind young Kenyans from across the country a variety of skills they can use to earn a living.
"We have a number of philosophies that inform what we are doing: accepting these people; loving them; giving them opportunities." said founder Joseph Shiroko.
Teachers, most of whom are graduates from the school or are themselves physically challenged, work with students.
Mary Kerubo, 22, has a passion for knitting sweaters, which she plans to continue in her village.
"I feel comfortable here because Sween -- my teacher understands me," said Kerubo. "Even if I do not see well, she always repeats her lessons again and again so that I may understand how to make sweaters. I know I will make it."
Kerubo's teacher, Sween Lyaka, was among the first graduates of Brain Resource Center four years ago. She says her students have a lot of unrecognized potential.
Sween says in the future, she plans to purchase four sewing machines that she will use to teach students and produce and sell sweaters in her home village.
The center also works with students' families to set up projects that will continue after the students graduate.
Founder Joseph Shiroko's son, Brain, was the inspiration behind Brain Resource Center. The senior Shiroko says he began the school initially as a project to teach Brain bakery skills. The family later expanded Brain's training and brought in other young people with similar physical conditions. | high21097.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "help grow"
},
"options": [
"reduce energy",
"gain weight",
"help grow",
"keep healthy"
],
"question": "We need snacks to _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_ind... | You may have noticed that you feel hungry a lot. This is natural----during teens, a person's body needs more nutrients to grow. Snacks are a great way to satisfy that hunger and get all the vitamins and nutrients your body needs.
But you need to pay attention to what you eat. Filling your stomach with a lot of fries after class may give you a short-time help, but a snack high in fat and calories will only slow you down in the long time.
To keep energy levels going---and avoid gain weight---keep away from foods like candy or soda. Look for foods like bread and grains and combine them with some food like peanut butter or low-fat milk or cheese.
Choosing healthy snacks means shopping smart. Be careful of the health instructions on food bags. Here are some things to watch out for.
That something is "all natural " doesn't necessarily mean that it's nutrients. For example, "all natural" juice drinks or sodas can be filled with sugar (which means they'll be high in calories and give you little nutrition.)
A granola bar is a good example of a snack that people think is healthy. Although granola bars can be a good source of certain vitamins and nutrients, may also contain a great deal of fat, including a particularly harmful type of fat called trans fat. Check the Nutrition Facts instructions on the bag to be sure. | high19508.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "man is killing some species on a large scale"
},
"options": [
"man is covering huge areas with new kinds of plants",
"man is facilitating the spread of animals into new regions.",
"man is killing some species on a large scale... | Everywhere man is altering the balance of nature.He is facilitating the spread of plants and animals into new regions, sometimes deliberately, sometimes unconsciously.He is covering huge areas with new kinds of plants, or with houses, factories, slag-heaps and other products of his civilization.He exterminates some species on a large scale, but favours the multiplication of others.In brief, he has done more in five thousand years to alter the biological aspect of the planet than has nature in five million.
Many of these changes which he has brought about have had unforeseen consequences.Who would have thought that the throwing away of a piece of Canadian waterweed would have caused half the waterways of Britain to be blocked for a decade, or that the provision of pot cacti for lonely settlers' wives would have led to Eastern Australian being overrun with forests of Prickly Pear? Who would have prophesied that the cutting down of forests on the Adriatic coasts, or in parts of Central Africa, could have reduced the land to a semidesert, with the very soil washed away from the bare rock? Who would have thought that improved communications would have changed history by the spreading of disease-sleeping sickness into East Africa, measles into Oceania, very possibly malaria into ancient Greece?
These are spectacular examples; but examples on a smaller scale are everywhere to be found.We make a nature sanctuary for rare birds, prescribing absolute security for all species; and we may find that some common and hardy kind of bird multiplies beyond measure and ousts the rare kinds in which we were particularly interested.We see, owing to some little change brought about by civilization, the starling spread over the English country-side in hordes.We improve the yielding capacities of our cattle; and find that now they exhaust the pastures which sufficed for less exigent stock. | high7675.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "cheerleaders have to make their uniforms less revealing"
},
"options": [
"bare midriffs are banned",
"cheerleading miniskirts are banned",
"cheerleader uniforms have switched from skirts to trousers",
"cheerleaders have... | Short Skirts Are Out!
After decades of skimpy skirts and sleeveless tops on game days, some schools in the US are saying cheerleader uniforms will have to meet stricter dress codes when they are worn in class.
In Lake County, Florida, cheerleaders with uniforms too skimpy for the code are being asked to wear long shorts or trousers under their skirts and a T-shirt under the sleeveless tops, according to a district memo. Principals at two of Lake's eight high schools - Leesburg and Lake Minneola - are not allowing the outfits in school at all.
Michelle Thomas, a cheerleader at Leesburg High School, was disappointed when she learned she couldn't wear her outfit to school on game days.
"It shows that we're a team just like all the other sports," she said.
But the school administrators did not agree. "During the educational portion of the day, they have to meet the dress code just like every other student," said school board chairwoman Debbie Stivender, who ordered the staff to bring the outfits into line with the dress code.
Bare midriffs are banned across the state by the Florida High School Athletic Association, but no state rules mention cheerleader miniskirts. Sheila Noone, a spokeswoman for cheerleading uniform company Varsity Brands, says the outfits haven't become more revealing over the last 10 years. She says that the short skirts are designed to help the girls jump and kick.
"Cheerleading is athletic," Noone said. "There's a lot of jumping, so you won't want a knee-length skirt that might hamper a tie touch."
Most cheerleaders were sad to hear the news, but say they'll follow the rules. Even male cheerleaders, whose pants and tops meet dress codes, chose not to wear their outfits to show unity.
"I understanding, because they are kind of short," said Holly Bishop, 14, a Lake Minneola High School cheerleader, about her miniskirt. "It would have been really, really cool to wear them to school." | high15332.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "doodlers pay no attention in class"
},
"options": [
"doodlers are not good at study",
"doodlers are doing no task",
"doodlers pay no attention in class",
"doodlers are not polite to them"
],
"question": "Teacher... | A lot of teachers hate doodlers during classes."Pay attention!"Teachers will often warn doodling students,sure that they must be daydreaming.
However, according to a recent study, doodling while listening to a boring lecture helps concentrate the attention:
Andrade,a psychology professor in England asked participants to listen to a boring lecture. Half the participants were told to color in squares and circles freely on a piece of paper while listening to the lecture.The other half weren't given a task.After it was over, the participants were asked to retell the lecture.
Those given the doodling task(color in squares and circles)remembered 29 percent more information than the non-doodlers.Andrade said.
"If someone is doing a boring task,like listening to a dull conversation,they may start daydream,"said Professor Andrade.
"Daydreaming distracts them from the task,resulting in poorer performance.A simple task,like doodling,can stop them from daydreaming without affecting their performance at the task,"he said.
So the next time you're doodling during a class,and you hear"pay attention",you can tell the teacher with confidence that you've been paying attention to every word. | high948.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "are afraid of making grammar mistakes"
},
"options": [
"consider grammar to be boring",
"are afraid of making grammar mistakes",
"mind grammar too much in writing",
"are worried about grammar homework"
],
"quest... | Grammarphobia is the fear of grammar. This fear attacks almost everybody at one time or another, and it's most likely to strike during English or language arts classes. Even people who love reading and writing have been known to get feverish and insecure when they are aware of the possibility of turning in homework with grammar or spelling mistakes. Though writing may be enjoyable, being corrected is definitely not!
Grammarphobes, it's time to put your fears behind you. Grammar isn't that dreadful . Here's why.
Let's assume you like hearing and telling stories and that you enjoy joking with friends. You probably also like emailing and instantmessaging. Well, what do you think makes all these possible? Grammar!
Grammar is simply the art of putting words together to make sentences. Whenever you use words to express yourself, you're using grammar. You do this all the time without even thinking.
So why think about it? Because good grammar helps you convey the ideas you intend. If your words aren't right, or if they are not in the right order, the person you are talking to might get the wrong idea. This can have embarrassing results.
Grammar helps us understand each other. It's like a manual for assembling the words in your head. You have to put your words together the right way if you want them to make sense. They can't do what you want if they aren't put together correctly.
What if everybody you know had a different manual? How would you agree on what others' words mean? People with different grammar manuals might be speaking different languages.
Communicating is similar to playing cards. To make sense, we have to play the same game, by the same rules. What are the rules for playing the game of English? You already know most of them without having to open a book. | high9880.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Both are about where to draw the line."
},
"options": [
"Both can continue for generations.",
"Both are about where to draw the line.",
"Neither has any clear winner.",
"Neither can be put to an end."
],
"questi... | For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear winner. Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parent-teen war is about boundaries: Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict. In part,this is because neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it. From the parents' point of view, the only cause of their fight is their adolescents' complete unreasonableness. And of course, t _ Both feel trapped.
In this article, I'll describe three no-win situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and then suggest some ways out of the trap. The first no-win situation is quarrel on unimportant things. Examples include the color of the teen's hair, the cleanness of the bedroom, the preferred style of clothing, the child's failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on the weekends. Second, blaming. The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong. Third, needing to be right. It doesn't matter what the topic is--politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg--the point of these arguments is to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong,for both wish to be considered an authority--someone who actually knows something--and therefore to command respect. Unfortunately, as long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they'll continue to fight these battles forever and never make any real progress. | high1204.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "will rarely display their love in public"
},
"options": [
"will not hold each other",
"will rarely display their love in public",
"will always think about their future",
"will kiss wherever they like"
],
"questi... | The trip to the United State opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of similarities as well as differences between American youth and French youth.
The first difference is in appearance. Going around in the U.S., I found that American youth do not really care about their appearance. In the morning, they choose something in their closet and wear it with another thing, often of different colors and styles, without wondering whether their choices make them look strange. The reason behind this is that they don't care what people look like, but are just interested in their ideas. I think it's great, but it also causes problems. Since they don't care about their appearance, they don't really care about their weight. Often they get fat without realizing it.
There are differences in relationships too. When the American youth fall in love, they don't really think of the future. Also, there are differences in the rules concerning behavior that is allowed. In some _ , the French are more accepting. For example, in America it is generally unacceptable to make physical display of love. Lovers, actually, can't kiss or hold each other everywhere they want. People think that not showing love in public places is a way to respect others. On the contrary, the French youth can do almost everything they want.
As for other types of relationships, there are also big differences. Americans act differently from French people in front of unknown people. When an American girl, for example, arrives in front of people she has never met before, she will talk with them, trying to create a kind of tie between her and this new circle of people. The French girls will just think about rather than really do this kind of thing because they are too shy and lacking in self-confidence.
To finish, I noticed that in American classes, when pupils want to say or ask something, they just do it. In general, they don't really care how the others will judge them. In France, it's not the same case. If somebody wants to ask something, he/she will think about it before speaking up. I appreciate the freedom in Americans' behavior, ideas, and ways of expressing themselves. | high790.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "most people were not able to offer their help"
},
"options": [
"she would collect more than 100 dollars every time",
"many people wished to be remembered by others.",
"the author understood how terrible their life was",
... | When I was a seven-year-old girl, I used to go door-to-door with my mother to ask the residents for donations to the American Lung Association. Some would give a few coins; others, on rare occasions, a whole dollar; but most would silently shake their heads. No matter what the amount was, my mother always thanked the givers, wrote their names and addresses on her large envelope, and placed the money inside.
And then we returned to our apartment, and my mother counted the money. The yield didn't match the effort: I don't think she collected more than $10. Still, she sent the collection to the organization.
Even as a child, I knew my mother's actions were great, which aroused my pride in her. Asking poor people to give to an organization which aimed to help others wasn't what you did. Other charities gave to these folks; you didn't ask them to give. To them , her efforts likely seemed foolish. But to me, her efforts had an influence on me as I grew up.
Although my charitable giving is modest, I faithfully and regularly donate to the organization which is aimed at fighting AIDS; to stop hunger, and homelessness; to support public broadcasting, the arts, and public education; and to heal families. And I volunteer my time to teach little girls and fix our badly broken public schools.
I do these things because I believe I've been given much, so much is required of me. I never asked my mother why she collected those donations, and, besides, the lung cancer that killed her twenty-one years ago prevents me from asking now.
But had I asked, my mother's response would have been simple:"Because I can."That's what she would have said. But from that look in her eyes and her daily efforts to make life a bit brighter, I know she also acted on hope that tomorrow would be better and that her actions somehow would make a difference. | high23680.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Humans get some idea of treating diabetes from dolphins."
},
"options": [
"Humans get some idea of treating diabetes from dolphins.",
"Dolphins can switch into a diabetic-like state overnight.",
"Humans can suffer the same di... | Scientists have discovered a special biological behavior in dolphins that could lead to a treatment for late-onset diabetes in humans. Studies on dolphins found that healthy dolphins switch into a diabetic-like state overnight when they are not feeding, but return to normal when they eat the following morning.
The extraordinary finding has led scientists to suggest that dolphins have "genetic switch" that allows them to imitate diabetes while they are not feeding for a night, without suffering any ill effect.
If researchers can identify a similar genetic pathway in human, they may be able to develop drugs to effectively switch off diabetes. Some 2.2 million people in Britain have type 2 (or late-onset) diabetes, a figure that is expected to reach 4 million by 2025 as a consequence of rising levels of obesity .
The tissues of people with type 2 diabetes have become resistant to insulin so they lose the ability to control sugar levels in their blood. The condition can damage the heart, eyes, kidneys and nerves and contribute to 5% of all deaths, according to the World Healthy Organization.
Dolphins appear to imitate diabetes to keep high levels of blood sugar when food is rare. Like humans, dolphins need some sugar in their blood for their brains to function normally. Venn-Watson's team analyzed 1,000 blood samples from 52 dolphins while they didn't eat anything overnight and fed in the morning. At night time, the dolphins' metabolism changed greatly and showed similar characteristics to that seen in people with type 2 diabetes.
"It is our hope that this discovery can lead to new ways to prevent, treat and maybe even cure diabetes in humans," said Stephanie Venn-Watson, director of clinical research at the National Marine Foundation in San Diego. | high9658.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Learn to fall and stop safely."
},
"options": [
"Learn to fall and stop safely.",
"Find a class and skate fast.",
"Relax and have fun.",
"Buy expensive gear and skates."
],
"question": "According to the article,... | In-line skating is a fun sport that everyone can enjoy. Follow these safety tips to keep skating safe and fun.
Step 1: Gear up!
Even before you put on your skates, put on all your safety gear .
Step 2: Buckle up!
Strap on your skates. Make sure they fit well and are snugly around your ankles. This helps your ankles stay strong and straight.
Step 3: Fall down!
You probably do not usually try to fall. But it is good to practice falling on skates. Fall forward onto your knee pads. Put out your hands and let your wrist guards hit the ground. See? Are you surprised that it doesn't hurt?
Practice falling until it is easy to fall forward and get up again. If you are not afraid to fall, you will try new things. Knowing how to fall will help you be a better skater and find your balance. When you can stay balanced, you won't fall as much.
Step 4: Stop!
Make sure you can stop on your skates. The quickest and safest is probably the brake stop. The brake is usually on the back of the right skate.
The brake stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Let your right skate roll a little forward. Bend your knees as if you are sitting down. Then press your right heel down hard. This will make your brake pad drag on the ground until you stop.
The T stop:
Roll forward with your skates pointing the same way. Then turn your right foot out so the toes are pointing to your right. Drag your right skate. Let the wheels drag on the ground until you come to a stop.
Another way to stop is to run or jump onto the grass.
Step 5: Roll around!
Find a flat, smooth place to practice. Do not skate in streets. Parks and playgrounds are good places to practice. Look for "No skating" signs to make sure you can skate there. | high1562.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She made an effort to save herself."
},
"options": [
"She got her name from a song.",
"She had more than 35,000 slices.",
"She couldn't use her arms properly.",
"She made an effort to save herself."
],
"question... | Lucy, whose skeleton was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, died shortly after she fell out of a tree, according to a new study published Monday in the British journalNature.
For their research, Kappelman and Dr. Richard Ketcham used a CT scanner to create more than 35,000 "slices" of Lucy's skeleton. Scientists named her Lucy from the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", which was played at the camp the night of her discovery.
The following analysis of the slices showed sharp, clean breaks seen at the end of Lucy's right humerus are similar to bone breaks seen in victims of falls.
The researchers concluded that these and other breaks in her skeleton show that Lucy, who is believed to have stood about 3 feet 6 inches and weighed about 60 pounds, fell feet first and used her arms to support herself -- but that the injury was too severe to have been survivable.
The researchers estimate that Lucy was going about 35 miles an hour when she hit the ground after falling from a height of roughly 40 feet, according to the statement.
That sounds _ . But other scientists are doubtful. "There are countless explanations for bone breaks," Dr, Donald C, Johanson, director of the Institute of Human Origins and one of the scientists who discovered Lucy, said, "The suggestion that she fell out of a tree is largely a just-so story and therefore unprovable." Johanson said it was more likely that Lucy's breaks occurred long after she died, saying that "elephant bones appear to have the same kind of breaks, It's unlikely they fell out of a tree. "
But the new research focused on "a small number of breaks" that are consistent with "high-energy bone-to-bone influences" and which differ from the sorts of breaks commonly seen in other collected bones. Kappelman responded in an email, "These appear to have occurred at or near the time of death." | high14992.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "About one third of them brush their teeth only once a day"
},
"options": [
"Most of then have good habits.",
"About one third of them brush their teeth only once a day",
"All of then are fighting germs better than expected ."... | A Healthy Habits Survey shows that only about one third of American seniors have correct habits. Here are some findings and expert advice.
1.How many times did you brush your teeth yesterday?
*Finding:A full 33% of seniors brush their teeth only once a day.
*Step:Remove the 300 types of bacteria in your mouth each morning with a battery-operated toothbrush. Brush gently for 2 minutes, at least twice a day.
2.How many times did you wash your hands or bathe yesterday?
*Finding:Seniors, on average, bathe fewer than 3 days a week. And nearly 30%wash their hands only 4 times a day-half of the number doctors recommend.
*Step:We touch our faces around 3,000 times a day-often inviting germs to enter our mouth, nose, and eyes.Use toilet paper to avoid touching the door handle. And, most important, wash your hands often with hot running water and soap for 20 seconds.
3. How often do you think about fighting germs?
*Finding:Seniors are not fighting germs as well as they should.
*Step:Be aware of germs. Do you know it is not your toilet but your kitchen sponge that can carry more germs than anything else? To kill these germs, keep your sponge in the microwave for 10 seconds. | high7113.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "About 270 people from 13 countries participated in the study."
},
"options": [
"The study the team conducted has not been published yet.",
"About 270 people from 13 countries participated in the study.",
"The participants did... | Every day it seems that people are coming up with new and innovative ways to use mobile devices like cellphones and smart phones. Researchers at Princeton University are looking for new ways to measure a person's sense of _ with mobile devices.
To gain a better understanding of how cellphones and other mobile devices can measure our sense of happiness, the research team conducted a study that was published recently in the journal Demography. To gather data for their study, the team created an application for mobile devices using the Android operating system.
Once the app was developed, the researchers invited people to download it and take part in their study. Over a three-week period, the research team was able to collect data from some 270 participants living in 13 countries.
Participants came not only from the United States, but also from other nations like Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Over the course of the study, participants received occasional text questions from the researchers that asked "How happy are you?". Along with recording their response, the app used the mobile device's built-in GPS to keep track of the participant's location.
The study participants were asked to rate their current state of happiness on a scale of zero to five. As they gathered data from the information collected through the application, the researchers then were able to create new methods that could help provide a better understanding of how our surroundings can influence our emotional well-being.
The researchers learned that mobile devices can provide an effective way to quickly grab information that, because of today's active lifestyle, can be difficult to record. Being able to quickly grab this information was something the researchers felt was important. They said feelings and emotions that were recorded as they were happening were most likely to be more honest and precise than using other methods like writing down how they felt on a piece of paper after the fact. | high8220.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The school has to follow the national courses."
},
"options": [
"Parents are allowed to set up their own school.",
"The school has to follow the national courses.",
"The school has to have at least 27 pupils.",
"All of ... | In Denmark, parents are allowed to set up a new school if they are dissatisfied with the school in the area where they are living. Although these schools have to follow the national courses, they are allowed a lot of choice in deciding what to teach. Some of these new schools are called "small schools" because usually the number of pupils in them is only sixty, but a school has to have at least twenty-seven pupils.
Cooleenbridge School in Ireland, is a small school similar to the ones in Denmark, it was set up by parents who came from Holland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, England and other parts of Ireland. They came because they wanted to live in the countryside and to grow their own food. In June 1986, they decided to start a school. They managed to get an old, disused primary-school building and started with twenty-four children aged from four to twelve.
The teachers say, "The important thing in school is doing, not sitting." And so the courses includes yoga , cooking, knitting, kite-making, music, fishing, drama and environmental river studies, as well as reading, writing, maths and science. | high3375.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "lost one of his eyes"
},
"options": [
"lost both of his hands.",
"lost one of his eyes",
"was paid a lot of money",
"knew he was not a good driver"
],
"question": "Because of the accident, the writer _ .",
... | I was loading my truck to go to the market when I hurt my left eye. The pain was like a hot sword being shoved through my head. I fell down on my hands and knees, and I knew it was bad.
I was taken to the Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, and the doctors operated on me several times but couldn't save my left eye. When they told me the news, I wanted to die.
Even after I got my fake eye, I couldn't shake the sadness. To make matters worse, I lost my job as a transportation officer because of my lost eye. But one morning, I woke up and the TV was on, and there was a 16-year-old girl who had been badly burned on her face and legs. Her situation was much worse than mine. She wore a big smile and seemed to look right at me and said, "You can't ever give up." At that moment, I thought, "This is just an eye. Get over it." And I did.
It's been almost 12 years since my accident, and there's nothing I can't do now that I used to do. And although I didn't get my old job back, I got my license again.
I read a story once. In that story, a man was feeling bad because he had no shoes until he met a man who had no feet. No matter how terrible your problem is, remember there's always someone somewhere who's worse off. So cheer up and smile at life! | high11632.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "90 yuan"
},
"options": [
"80 yuan",
"90 yuan",
"600 yuan",
"1,000 yuan"
],
"question": "To attend two different concerts listed above will cost at least _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | A, B, C, D,. Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the Opera, by Andrew Lloyd Webber, debuts (appears in public for the first time ) in Shanghai , marking the production's first Asian performance. Since it was first staged in London , the play has been seen by 58million people all over the world.. The Phantom of the Opera, depicts a mysterious person with a beautiful voice living under the Paris Theatre. The Grand stage sets and music have made the musical famous throughout the world.
7:15 pm, December 18
200---2000yuan
7:15pm, December 19,24--26,31
100 -800 yuan
Shanghai Grand Theatre,300 Renmin Dadao
Tel: 5466-0206
Cello recital
Cellist Nina Kotova will stage a recital in Shanghai . Kotova, from Russia, is an excellent musician and composer . She gained world attention when she won first prize in an international music contest at the age of 15. She is also a model and has graced the covers of many fashion magazines.
7:30 pm., December 15
50--500 yuan
Shanghai Concert Hall. 523 Yan'an Donglu
Tel: 6386-2836
Pipa concert
Yang Jing plays the pipa in concert. The pipa player found her distinctive musical character through the ancient pieces of an ancient culture and the most contemporary( )music of the world. Rooted in the millennia -old tradition of Chinese music, she builds on a vast body of musical history from the East and West.
7:15 pm, December 10
40--100 yuan
He Luting Concert Hall ,20 Fenyang Lu
Tel: 6437-1192 | high21929.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "studies"
},
"options": [
"studies",
"health",
"confidence",
"communication"
],
"question": "The successful example given by Mr. Gove suggests that having children in school for longer, can improve their _ .",
... | The Tories would allow children to go to school for ten hours a day and on Saturday mornings to improve the performance of poorer pupils and help working parents. Schools spokesman Michael Gove declared plans yesterday to give disadvantaged children more classroom time to help them catch up. Longer school days could also be popular with parents who struggle to fit 3pm school finishing times around work, he said.
Mr. Gove gave out the success of a U.S. plan where teenagers from poor backgrounds attend school from 7.30 am to 5pm. "I believe that having children in school for longer, particularly if they come from disadvantaged backgrounds can help them to achieve more in academy, " he told the annual conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in Manchester. He pointed out that it was up to schools alone to decide whether to open longer, or at weekends. But he was greeted with laughter from delegates when he said the plan would really work only with the active support of teachers.
ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said, "The last thing we need to be doing at the present time is increasing teachers' working hours. Teachers already work the most unpaid overtime of any public sector profession. If we want Saturday schools then we need more teachers doing the extra hours, not the same teachers working longer and becoming tired."
Meanwhile Mr Gove's idea is likely to alarm those concerned about the erosion( )of family time. Margaret Morrissey, founder of the lobby group Parents Outloud, said, "What we should be doing is supporting these children within the school week." | high17243.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "develop children's ability to treat their fear on their own"
},
"options": [
"stop unpleasant experiences happening to children",
"let children know about the nature of fear",
"create an environment where there is nothing to ... | Fear is an emotion like others such as happiness, anger, hurt, sadness. We need emotions to process information we receive and decide how to respond. Being afraid of fast cars, for example, is something that might protect us from harm. Being afraid of the consequence of a choice may prevent us getting into trouble.
Fears in young children commonly center on certain animals like snakes or big dogs. Fears are caused often because of experiences or ideas expressed by others, and at times, the media. Many normal fears during the early years, like men with beards, or large dogs, disappear with age. Those relating to personal failure and ridicule remain through adulthood and may need special help to overcome.
Children's fears are often _ , but that doesn't mean they should be ignored. They need to be recognized and accepted as real for that child. Only when we help children understand their fears can they grow normally in their ability to deal with them.
Research shows that as a child grows up, the center of his fears changes a lot. Things like divorce, a teacher who "shouted at me", people with guns, bullies, big boys, or "making fun of me" top the list of childhood fears.
We can not always prevent these experiences from happening, but it's essential that children be allowed to freely express their emotions without judgment. Sympathy and a caring listener will help ease the pain of these fears. Read books and stories to your child about children who have experienced similar fears. This helps children talk about their fears and find ways to cope. With all emotions, fears become less of a problem for children as they gain self-confidence and they find that fear is normal and can be dealt with. | high5704.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "8am"
},
"options": [
"9",
"8am",
"7am",
"7:30 am"
],
"question": "According to this passage, classes in Jim's school probably began at _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | One morning I was woken by my mother's angry voice. I opened my eyes and found it was seven forty, so I jumped out of bed and rushed to a nearby bus stop without breakfast. Fortunately the bus started going as soon as I got on it. I was sure I could reach the school before the bell rang.
However, the bus suddenly stopped. There was something wrong with it and we had to get off and wait for another one. I felt I couldn't wait and the school was only fifteen minutes' walk, so I ran to the school as fast as possible. Just at this moment, it began to rain hard.
I reached the classroom with all my clothes wet through. Mr. Smith, our physics teacher, had begun his class. I was always afraid of him. I hesitated for a moment, and then I opened the door.
"It's you again, Jim," Mr. Smith said angrily. I've told you not to be late, but you ...". Then he suddenly stopped when he noticed my wet clothes. He quickly took off his own jacket and asked me to put it on. "I don't want you to catch a cold," he said kindly. I went to my seat with Mr. Smith's jacket on. It was a bit large for me but I felt very warm in it. I found, for the first time, Mr. Smith's physics class so interesting and I changed my mind, there and then, about being afraid of him. | high18170.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They're installed for free."
},
"options": [
"Water consumption drops.",
"It's fairer to pay for water.",
"They're installed for free.",
"People are more water wise."
],
"question": "Which of the following is NO... | We use an average of 158 liters of water a day in Britain, for which we pay a bargain price of 28p a liter, but much of this is just cash down the drain, according to water companies.
Most are campaigning to cut the amount we use. And the frontline weapon in their campaign is the water meter . They want us all to have one and one company is seeking powers to make this compulsory.
The Government is anxious for us to use less water, too. Elliot Morley, the Environment Minister, says he is impressed by the savings when a meter is installed. In most homes, consumption drops by 20 percent.
He also thinks consumers get a good deal from meters. He said, "Most people would find that they would either be exactly the same or better off with water meters and it is a fairer way of paying for water."
At present, only 25% of households have meters and most of those are in East Anglia. They are installed by water companies, and households then have about PS43 added to each bill to cover the cost of installing and reading the meter.
Barrie Clarke, a spokesman for Water UK, said, "We want everyone to be more water wise--to think about the amount of water they use. But with our climate change and different weather patterns, over time it will make economic and environmental sense to think how we use water. This may mean meters."
Mr. Clarke believes the easiest way to save water is to use less in the garden. In one hour, a sprinkler uses the same amount of water as the average family of four uses in a day--about 632 liters. He said that gardeners should water in the evening so that it dose not _ in the heat of the day and that every household should have a water butt to collect rainwater for use in the garden. | high3361.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the different influences on people with different levels of self - confidence"
},
"options": [
"the different influences on people with different levels of self - confidence",
"whether males or females will get more benefit from se... | Canadian experts have found that so - called self - help books may actually do more harm than good to people who really need help.Researchers say that individuals with low respect felt much worse after repeating positive statements about themselves.
In their study, psychologists Joanne Wood and John Lee sought to determine how positive thinking affected people with different levels of self - confidence.They questioned dozens of people both made and female, analyzed their self - worth and optimism by means of the standard psychological methods and then asked them to write down their thoughts and feelings.The scoring system ranged from 0 to 35.
During the experiment, the researchers asked a total of 68 participants to repeat the self-help book phrase, "I am a lovable person." After that they measured the participants' moods and their feelings about themselves.The results revealed that the participants in the low self - respect group who repeated the mantra , were feeling much worse afterwards, when compared to other participants in low self - respect group who did not repeat the phrase.Those with low self - respect who repeated the phrase scored an average of 10 points.Their counterparts with equally low self - respect who were not asked to repeat the statement, were able to score a little higher average of 17 points.
However, individuals with high self - respect reported feeling better after repeating the positive self - statement - but only slightly.They scored an average of 31 points, compared with an average of 25 for those with equally high self - respect who did not repeat the phrase.
Professor Wood urged those who promote self - help books, magazines and television shows to stop telling people that simply repeating a positive mantra could change one's life.First, people start following this idea and feel like they are not alone.They are told that all they have to do is just to read that book and then to repeat these positive statements in a hope that things will be better, and when it does not work for them and they realize that nothing gets better, then it is really frustration to people.
Researchers concluded: "Repeating positive self - statements may benefit certain people such as individuals with high self - respect but discourage the very people who need confidence the most." | high11626.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "with some simple practice looking up at the sky"
},
"options": [
"with some simple practice looking up at the sky",
"with the help of the high-speed computers",
"through complex instruments",
"by visiting a weather st... | Wouldn't it be great if you could just look up at the sky and read the weather forecast right away? Well, you can. The forecast is written in clouds. If you can read that writing, you can tell something about the atmosphere. With some practice, you can become a pretty good weather forecaster. Who knows, you might even do as well as meteorologists .
Meteorologists use much more information than just the appearance of the clouds to make their forecast. They collect data from all over the world. Then they put it into powerful, high speed computers. This does give the meteorologists an advantage, because they can track weather patterns as they move from west to east across the country. But you have an advantage, too. You can look at the sky and get your data directly. A meteorologist uses a computer forecast that's several hours old to make a local forecast.
What are you seeing when you look at a cloud? "A picture of moisture is doing in the atmosphere," says meteorologist Peter Leavitt. There's moisture throughout the atmosphere. Most of the time you don't see it, because it's in the form of an unseeable gas called water vapor. Sometimes, the temperature of the air gets cold enough to cause the waster vapor to change to liquid water. It's called condensation , and we see it happen all the time (for example, when humid air from the shower hits the cold glasses of a mirror). When enough water vapor condenses , droplets come in the air. These droplets scatter light. A cloud is seen.
Watching clouds over a day or two tells you a lot more than a single cloud about the weather to come. Changes in clouds show changes in the atmosphere. You should begin to notice patterns. Certain clouds, following each other in order, can signal an approaching storm. But don't take our word for it; see for yourself. | high10538.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "blood transfusion may lead to some terrible infections"
},
"options": [
"it is impossible to store up large amounts of blood",
"blood transfusion may lead to some terrible infections",
"it is very hard to find matches for... | Everybody needs blood
Have you ever seen buses on the street for donating blood? Medical workers on board collect blood from volunteers. The blood is then stored up and given to people who have lost a large amount of it due to accidents or diseases.
Blood is one of the most important substances supporting our lives. But for now, the only way we can get more of it is through donation. And donated blood has its own problems. First of all, certain blood types are extremely rare. Type O negative blood (O-), for example, only exists in 7 percent of people, according to Sunday Times. There are fewer donors and therefore there isn't enough of this type of blood for everybody who needs it. In addition, donated blood comes from various people, which means that it has to be examined carefully for disease such as hepatitis and HIV to make sure that it's safe for transfusion.
This is why scientists all over the world have been trying to make blood in labs. And now, someone finally succeeded--Marc Turner at the Scottish National BloodTransfusion Service has produced blood fit for transfusion, reported Forbes.
Unlike many other scientists, who have tried to make blood substitutes by mixing up different ingredients together, Turner chose to grow blood directly from human stem cells . He developed a special technique to create a chemical environment similar to that in our bone marrow . This environment encourages stem cells to develop fully into red blood cell.
According to Turner, his version of artificial blood is unlikely to contain disease viruses or produce side effects. And the best part is that what he managed to produce was type O- blood. Not only is it a rare blood type, it's also a universal type, which means it can be transfused into any patient.
The new blood is scheduled for human tests in 2016. However, Turner stressed that the new study should not be taken as a signal for people to stop donating blood because it could be another 20 years before the artificial blood can be manufactured on a large scale. "It is one thing to bake a cake and another thing to bake a cake 100 times the size," said Turner. "It's not just a matter of putting in 100 times the ingredients." | high18164.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He appreciates it."
},
"options": [
"He appreciates it.",
"He gives no personal opinion.",
"He thinks it is unnecessary.",
"He thinks it goes too far."
],
"question": "What is the author's attitude towards Engli... | It's really true what people say about English politeness: it's everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say "sorry". When getting off a bus, English passengers say "thank you" rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes unavoidable, and the bus driver is only doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started traveling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of interacting with people.
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customers and retail assistants in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one "thank you" in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposite to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized several times that none of their words were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This is also shown in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men! Yes, the latter are a bit tightfisted. | high5710.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because it is the first to be polluted."
},
"options": [
"Because it floats on the water.",
"Because it can have photosynthesis.",
"Because it is the first to be polluted.",
"Because it can produce different sounds."
... | Scientists in Israel have discovered a new way to test for water pollution by "listening" to what the plants growing in water have to say.
By shining a laser beam on the tiny pieces of _ floating in the water,the researchers said they hear sound waves that tell them the type and amount of contamination in the water.
"It is a red light,telling us that something is beginning to go wrong with the quality of water," said Zvy Dubinsky,an aquatic biologist at Israel's Bar Ilan University."Algae is the first thing to be affected by a change in water quality.""The secret," he said,"is to measure the rate of photosynthesis in the algae,meaning the plant's ability to transform light into energy." During photosynthesis,plants also release oxygen into the air.
Dubinsky's technique is easy to perform because of the overabundance of algae in the planet's water.Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from algae.A prototype tester that occupies about one square meter of a laboratory desktop,shoots a laser beam at water samples to stimulate photosynthesis in the algae.But not all of the laser's heat is used.Depending on the condition of the algae and the rate of photosynthesis,some of the heat is shot back into the water,creating sound waves,Dubinsky said.With a special underwater microphone,researchers are able to analyze the strength of the sound waves and determine the health of the algae and the condition of the surrounding water.
"Algae suffering from lead poisoning,like waste discharged from battery and paint manufacturing plants,will produce a different sound than those suffering from lack of iron or exposure to other toxins," said researcher Yulia Pinchasov.She said that testing algae photosynthesis can determine water quality more accurately and easily than laborintensive methods now used like chemical and radioactive carbon testing. | high6219.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "football is the most popular game in England"
},
"options": [
"people often go to football games.",
"people, rich and poor, young and old, play football",
"football is the most popular game in England",
"people usually ... | Football is, I believe, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to the important matches to see _ . Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting for one side or the other. To a stranger, one of the most surprising things about football in England is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams. He will tell you who he expects will win such a match, and his opinion is usually as good as that of men three or four times his age.
Most schools in England take football seriously-much more seriously than nearly all European schools, where lessons are all very important and games are left for the children themselves. In England it is believed that education is not only a matter filling a boy's mind with facts in the classroom: education also means the training of character; and one of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games; where a boy or girl has to learn to work with others for his or her team, instead of working for oneself alone. The school therefore plans games and matches for its students. Football is a good team game. It is good both for the body and the mind. That's why it is every school's game in England. | high13031.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "have different opinions of Thanksgiving"
},
"options": [
"all have the same opinion of Thanksgiving",
"have different opinions of Thanksgiving",
"feel that Thanksgiving is about food",
"have no interest in Thanksgiving"... | Thanksgiving is an important festival in North America. We interviewed several students from the US and Canada. Here is what they have told us about their Thanksgiving experiences.
Josie from New York, USA
"In America, Thanksgiving is celebrated every year at the end of November. It is to remember the first group of people from Europe to live in America. When they first arrived, they found the environment strange. But they learned to survive after some native American friends showed them how to grow and find food. Thanksgiving is meant to be a traditional celebration."
Todd from California, USA
"Thanksgiving is the first day of Christmas shopping. That means we have four weeks to buy Christmas presents for our families and friends. For me and my friends, the most important part of the festival is the big football game on TV. The match is watched by millions of people all over America. Thanksgiving is seen as an exciting day for football!"
Ian from Saskatoon, Canada
In Canada, Thanksgiving is held on the 2nd Monday in October. On the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day, many people go to church. Thanks is given for all the good things that happened to them during the year. I always give thanks for the nice big turkey I'm going to have at the family dinner! Like all festivals, Thanksgiving is about food!
Katie from Maritimes, Canada
On Thanksgiving Day, we have dinner with all our cousins, aunts and uncles. It is always very busy. Sometimes we have two Thanksgiving dinners because we go to both our grandparents' houses. The dinner is usually attended by more than twenty people at each house! My mother and my aunts do all the cooking but the washing-up is done by me and my cousins. And that's not an easy job! But I don't mind because Thanksgiving is meant to be a time to give thanks. | high1576.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "what the recent report says is wrong"
},
"options": [
"what the recent report says is wrong",
"there are millions of yellow tang off Hawaii's Big Island",
"the yellow tang's population off Hawaii coast is large",
"the y... | Off the coast of Hawaii's Big Island swim masses of colorful tropical fish. Some of these fish will be caught and sold, ending up in aquariums around the world. Is the industry putting populations of the fish at risk?
Scientists who have studied the Big Island fishery say it is well managed. Rules put in place more than 15 years ago have helped to protect the fish. Along 35% of the coastline, for example, fish collecting is banned. Two years ago, the state cut the number of fish species for the aquarium trade from hundreds to just 40.
Conservationist Robert Wintner objects to the findings. Wintner, who owns snorkel shops across Hawaii, started the Snorkel Bob Foundation to protect the island's coral reefs . He says he simply doesn't see yellow tang in the protected areas. "There should be millions of them," he says. "Where are they?"
Wintner says people believe the numbers in reports. But few people have actually dived into the coral reefs to see for themselves how many fish can be found there. According to Wintner, the coral reefs along the coast should be filled with yellow tang, but they are "virtually empty". Empty reefs are not good for tourism, Wintner points out, which brings out $800 million yearly. By contrast, the aquarium-fish trade brings out just $2 million yearly. | high14986.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "People's love for a disabled woman who lost her dog."
},
"options": [
"A disabled woman's service dog.",
"A cruel groomer killed a disabled woman's dog.",
"People's love for a disabled woman who lost her dog.",
"Disable... | There has been an outpouring of love for a 23-year-old disabled woman whose dog was killed in front of her while a groomer tried to trim its claws.
Calls and e-mails came from as far away as the Upper Peninsula and Arizona as well as Oakland and Macomb counties, offering Laurie Crouch, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis , everything from dogs to money, such as that from Jason Daly of Roseville who said, " I would like to buy her a new dog."
A story about the death of Crouch's pet, Gooch, was printed on the front page of Macomb Daily. Crouch said a man sat on the dog to trim its nails. Gooch died after one claw was trimmed.
Crouch yelled at the groomer to stop when she saw Gooch was struggling to breathe, but she said she was ignored. "If I could have walked, I would have put my hands on her and pulled her off my dog and physically stopped her, but I can't do that." Gooch was not a trained service animal, but naturally helped Crouch by picking up things for her.
"This case is absolute animal abuse ," Larry Obrecht, division manager of the Oakland County Animal Shelter in Auburn Hills, said.
People who read the story contacted Oakland Press to offer help. A message, from Rebecca Amett of Giggles N Wiggles Puppy Rescue, in Roseville, said, "We have puppies to donate ... and want to help the young woman who lost her service dog."
"When Gooch was with me, I was happy," Crouch said, "I think I can be happy again but no animal can replace Gooch. There's never going to be another Gooch out there but I think I will find a dog that can bring me joy again." | high7107.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "students want to wish their teacher good health"
},
"options": [
"students want to wish their teacher good health",
"apples are in season on Teachers' Day",
"students want to wish their teacher success",
"apples are swe... | Whether you will be a doctor or a police officer in the future, there's a teacher in your life. They teach you and help you know who you are? Of course, you want to thank them.
Teachers' Day is the perfect chance for students around the world to thank their teachers. The festival falls on different days in different countries.
In China, Teachers' Day is on September 10. But in the US, teachers have a whole week to celebrate. Teacher Appreciation Week is in the first full week of May every year. Kids used to bring apples for their teachers because apples are healthy. Now, they bring gifts with pictures of apples, such as cups, picture frames and teddy bears. Some students also make DIY gifts for their teachers. During the week, school clubs often offer teachers a free breakfast of coffee and pastries.
The South Korean Teachers' Day is on May 15. Many students offer flowers to their teachers. Another traditional gift is a card. Thousands of students prepare personalized cards and give them to their favorite teachers.
Although different countries have different Teachers' Days, there's one day for the whole world to honor teachers. On October 5 of every year, over 100 countries, such as Canada and the Philippines, express their thanks by celebrating World Teachers' Day. UNESCO started the day in 1994. It wants to remind people of the importance of teaching.
Only you can make a card like this one
A fingerprint card is a good gift on Teachers' Day
You will need:
*Card
*Pen
*Colorful ink
1. Press your ink-covered finger on a clean card.
2. Use a pen to make your fingerprint into an animal or a robot.
3. Write words like "you are a wonderful teacher," or "thank you for teaching me" on the card.
Some thank-you notes for great teachers
1.
2. | high15440.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "to turn down the wrong people is what they say they aim to do"
},
"options": [
"they will try to find suitable people",
"they will look for the right applicants",
"the wrong applicants are to be turned down",
"to turn d... | Most employers say that they wish to employ the right person for the right job. A recent report by Britain's Independent Institute of Manpower Studies, however, disagrees with this. The report states that most employers wish to avoid employing the wrong person. Rather than looking for the right person, they are looking for applicants to turn down.
The report also suggests that in Britain and in many other parts of the world the selection methods used to pick out the right person for the job certainly do not match up to those used to judge a piece of new equipment. Employers used three main selection methods: interviewing, checking resume or application forms and examining references. Most of the employers asked in this survey stated that these selection methods were used more for weeding out unsuitable applicants rather than for finding suitable ones.
Interviews were considered to be more reliable than either resume checks or references from past employers. Research, however, proves otherwise. Interviewers' decisions are often strongly influenced by their earlier judgment of the written application. Also different employers view facts differently. One may consider applicants who have frequently changed jobs as people with broad and useful experience. Another will see such applicants as unreliable and unlikely to stay for long in the new job.
Some employers place great importance on academic qualifications whereas the link between this and success in management is not necessarily strong. Some employers use handwriting as a standard. The report states that there is little evidence to support the value of the letter for judging working ability. References, also, are sometimes unreliable as they are not very important while checks on credit and security records and applicants' political opinions are often the opposite.
The report is more favorable towards trainability tests and those which test personality and personal and mental skills. The report concludes by suggesting that interviewing could become more reliable if the questions were arranged in a careful, organized system and focused on the needs of the employing organization. | high7661.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "is good for both us and people who help us"
},
"options": [
"is good for both us and people who help us",
"benefits the people who do something for us",
"wastes our and our friends' time at the same time",
"does harm to... | In our life, we have rarely expressed our gratitude to the one who'd lived those years with us.In fact, we don't have to wait for anniversaries to thank the ones close to us--the ones so easily overlooked. If I have learned anything about giving thanks, it is this: give it now!While your feeling of appreciation is alive and sincere, act on it. Saying thanks is such an easy way to add to the world's happiness.
Saying thanks not only brightens someone else's world, but it also brightens yours. If you're feeling left out, unloved or unappreciated, try reaching out to others. It may be just the medicine you need.
Of course, there are times when you can't express gratitude immediately. In that case don't let embarrassment sink you into silence--speak up the first time you have the chance.
Once a young minister, Mark Brian, was sent to a remote parish of Kwakiutl Indians in British Columbia. He had been told that the Indians did not have a word for thank you. But Brian soon found that these people had exceptional generosity. Instead of saying thanks, it is their custom to return every favor with a favor of their own, and every kindness with an equal or superior kindness. They do their thanks.
I wonder if we had no words in our vocabulary for thank you, would we do a better job of communicating our gratitude? Would we be more responsive, more sensitive and more caring?
Thankfulness sets in motion a chain of reaction that transforms people all around us--including ourselves, for no one ever misunderstands the melody of a grateful heart. | high15326.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Douthett's wife felt something about his disease"
},
"options": [
"Douthett's wife was a doctor",
"Douthett's wife felt something about his disease",
"Douthett never got that drunk",
"Douthett had seen a doctor for his ... | (Reuters)--- A Michigan man credited his dog with saving his life by chewing off his diseased big toe as he lay passed out in a drunken stupor
Jerry Douthett, 48, who woke up on a Saturday night in late July in his Rockford, Michigan home to find his Jack Russell Terrier, Kiko, had _ his right big toe.
"The dog always lies with me on the bed", said Douthett. "That night, I woke up and looked down at my foot, and it was wet. When I looked, it was blood and there was the dog looking at me with a blood moustache."
Douthett's wife, Rosee, rushed him to a hospital where doctors found he was suffering from Type 2 diabetes. His toe was badly infected and surgeons amputated the remainder of the toe.
Douthett's wife, a registered nurse, had been urging him for weeks to have his infected toe examined by a doctor.
On the night Kiko ate his toe, Douthett said he had been out with his wife and drank about six or seven beers and a pair of giant margaritas--big enough to put goldfish in.
"I was self-medicating at this point," he said. "The moral of the story is that the dog saved my life, because otherwise I would never have gone to see a doctor."
The couple said they were amazed that Kiko appeared to know Douthett had an infection that needed treatment.
"He kind of chewed off the infected part and stopped at the good bone," said Rosee. "We joked that we shouldn't have had to pay the co-pay because he did half the job by chewing off half of the toe." | high12449.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "108"
},
"options": [
"54",
"108",
"45",
"90"
],
"question": "_ guests took part in the important lunch.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_... | On August18,2012,the White House staff prepared for a special group of guests. The First Lady was hosting an important lunch.
At 10 o'clock, her guests arrived. Fifty-four children, each with a parent or grandparent, walked into the White House. The lucky guests were the winners of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge. It was a contest created by the First Lady a few months ago. She asked kids ages 8 to 12 to think up healthy, delicious lunch recipes. Winners from across the country, one from every state, were brought to Washington D.C, for the "state dinner".
At the start of the meal, the First Lady welcomed her guests and congratulated them on winning the contest. "You were the winner in your state---the whole state," she said. "You guys won! Cool!" She also explained what made the recipes win. "You came up with dishes that are good for you, but more importantly, they taste good, too," she said.
Just before the dessert time, Michelle stood up to make an announcement. "We have a special guest who wanted to stop by and say hello," she explained. "So it's my honor to introduce the President of the United States."
The President walked to each table, shaking hands with the winners and their family members. For the kids, this was _ ." It was amazing to watch the President," Kayla, one winner said. "His visit was a surprise and that 's a really big meal." | high13757.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "water, sunlight and air"
},
"options": [
"flower, water and air",
"water, sunlight and air",
"air, water and soil",
"air, sun and light"
],
"question": "Plants can make food from _ .",
"question_type": "cl... | We must do what we can to protect the plants because plants are very important for living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.
If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants. Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are _ by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit. Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds. They grow from spores . Spores are very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds. When these spores are all on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants. | high784.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because they have no idea about how to listen."
},
"options": [
"Because they don't like the person playing the music.",
"Because they have no talent for music at all.",
"Because they have no idea about how to listen.",
... | Our love of music and appreciation of musical harmony is learnt and not based on natural ability, a new study by University of Melbourne researchers has found. The researchers said previous theories about how we appreciate music were based on the physical functions of sound, the ear itself and a born ability to hear harmony.
The study shows that musical harmony can be learnt, and it is a matter of training the brain to hear the sounds. So if you thought that the music of some foreign culture (or Jazz) sounded like the crying of cats, it's simply because you haven't learnt to listen by their rules.
The researchers used 66 volunteers with a range of musical training and tested their ability to hear combinations of notes to determine if they found the combinations familiar or pleasing. They found that people needed to be familiar with combinations of notes. If they couldn't recognize the notes, they found the notes _ . This finding put an end to centuries of theories claiming that physical functions of the ear determine what we find attractive.
The study found that trained musicians were much more sensitive to unpleasant notes than non-musicians. When they couldn't find the note, the musicians reported that the sounds were unpleasant, while non-musicians were much less sensitive. This shows the importance of training or nurturing the brain to like particular sound of combinations of notes, like those found in jazz or rock.
Depending on their training, a strange chord sound was pleasant to some musicians, but very unpleasant to others. This showed us that even the ability to hear a musical note is learnt.
To confirm this finding, they trained 19 non-musicians to find the notes of a random selection of western chords. Not only did the participants' ability to hear notes improve rapidly; the chords they had learnt sounded more pleasant--regardless of how the chords were played.
The question of why some combinations of musical notes are heard as pleasant or unpleasant has long been debated. " We have shown in this study that for music, beauty is in the brain of the beholder ," a researcher said. | high14038.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Some people worry about its bad effect on environment."
},
"options": [
"US bottled water sales have increased for the first time.",
"Activists in some regions have been fighting against it.",
"Some people worry about its bad... | Despite organized anti-bottled-water campaigns across the country and a noisy debate about bottled water's environmental effect, Americans are buying more bottled water than ever.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why do so many people seem to think they should have any input on what other Americans choose to buy or do?
If they want to buy bottled water, let them.
If they want to eat fast food, let them.
If they want to smoke pot, let them.
----Barackalypse
People just get tired of paying for others' bad behavior. If many people eat too much fast food, you pay higher insurance bill. If many people frequently buy bottled water, your trash bills go up and landfills fill up quickly.
It's about personal responsibility, which really should be a basis of our society.
----Bdbr
So? This is the price you pay to live in a free society. You want to control the life of another just so you can save a little money? What would you say when someone do the same to you?
----Norman619
I'm just glad there are still people who still believe personal responsibility is a good thing. We make your life cheaper and less bothersome.
----Yoyo
What a waste of money. It's fine when you're on the road and you need a cold drink, but people who buy cases of bottled water for home are completely crazy.
----Agmlauncher
I wish we all can find a way to improve things and benefit from this. The environment needs a lot of help but businesses will always work on what people would need and demand. Is this part of the trade-off? Hope we can find better ways.
----Skipweis | high23694.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "from the angle of psychology"
},
"options": [
"by analyzing some facts",
"by giving some examples",
"from the angle of biology",
"from the angle of psychology"
],
"question": "The writer tries to explain phantom... | Sensing phantom phone vibrations is a strangely common experience. Around 80% of us have imagined a phone vibrating in our pockets when it's actually completely still. Almost 30% of us have also heard non-existent ringing. Are these signs of madness caused by digital culture? Not at all. In fact, phantom vibrations and ringing indicate a fundamental principle in psychology.
Psychologists use a concept called Signal Detection Theory to guide their thinking about the problem of perceptual judgments. Working through the example of phone vibrations, we can see how this theory explains why they are a common and unavoidable part of healthy mental function.
When your phone is in your pocket, the world is in one of two possible states: the phone is either ringing or not. You also have two possible states of mind: the judgment that the phone is ringing, or the judgment that it isn't. Obviously you'd like to match these states in the correct way. True vibrations should go with "it's ringing", and no vibrations should go with "it's not ringing". Signal detection theory calls these faithful matches a "hit" and a "correct rejection"
But there are two other possible combinations: you could mismatch true vibrations with "it's not ringing" (a "miss"); or mismatch the absence of vibrations with "it's ringing" (a "false alarm"). This second kind of mismatch is what's going on when you imagine a phantom phone vibration.
What does that mean in terms of your phone? We can assume that people like to notice when their phone is ringing, and that most people hate missing a call. This means their perceptual systems have adjusted their bias to a level that makes misses unlikely. The unavoidable cost is a raised likelihood of false alarms of phantom phone vibrations.
The trade-off between false alarms and misses also explains why we all have to put up with fire alarms going off when there isn't a fire. It isn't that the alarms are badly designed, but rather that they are very sensible to smoke and heat and biased to avoid missing a real fire at all costs. The outcome is a rise in the number of false alarms. These are inconvenient, but nowhere near as inconvenient as burning to death in your bed or office. The alarms are designed to err on the side of caution. | high18602.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He was born in a poor family."
},
"options": [
"He was born in a poor family.",
"He received a good education.",
"He is raising money for the poor.",
"He is a horse trainer who owns a big ranch."
],
"question": ... | I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Isidro. He lets me use his house to hold events to raise money for youth at risk programs.
The last time I was there he greeted me by saying, "I want to tell you why I let you use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of a poor horse trainer who would go from stable to stable, farm to farm, training horses. As a result, the boy's high school was continually interrupted . One day in the last year of high school, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to do when he grew up.
"He wrote a seven-page paper about his goal of owning a horse ranch in great detail. He put a great deal of his heart into the project and even drew a detailed floor plan for the dream ranch. Then the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. But he got a low mark with a note that read, 'See me after class.' "The boy went to see the teacher after class and asked, 'Why did I receive a low mark?'"
"The teacher said, 'This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from a poor family. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. There's no way you could ever do it.' Then the teacher added, 'If you will rewrite this paper, I will reconsider your mark.'
"The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, 'Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.'
"Finally, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He wrote, 'You can keep the low mark and I'll keep my dream.'" | high5076.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They are likely to have weaker lungs."
},
"options": [
"They are becoming smokers.",
"They don't take enough exercise.",
"They eat too much fruit and fish.",
"They are likely to have weaker lungs."
],
"question"... | Teenagers who do not get enough of the nutrients commonly found in fruits and fish are easier to have bad lungs, coughing and wheezing .Teens who eat the least of fruit and especially vitamin C have weaker lungs compared to the others.
Teens who take in less vitamin E, found in vegetable oil and nuts, are more likely to have asthma , Jane Bums at the Harvard School of Public Health found.
Based on these findings.Bums said that current recommended dose of vitamin C, 85 mg a day, may not be enough for teens to have healthy lungs.Teens who eat less fruit and don't take in enough fatty acids are more likely to have asthma and the signs of breathing difficulty.
Proper amounts of fatty acids are protective, Bums said, though fish, the best source of fatty acids, is particularly unpopular with teenagers.Fatty acids are also found in some nuts as well as some green vegetables'.Smokers who avoid vitamin C will increase their chances of coughing, wheezing and developing phlegm .
More than 80 percent of teens are getting their recommended doses of vitamin C - mainly from fruit drinks."I wouldn't approve of drinking them, but at least they're getting their vitamin C from somewhere," Burns said.
Burns added that there are several different ways to get the necessary nutrients."I think vitamin supplements are fine.I think adding vitamin D to orange juice is fine.But I do think there are added benefits that we don't fully understand of eating whole foods like fruits and vegetables and fish," she said.The researchers did not account for poverty and other factors that often distinguish less-healthy eaters and may explain their findings. | high2719.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To master the disabled hand was important."
},
"options": [
"The prosthetic technology was underdeveloped then.",
"A prosthesis was very expensive at that time.",
"To master the disabled hand was important.",
"The origi... | Leon, 12, was born without fingers on his left hand.That didn't -stop him from being able to do many tasks. But Leon could not grasp more than one object at a time. So Leon's father, Paul, created a prosthesis ,using a 3D printer. Now Leon has fingers that open and close."It was a do-it-yourself, father and son adventure," says raw.
When Leon was a baby, his doctor advised his parents not to give him a prosthetic hand until he was in his early teens. "The doctor said Leon should first learn to get full use out of the hand he was born with," says Paul. As Leon got older, his father looked into buying a prosthetic hand, which can cost as much as $30,000. Paul found a more affordable solution.
One day, Paul discovered a video on the Internet about Robohand, a prosthesis created with a 3Dprinter. He downloaded the free instructions and called Robohand's creators for advice. They told him all he needed was a 3D printerwhich costs around $2,000- and some materials.
Luckily, Leon's school had recently purchased a 3D printer and it offered to help Paul build the hand for Leon."We used a soccer shin guard ,cardboard, and tape. They cost about$10," says Paul.
With his new hand, Leon can do things better. "I can help my mom more, because now I can carry two grocery bags,"he says.
Leon's father has already built .several hands for Leon. Leon helps design each one. He says there's one thing in particular that he wants to do with a future prosthesis."The goal," he tells the
reporter from the local evening paper,"is to be able to tie my shoelaces:' | high11140.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "People judge others' behavior acceptable or not by the \"moral compass\"."
},
"options": [
"People who like playing jokes on others is controlled by \"moral compass\".",
"People judge others' behavior acceptable or not by the \"mor... | Scientists have discovered a real-life "moral compass" in the brain that controls how we judge other people's behavior. The region, which lies just behind the right ear, becomes more active when we think about other people's misdemeanor or good work.
In an experiment, researchers were able to use powerful magnets to disrupt this area of the brain and make people temporarily less moral. The study discovers that our sense of right and wrong isn't just based on upbringing, religion or philosophy --but also by the biology of our brains.
The researchers used a non-harmful technique to disrupt the area of the brain. The technique produce a magnetic field on a small part of the brain which creates weak electric currents in the brain. These currents interfere with nearby brain cells and prevent them from firing normally.
One story described a man who let his girlfriend walk over a bridge he knew was unsafe. The girl survived unharmed. Under normal conditions, most people rate the man's behavior as unacceptable. But after getting the magnetic pulse, the volunteers tended to see nothing wrong with his action --and judged his behavior purely on whether his girlfriend survived.
Another story described two girls visiting a chemical plant where one girl asks her friend to put sugar in her coffee. The friend uses powder from a jar marked toxic -- but as the powder turns out to be sugar. Volunteers with a disrupted moral compass tended to rate the girl's behavior as permissible because her friend was not injured--even though she was aware the powder came from a jar labeled toxic.
Throughout the experiment, irresponsible or deliberate actions that might have resulted in harm were seen as morally acceptable if the story had a "happy ending". | high21083.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "has much to do with culture"
},
"options": [
"has little to do with culture",
"has much to do with culture",
"is ever changing",
"is different from place to place"
],
"question": "Ray Birdwhistell believes that ... | Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell. He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other words, we learn our looks ---- we are not born with them. A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around-family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the United States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that cannot be explained by genetics . The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth, it is learned after. In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many, this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country area people smile more than those in other areas. In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York State still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do. | high4368.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours,"
},
"options": [
"a day has always fewer than twenty-four hours",
"a day has always more than twenty- four hours",
"a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours,",
"some... | Strange things happen when you travel, because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones. The time difference between two zones is one hour. You can have days with more than twenty-four hours and days with fewer than twenty- four hours. You can have weeks with more than seven days and weeks with fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-trip across the Atlantic Ocean , your ship come into a different time zone every day. As you come into each zone, the time changes one hour. If you travel west, you set your watch back. If you travel east, you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you make a trip by ship across the Pacific Ocean , you cross the International Date Line. This is the point where a new day begins when you cross the line, you change one full day. If you travel east, today becomes yesterday, if you travel west it is tomorrow. | high974.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She is one of sixth grade students."
},
"options": [
"She is a former student of the author.",
"She is one of sixth grade students.",
"She was from a family with problems.",
"She was a blessing to the author."
],
... | Recently I met a former student Jeanie, for lunch. She had been one of my sixth grade students. Before she had moved away, I had been asked to speak as someone who had been a motivator. I spoke telling the crowd gathered that she was a blessing and encouragement to me. She was a child that had come from a family with some problems. When we finally met, she told me that the thing that made me her favorite teacher was the speech I gave every year. I tell my students that when they wake each morning and come to school, they spend more time with me than they spend with their parents. They may be in the same house, but that does not mean that they spend time with them. I told them that my job was to teach them, comfort them, encourage them, and discipline them as needed. However, my most important job was to love them so that they could put away all other thoughts and prepare to learn. I have no losers in my class. They should therefore consider me their mom away from home.
Over lunch, Jeanie asked if she could have the honor of calling me "Mom", because over the years _ She said she has heard from many friends and this is what they all remember about me That I was not only their teacher, but their mom; someone to comfort them, guide them and teach them. | high7649.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "help readers prepare for studying in the U. S."
},
"options": [
"help readers prepare for studying in the U. S.",
"warn people of the dangers of living in the U. S.",
"promote the U. S. education system to overseas students",... | Are you competitive enough to make it in America?
There is an undeniable excitement about coming to study in the U.S., but it's not all excitement.
Yes, it is America; it is the land of freedom; it's the place where different cultures clash ... and live together in peace. However, you guys might agree with me. it's not easy to leave home and the security of family, friends and people who love and care about us. And doing it raises some questions:
Is it worth it? Are you equal to the challenge? You might be sitting in front of your computer watching a documentary about America, which shows you the breathtaking views of skyscrapers in New York, the beautiful warm weather in San Diego, and the huge parties along the beaches of the Sunshine State, Florida.
Just so you know, it's all true. I remember how my heart was racing the first time I visited Times Square in New York. I can't find any words in the dictionary to describe how I felt at that moment. Someday, when you get lucky and go there, you will know what I mean.
Unfortunately, TV and movies never show the other side of what students must do to survive America. Education in the States is really different from other places. Yes, there is the traditional A, B, C, and D grading system, and you get to be on the Dean's List if you have all A's on your transcript. However, these grades don't just come from your test performances. The requirements of classes in the U.S. are much more varied and this is the biggest adjustment that overseas students have to manage.
Some have papers that you have to write every week, others have group projects you must do with your classmates, presentations you make in the class, or research you do by yourself to prove your own idea. There comes a night when you have a couple of projects for different classes, a paper, and an exam to study for. And that night you ask yourself, "What did I get myself into?"
I'm not trying to intimidate you, but you should know what it really is like to study in the States. One thing I can promise you is that it is worth all the hard work you put in. And the more time you give to your study, the more open doors you will have by the time you finish your degree. | high23864.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "persuade people to buy it"
},
"options": [
"persuade people to buy it",
"give some information about Foulsham House",
"tell a love story",
"describe the beauty of a best farmland"
],
"question": "The writer writ... | Foulsham House is a fine,stone house of the 1790s.It stands by the River Byre,in twenty-five hectares of the best farmland in the southwest.
Smithson built the house,and the story goes back to George,the young Prince of Wales,who fell in love with the beautiful lady Kitty Wake,at one of the first Lord Foulsham's wild woods parties.In the past many great men rode on the hills about Foulsham House,and many fine ladies took tea in the Green Room.
The house has eight bedrooms,three bathrooms,two living-rooms and a dining room with a real Adam fire-place .The gentleman's library has a view over the park and the river.All rooms are light and airy ,with wood,high windows,and wood floors.
At the back of the house,where the third Lord Foulsham kept the horses,there is garage-space for four cars.In many other ways,this house of the 1790s meets the needs of the 2000s.
If you wish to know more about Foulsham House,write to:
Harvey,Platt,Longford & Sons,
Castle Green, Gilham, Byreside. | high1238.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "near Ecuador"
},
"options": [
"terribly polluted",
"near Ecuador",
"in the Atlantic Ocean",
"independent of Ecuador"
],
"question": "The Galapagos Islands are _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | When humans and nature go head to head, nature often ends up losing. Rivers get polluted. Trees are knocked down. Natural resources are exhausted. That's what makes the Galapagos Islands so special--it's one of he few places on the Earth that nature can truly call its own.
For people used to having wild animals run at the scent of humans, a visit to the Galapagos is a real eye-opening experience. Over 1,600 km west of Ecuador, the islands are home to a unique variety of animals that have absolutely no fear of people. Visitors can play on the beach with sea lions and giant sea turtles, swim with dolphins and whales, and get close enough to the penguins to count the eggs in their nests.
The islands were declared a national park over 40 years ago, and the number of human visitors is tightly limited to avoid damaging he environment or putting stress on the animal. Tourists have to pay a $100 daily visitors fee, and can't step off the boat unless accompanied by an official guide. Once on the islands, you have to stay on the trail , but that seldom presents a problem: the animals are so curious about people that they'll usually come up to say hello.
"It's a little like being in a zoo," said one traveler. "But instead of us looking at the animals, the animals, the animals are looking at us."
Aside from the wildlife, one of the island' more unusual features is its post office. You can send postcards for free, but the problem is that there's no postman to collect them. Instead, travelers pick up mail addressed to people who live near them back home, and then hand-deliver the postcards when their trip is finished. | high7891.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Helping couples with infertility to have tube babies."
},
"options": [
"Challenging a disease which stops human having a baby.",
"Seeing the wonder of the first tube baby growing.",
"Enabling millions of couples to live a bet... | More than four decades ago British scientist Robert Edwards first witnessed the miracle of human life growing inside a test tube at his Cambridge lab. Since that ground-breaking moment, more than four million babies have been born through IVF and in 2010 his great contribution to science was finally recognized as he was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine.
The prize for Dr Edwards, who was given a Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Award in 2008, includes a PS900,000 cheque. The Nobel Assembly described IVF as a "milestone in modern medicine".
With the help of fellow scientist Patrick Steptoe, the Manchester-born physiologist developed IVF -- leading to the birth of the world's first test tube baby. Dr Steptoe died 10 years later but their work has transformed fertility treatment and given hope to millions of couples.
It was a scientific breakthrough that transformed the lives of millions of couples. They said: "His achievements have made it possible to treat infertility, a disease which makes human unable to have a baby. This condition has been afflicting a large percentage of mankind including more than 10% of all couples worldwide."
Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, made international headlines when she was born in Oldham, Gtr Manchester, in 1978 to parents Lesley and John who had been fruitlessly trying for a baby since 1969.
Ivf-in-vitro fertilisation is the process whereby egg cells are fertilised outside the body before being implanted in the womb. After a cycle of IVF, the probability of a couple with infertility problems having a baby is one in five -- the same as healthy couples who conceive naturally.
Professor Edwards, who has five daughters and 11 grandchildren, began his research at Cambridge University in 1963, after receiving his PhD in 1955.He once said: "The most important thing in life is having a child. Nothing is more special than a child." With the help of fellow scientist Patrick Steptoe, Prof. Edwards founded the Bourn Hall clinic in Cambridge shire, which now treats more than 900 women a year. Each year, more than 30,000 women in Britain now undergo IVF and 11,000 babies are born as a result of the treatment.
But his work attracted widespread criticism from some scientists and the Catholic Church who said it was "unethical and immoral".
Martin Johnson, professor of reproductive sciences at the University of Cambridge, said the award was "long overdue". He said: "We couldn't understand why the Nobel has come so late but he is delighted -- this is the cherry on the cake for him."
Professor Edwards was too ill to give interviews but a statement released by his family said he was "thrilled and delighted". | high9664.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They don't get close to nature."
},
"options": [
"They depend on their parents too much.",
"They're eager to play with their parents.",
"They spend too much time playing outside.",
"They don't get close to nature."
... | What do you remember about your childhood? I have good memories of exploring the fields near my house and riding my bike around the park. Today, children don't spend enough time in the fresh air. Many of them fix their eyes on a screen either on a computer, or a TV ---they seem to be living in a _ world. They have lost touch with nature.
Now 400 organizations in the UK are encouraging children to have some "wild time". They want kids to exchange at least 30 minutes of watching TV or playing computer games for time playing outside. The simple pleasures of exploring and discovering nature help children to learn and keep fit too. Andy Simpson, who is part of the campaign , says: "An extra 30 minutes of wild time every day for all under 12-year-olds in the UK would be the equivalent of just three months of their childhood spent outdoors." Even if the kids live in a city, they can go on adventures in the garden or the park. However, children often need a helping hand from Mum and Dad. They need to be shown what to do and where to go.
So despite the complex world that young people grow up in now, it seems that going back to basics and experiencing "nature's playground " is what modern children need. Andy Simpson adds: "We want parents to see what this magical "playground" does for their kids' development , independence and creativity , by giving wild time a go " . David Bond from Project Wild Thing says, "We need to make more space for wild time in children's daily routine, freeing this generation of kids to have the sort of experiences that many of us took for granted. " | high14010.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "hesitant"
},
"options": [
"touched",
"hesitant",
"amazed",
"embarrassed"
],
"question": "When the old gentleman offered the money,the writer was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answe... | A few days ago,I went to school with lots of books,hoping to get a locker .Suddenly,it started raining heavily. I hurried to pay for my locker,but I was disappointed when they informed me they only accepted cash. I was $7.00 short,which meant I had to carry the books back home. It would be an exhausting twohour journey back home with all those books.
An elderly gentleman nearby noticed my problem. He asked how much cash I needed. When I told him I was $7 short,he quickly took out the money from his wallet. "You don't have to pay me back,"he said. I was speechless;I didn't know whether to take the money or come back with the books the next day. A young student who was working there noticed my hesitation. "He's really nice," said the student. "I was starving this morning and he bought breakfast for me. He always helps people in different ways."
The next day,I went to him and thanked him for trusting me and lending me the money. He said he forgot about it and didn't expect I would give it back. "I'm very happy,"he said,"not because I'm getting my money back,but because this is the right way to go--whatever you get from this world,give it back as much as you possibly can. Spread kindness around the world with the smallest things you can do."
Later,I found out he wasn't involved with any charity organizations. He has been performing these types of acts for years. Earlier,someone had done something incredibly kind for him and he has been spreading the kindness ever since. He taught me a very important lesson in life--we come to this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing. Whatever we own,it will become somebody else's and whatever we leave,it will become somebody else's. | high6557.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he could no longer work in Germany when Hitler came into power"
},
"options": [
"he loved the USA more than his own country",
"he could no longer work in Germany when Hitler came into power",
"he wanted to live quietly in the... | Albert Einstein (1879--1955) was one of the greatest and most original scientific thinkers of all time.
Born of Jewish parents at Ulm in Germany,he completed his education in Switzerland and got his Ph. D at the University of Zurich. He went to live in the United States in 1933 because of the rise of Nazism in Germany and Hitler's persecution of the Jews.
In 1905, while still at Zurich, he published his Special Theory of Relativity, which was based on things everyone may have noticed. If two trains are standing alongside each other and one train starts to move, a person sitting in the train may wonder whether his own train is moving or the other is moving, and before he finds out what is happening, he can see that one train is moving ly to the other. From this and also from other more complicated facts, Einstein came to the conclusion that all motion is and that there are really no such things as motion. Some of the other conclusions he drew are that nothing can go faster than light, and that if something such as a ruler was moving faster and faster it would seem to get shorter and shorter as its speed was near the speed of light. By 1915, Einstein had made his General Theory of Relativity known. He also improved on Newton's theory of gravity. Most of his theories have been tested and found to be true though some may sound strange. For his important work he was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics. | high17519.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "2000"
},
"options": [
"2000",
"2001",
"2003",
"2009"
],
"question": "Oliver and her husband came to China in .",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | A back injury led Briton Rose Oliver to t'ai chi, which led her to her husband and then took both of them to China. But three years after moving to Shanghai to pursue their dream, Oliver's husband died, leaving her alone to follow their shared passion for t'ai chi.
Twenty years ago, Oliver's back injury ruined her childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer. But the injury did lead her to t'ai chi, a martial art typically practiced in slow motion. Her initial hope was to improve her health. She later married her instructor, Rey Nelson, and founded a school with him, teaching the martial art to more than 10, 000 students over eight years.
The 49-year-old recalls the injury that left her bedridden for six months when she was 21 years old and with constant pain for decades.
"I was active and could not bear resting in bed," she recalls."But the soft tissue injuries were hard to heal. I thought I had to find some way to recover my health."
Oliver saw a poster for a t'ai chi class and decided to try the"mysterious exotic sport". She was struck by the beautiful movements and the"nice, patient instructor -- Nelson".
The couple later opened a t'ai chi school in the United Kingdom that attracted thousands of people. But they found themselves in a bottleneck.
"It was not enough for us to improve ourselves when we just learned from t'ai chi masters for two or four weeks a year,"she says. So the couple moved to Shanghai. They taught English in universities and happily learned t'ai chi under various masters. After years of practice, Oliver found her occasional backaches had disappeared.
In 2003, her husband's death brought her much pain. She thought of giving up, but considering the career in which her husband took pride, she stuck to it.
She says her t'ai chi"family"-- the masters and students -- also provided a great support network. Her then tutor was Dong Bing and Dong died in 2009 at the age of 88.
She speaks of their first meeting:"I had been told that his skill was of a very high level and for some reason I had a mental image of a powerful, big man. But my fellow pointed to a small, thin old gentleman, sitting on the ground.
"I felt amazed as I realized that this was the master himself, and then a sudden feeling of pleasure hit me. Of course this was exactly the kind of person who would be a t'ai chi master -- the last person you could imagine.
"I learned attentively from him. He did not only teach me physically t'ai chi but also the philosophy of how to be a better person, how to keep going when you felt you were tired.
"His idea is that one should not pursue wealth and fame but endeavor to be happy and share one's knowledge and wisdom with others."
Following the master, Oliver learned to live a simple life -- one perhaps more traditional than many Chinese. She does t'ai chi in the morning and makes kung fu tea for guests. Ink-wash bamboo paintings hang on her apartment walls.
Oliver spends her time outside t'ai chi teaching English and attending cultural exchange events.
She founded the Double Dragon Alliance in 2005. The organization enables Chinese kung fu masters to teach martial arts to Westerners and organizes seminars and events for them to experience Chinese massage , acupuncture , traditional medicine, calligraphy and tea ceremonies.
Because of her contribution to cultural exchange, Oliver was given the Shanghai Magnolia Award on Sept 30, 2013. The award, named after Shanghai's city flower, is given to foreigners who have made significant contributions to the city. | high19534.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they can't start to fly from the ground directly"
},
"options": [
"they haven't developed a pair of strong claws",
"they can't start to fly from the ground directly",
"they have no hind legs to support their body",
"the... | At night, bats fly through the air, catching hundreds of insects and other small animals. But during the day, they hardly move at all. Instead, bats pass the time hanging upside down from a secret spot.
There are a couple of reasons why bats rest this way. First of all, it puts them in a position for takeoff. Unlike birds, bats can't fly into the air from the ground. Their wings don't produce enough lift to take off from a dead stop, and their hind legs are so small and underdeveloped that they can't run to build up the necessary takeoff speed. Instead, they use their front claws to climb to a high spot, and then fall into flight.
During the hours when most enemies are active, bats gather where few animals would think to look and most can't reach. This allows them to disappear from the world until night comes again. There's also little competition for these resting spots, as other flying animals don't have the ability to hang upside down. Bats have a unique physiological adaptation that lets them hang around this way without using any energy. For you to hold your fist around an object tight, you contract several muscles in your arm, which are connected to your fingers by tendons ;as one muscle contracts, it pulls a tendon, which pulls one of your fingers closed. A bat's talons close in the same way, except that their tendons are connected only to the upper body, not to a muscle. To hang upside down, a bat pulls its claws open with other muscles. To get the talons to take hold of the surface, the bat simply lets its body relax. The weight of the upper body pulls down on the tendons connected to the talons, causing them to hold tight. Therefore, the bat doesn't have to do anything to hang upside down. | high4340.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Following your passion"
},
"options": [
"Following your passion",
"Recommending a new career",
"Solving the mysteries in life",
"Starting with action"
],
"question": "What is probably the theme of the book The A... | There will come a time when you must decide to lead the life someone else has chosen for you... or the life you want.
According to legend, when a young boy asked the great Renaissance artist Michelangelo why he was working so hard hitting the block of marble that would eventually become his greatest sculpture, David, the artist replied, "Young man, there is an angel inside this rock, and I am setting him free." In The Angel Inside, the well-known consultant and career coach Chris Widener uses Michelangelo's words to explore the hidden potential that exists within us all.
In this unforgettable tale, Tom Cook, a disillusioned American businessman, has traveled to Italy looking for direction in his life. In Florence, the last city on his tour, Tom meets a mysterious old man who opens his eyes to the art and life of Michelangelo and reveals what the artist's work can teach him -- and all of us -- about the power of following your passion.
Whether you are looking for a way to reinvigorate your career or searching for the courage to begin a new one, The Angel Inside is a must-read if you want to find true meaning in your life and work.
The break-out business story that's already sold more than 70,000 copies, The Angel Inside tells the story of a young man searching for meaning in his work and finding it in an unlikely place: the life and art of Michelangelo.
Advance Praise for The Angel Inside
"The Angel Inside is a powerfully simple story that helps you discover your potential for a passionate life!"
----John C. Maxwell, author, speaker and founder of INJOY Stewardship Services and EQUIP
" Chris Widener's The Angel Inside is a short read that is long on wisdom for life. Take an hour and a half of your time and delve into this truly meaningful book. It will captivate you from beginning to end, but more importantly, it will help you create your own life of power and beauty."
--Jim Rohn
" A very special one-day relationship between a wise mentor and his struggling but eager protege. What a delightful story for everyone to read, and from which to benefit greatly!"
-- Bob Burg
" The Angel Inside" is truly one of the most inspiring, encouraging motivational books I have ever read. Once I got started, I found it impossible to stop reading. And I say this as a man who has never read friction; I've always said that when I get all of the truth, then I'll start reading fiction. It was a wonderful thrill to read a work of fiction that contains an enormous amount of truth and encouragement."
-- Zig Ziglar | high19252.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "quite different from others"
},
"options": [
"quite different from others",
"an active boy",
"an inventor",
"a hard-working boy"
],
"question": "When he lived in his hometown, Philo was _ .",
"question_ty... | Father of TV
Invention of television began in 1922 in Rigby, Idaho, the hometown of Philo Farnsworth. At the age of 16, Philo was a very shy boy. Only his science teacher, Justin Tolman, realized that Philo was a special person.
One day after school Mr. Tolman found Philo in the classroom. The boy was making drawings on the chalkboard.
"What are you doing?" Mr. Tolman asked with interest, "What are these drawings?"
"I want to invent things," Philo answered, "and these are the drawings of one of my first inventions. I have an idea for a way of sending pictures through the air. Please, just let me tell you about it. _ " In the school library Philo had read about a man who had worked on an idea for television, but had failed. Philo was sure that his own idea was better and that he could succeed.
Mr. Tolman was not sure and asked Philo many questions about the drawings. Giving facts and figures, Philo answered every question.
In 1926, Philo sent his drawings to Washington, along with a letter asking for the patent rights on television. Since then, television has become an important business all over the world. | high4426.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "holding the camera and shooting randomly."
},
"options": [
"describing the things to their assistants.",
"holding the camera and shooting randomly.",
"opening the shutter with the help of others.",
"using special equipm... | Blind photography sounds strange.But a striking exhibition of photographs in California argues that it develops as a result of the contemporary art.The show "Sight Unseen", at the California Museum of Photography until Aug.29, includes everything: underwater scenes, landscapes, abstracts and everything else you might expect from a "sighted" photographer.
How do the blind take their photographs? Some rely on assistants to set up and then describe the shots , and others just point and shoot in the right place."Just like any good artists," says McCulloh."They have their unique ways of operating." One participating photographer is Pete Eckert, an artist with multiple degrees in design and sculpture who only turned to photography after losing his vision in the mid-1990s.He opens the shutter on his camera and then uses flashlights, lights, and candles to paint his scene on film.A former fashion photographer in Chicago, Weston, lost his vision due to AIDS in 1996 and focuses on images of destruction and disability.His photos are also a star of the show.
What do gallery-goers say? "I was very impressed by it.The technique and experience was amazingly different," says John Hesketh, a printmaker in Anaheim."You never have a sense of feeling sorry for these people because they've worked very hard to prove their value."
Beyond the praise, however, the exhibition also makes a great example for disabled people everywhere.That point was explained in early May during a discussion on the TV show.At the very end of the talk, one attendee expressed his opinion."This exhibition is extraordinary and revolutionary for many reasons.I think that by being an artist with a disability, you are continuing the work of those people who fought for basic civil rights to gain access and to have a voice.In that way, it's so wonderful that your photographs say it all." | high3349.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is an amazing comfort food for people with colds."
},
"options": [
"It is particularly good for children.",
"It can prevent people from colds.",
"It is an amazing comfort food for people with colds.",
"It surely has ... | Chicken soup has long been a comfort food for people with cold symptoms. Whether the remedy comes from the warmth and comfort of the soup or from actual cold-fighting ingredients in the meal, it is still up for debate.
Chicken Soup: Just the Evidence
_ The heat, salt, and hydration provided by chicken soup may actually fight the cold virus. Laboratory studies have shown that ingredients of chicken soup with vegetables could kill viral cells and prevent the growth of new ones. The soup may also provide an anti-inflammatory effect that helps reduce cold symptoms. Unfortunately, the benefits of chicken soup appear to be limited by how quickly the soup leaves the body. There is no indication that chicken soup would help in the prevention of colds, but its use as a remedy for symptoms is common. It is largely a safe remedy with no ill side effects, and scientific evidence points more in favor of its cold-fighting properties than against it.
The Downside of Chicken Soup
Evidence in support of chicken soup's antiviral properties is not yet solid enough to prove true, reliable medicinal effects. Although the evidence based on personal experiences and existing research seem to support a good effect of chicken soup, a clinical trial would be very difficult to perform. In addition, some people with food allergies or sensitivities to salt may experience ill side effects from chicken soup. Unbroken bones may also lead to a chocking risk, particularly for children. However, the potential benefits of chicken soup seem to far outweigh the possible risks. | high10510.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "fourteen"
},
"options": [
"four",
"thirteen",
"fourteen",
"twenty-five"
],
"question": "Gaga started to give performance at open nights when she was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | Aged just 25,Gaga has become the icon . Born Stefani Germanotta , Gaga was a child who learnt to play the piano at the age of four .She wrote her first piano ballad at 13 and began performing at open nights a year later .But as a teenager she had a hard time at her strict Catholic school and admitted that she didn't like to obey. She sobbed during a recent HBO documentary: "I still sometimes feel like a loser kid in high school and I just have to pick myself up and tell myself that I'm a superstar every morning so that I can get through this day and be for my fans what they need for me to be. "
But aged 17 Gaga managed to escape to New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and by 19 she signed to Def Jam Recordings but quickly dropped after three months .The star went on to write songs for the likes of Britney Spears ,New Kids on the Block , Fergie ,and the Pussycat Dolls but it was Akon who gave her first big break after they worked in pairs as songwriters at Interscope.
She released her first album The Fame in 2008 and the rest is pop history--first singleJust Dancetopped the charts and follow-up Poker Face landed her a Grammy award .In 2009,she released The Fame Monster.Gaga was the queen of the Brit Awards in 2010 where she won three prizes .At the MTV Video Music Awards later that year, Gaga won eight prizes in all .
Gaga has been busy working on her second album, Born This Way, which is set to be released on May 23.She has already released four singles from the album -the title track,Judas,The Edge of Glory and Hair. | high21915.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it was a dangerous journey"
},
"options": [
"he had to look after their child",
"it was a dangerous journey",
"there was no food for the journey",
"he was fed up with the journey"
],
"question": "Debra Veal's hu... | Debra Veal is a very brave woman. She took part in a race to row across the Atlantic,a journey for about 3, 360 kilometers. She was in one of the 36 small rowing boats that set off on October 7th, 2001 from Tenerife. Each small boat was the same with food for the journey. She arrived in Barbados on January 26th, 2002 after rowing across the Atlantic for three-and-a-half months.
Debra began the journey with her husband in a small boat called Troika Transatlantic. But after 14 days he became very afraid, so he was taken off the small rowing boat. This did not make Debra give up. For the next hundred days, she rowed her small boat against the waves and the wind.
When she at last arrived at the end of her journey, she was reluctant ( ) to leave her boat though her husband and family were there to welcome her. The boat had carried her safely to the end of the journey. She said, "I just want to toast(......) _ , this very special lady. I am full of sadness that I will have to leave her. She has protected me through many storms. " | high5738.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the neighbour fixed needles on his own head"
},
"options": [
"the neighbour fixed needles on his own head",
"The neighbour is a kind-hearted person.",
"The man's pain was killed before the doctor arrived",
"Soon after t... | Everyone knows what a needle is. Of course there are needles and needles: Needles for sewing machines, needles for injection , you name it. But few people think of the wonder : a needle works in the hands of those who practice acupuncture .
During the past ten years or so, I have been suffering from terrible headache. It seems to be getting from bad to worse these days . Last night I got a sudden pain in my head. It was so terrible that I could hardly bear it. Although I swallowed all kinds of pain-killers , I didn't feel any better, It seemed that there was nothing I could do but phone for a doctor.
One of our neighbours happened to be with us. He was not a doctor, but he timidly offered his help, saying "Do you mind if I tried acupuncture on you? These needles may possibly do you some good." I agreed. In a moment, he had taken out a few needles from his purse. Without a moment's delay, he fixed a few needles into the skin on my head here and there, Before long, I felt thoroughly relieved .
Just then, the doctor sped through my house and said, "Where is our patient?"
"Sorry, Doctor, You are too late, It's killed!" I answered in delight.
It's miracle , isn't it? | high9102.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "watched crocodiles in the \"Cage of Death\" in Darwin"
},
"options": [
"jumped into the Villarreal volcano",
"walked along the platform of the CN Tower",
"rolled down a hill in a plastic ball in Rotorua",
"watched croco... | Are you looking for something to do? You might like to try one of these four experiences.
Crocodile watching Do you fancy getting up close to some of the most terrifying animals on earth? Crocosaurus Cove, in Darwin (Australia) has the "Cage of Death". It's an enclosure that's lowered into a pool. This gives you a 360 degree view of a crocodile as it's being fed. The cable broke once and the cage sank to the bottom, but they've fixed it since then.
Edge walk
How about walking along the edge of a building several hundred meters up in the air? If that sounds like fun, head off to the CN Tower in Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Built in 1976, the tower is 553.33 meters tall.
The Edge walk consists of a 20-30 minute stroll along a 1.5 meter wide platform that runs around the tower's restaurant roof. During the walk, you're encouraged to lean forwards as you look over Toronto's skyline .
Plastic ball rolling
Do you fancy rolling down a hill in a plastic ball?
Plastic ball rolling is popular all over the world, but the place to give it a go is in Rotorua (New Zealand). Brother David and Andrew Akers came up with the idea in 1994. A typical orb is about 3 meters in diameter, with an inner orb size of about 2 meters. There's no brake or steering mechanism, but the inner layer of the plastic ball helps absorb the shock.
Volcano bungee jumping
If you're looking for the adventure of a lifetime, how about going bungee jumping off a helicopter into the crater of a live volcano? As part of the jumping, a helicopter ride takes you to the Villarreal volcano, one of the most active in Chile. Once you're at the drop zone, you leap off the helicopter and fall into the volcano. Finally, you enjoy the ride back to the airport flying at 130kph.
Attracted by the above? If so, please contact us. Only half price from March 22 to April 25th. For more information, please click here. | high14776.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "kids"
},
"options": [
"Foreigners",
"kids",
"Parents",
"teachers"
],
"question": "The writer writes this passage mainly for _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | Dear Bewildered,
Table manners are about being kind to and considerate of others.Having proper table manners is one way people judge others,and we don't want people to think that we are rude,do we ?
Whether in a restaurant or in a home, here are some basic table manners for kids:
1Eat with a fork unless the food is meant to be eaten with fingers.Only babies eat with fingers.
2Sit up and do not hunch over your plate;wrists or forearms can rest on the table,or hands on lap.
3Chew with your mouth closed,No one wants to see food being chewed up.This includes no talking with your mouth full.
4Don't make any rude comments about any food being served.It will hurt someone's feelings.Always say thank you when you're served something.
5Eat slowly.It takes someone a long time to prepare the food,so enjoy it slowly.Wait about 5 seconds after swallowing to get another forkful .
6 Don't reach over someone's plate for something.Politely ask the dish to be passed to you.
7When eating at someone's home or being a guest of someone at a restaurant,always thank the host and tell him or her how much you enjoy it.At least say that you like the dinner ,for example, the dessert is great. | high13019.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It is melting from both sides."
},
"options": [
"The ice sheet is getting hotter and hotter.",
"It is heated from below rather than from above.",
"The ice sheet is producing a new kind of energy.",
"It is melting from b... | If you want to cook something quickly, you heat it from both sides. That's what's happening to the West Antarctic ice sheet . A new study reveals that the area under the ice sheet is far hotter than previously thought, fed by an unexpected flow of geothermal energy . While the CO2we send out heats the atmosphere above the continent, earth is melting us ice from below.
If you were to drill deep at some place on the continents, you would find that the temperature increases about 25degC for every kilometer deep into the hole on average. Scientists call this the geothermal gradient . Until recently, no one had drilled deeply enough through the West Antarctic ice to determine the geothermal gradient underground. For the new study, researchers drilled all the way through the ice and into the mud. They found that the geothermal gradient was about 200degC, which is several times the global average on continents. Few predicted this result, although it had been showed that the earth below the West Antarctic ice is unusually hot.
Even with the new discovery, though, we still don't know exactly where the heat is coming from. One interesting possibility is volcanoes, which are under the ice. As recently as 2013, scientists were still discovering volcanoes under the ice in the area, and there may be many more.
Some people say that these volcanoes, rather than manmade climate change, are responsible for melting the area's ice. While it's true that heat coming from within the earth, including heat related to volcanoes, makes the melting faster, it is just one contributor to the loss of the West Antarctic ice sheet---not the main cause. Today's study could help us understand how the whole system, including global warming, is melting the ice. | high12307.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "have the legal right to the land they live on"
},
"options": [
"only live on a reservation designated for them",
"prefer straw-roofed buildings to wooden ones",
"keep contact with the outside world through airplanes",
"... | Deep in the Amazon forest, thousands of people still live in
from the rest of the world.
In a recent press release, the Brazilian government confirmed the existence of another isolated tribe of about 200 people living in the Vale do Javari reservation. The 200 people living in the Vale do Javari reservation. The reservation, located near the Peruvian border, is about the size of Portugal. At least another 14 isolated tribes, with a total population of about 2000, call the area home.
The newly observed group lives on four large straw-roofed buildings and grows corn, peanut and other crops.
Brazil's National Indian Foundation (BNTF) first noticed the reservation in the forest using satellite maps, but it wasn't until April that an airplane expedition was able to confirm the tribe's existence. "The work of finding and protecting isolated groups is part of Brazilian public policy," said the BNIF officer for Vale do Javari, Fabricio Amorim. "To confirm something like this takes years of hard work."
BNIF estimates there are 68 isolated tribes living in the Amazon. The organization uses airplanes to avoid disturbing the tribes through personal contact, but that doesn't mean others are so respectful of their right to privacy.
Illegal fishing, woodcutting and hunting bring people into the protected area. Oil exploration on the Peruvian side of the border is another threat. All kinds of criminals also invade the lands of the local groups, said Amorim. The outsiders can damage the land and influence the cultures of indigenous peoples. They can also bring diseases which can wipe out the whole population that still lack even basic antibiotics .
Brazil's indigenous peoples won the legal right to their traditional lands in Brazil's 1988 Constitution, which stated that all indigenous lands shall be divided and turned over to tribes within five years. Indigenous groups now control 11 percent of Brazil's territory, including 22 percent of the Amazon.
Allowing indigenous groups the right homelands is not just a matter of human rights. The rest of the world can benefit from their knowledge. Mark Plotkin has spent years living with the people of the Amazon and learning from their traditional healers. In his lecture, he pointed out that many useful materials and knowledge, including numerous drugs, can be gained from listening to the indigenous groups of the Amazon. Besides this, they are also more effective at protecting the land, and less expensive, than hired rangers . | high15468.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Proper diets can help build your muscle"
},
"options": [
"Proper diets can help build your muscle",
"The diet is not as important as exercise",
"Diet plans are very important",
"Paying attention to your diet"
],
... | When looking for diet plans to gain muscle there are some great tips that can help you to ensure that you are eating to help you build the muscle that you want. Your diet is just as important as exercise when you attach importance to your diet, it can help you to reach your goal much faster.
You will find that you will eat lean meat almost daily. If you eat meat each day this can help you to keep your figure. The trick with beef is to find lean cuts and this is something that can provide you with protein. Fish and turkey will also be included in the diet. Chicken has some rules and you should always eat skinless and avoid frying.
Fiber is something that is not talked much about when looking for a muscle building diet, but this is basis part of the muscle building diet. Fiber has many benefits and will aid in digestion and help you to feel full. Oatmeal is a great source of fiber, but you should avoid the premade oatmeal. Fruit and vegetables contain a lot of fiber and this can also aid in weight loss if this is a problem you are working on.
If you want to complete your workout more effectively, you need to make sure that you are drinking adequate amount of water each day. Your body is made up of water and you need to replenish this water source each day in order to be in the best shape. If you are completing a very intense workout, you will need to make sure that you are drinking even more water to stay hydrated .
When protein is a great way for busy individuals to get the protein they need on the go. You will use soy and tofu for sources of protein if you do not eat meat and this can be a wonderful alternative.
There are diet plans to gain muscle for every category. You can make minor adjustments to your diet that can have some great benefits. | high14762.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Ridiculous."
},
"options": [
"Controversial.",
"Ridiculous.",
"Boring.",
"Puzzling."
],
"question": "What did the author's classmates think about his report?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | Peanuts to This
Proudly reading my words,I glanced around the room,only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes.Confused,I glanced toward my stonefaced teacher.Having no choice,I slowly raised the report I had slaved over,hoping to hide myself."What could be causing everyone to act this way?"
Quickly,I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task.This was the first real task I received in my new school.It seemed simple:go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington.Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country,I had never heard of that name before.As I searched the name of this fellow,it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different!One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts,while the other led some sort of army across America.I stared at the screen,wondering which one my teacher meant.I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice:flip a coin.Heads--the commander,and tails--the peanut guy.Ah!Tails,my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter,George Washington Carver.
Weeks later,standing before this unfriendly mass,I was totally lost.Oh well,I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, _ to find out what I had done wrong.As a classmate began his report,it all became clear,"My report is on George Washington,the man who started the American Revolution."The whole world became quiet!How could I know that she meant that George Washington?
Obviously,my grade was awful.Heartbroken but fearless,I decided to turn this around.I talked to Miss Lancelot,but she insisted:No redos;no new grade.I felt that the punishment was not justified,and I believed I deserved a second chance.Consequently,I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year.Ten months later,that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster's office with my grandfather,now having an entirely different conversation.I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade.Justice is sweet! (2012*,B) | high6225.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Tourists visiting Mali are few."
},
"options": [
"People don't like taking a taxi.",
"Tourists visiting Mali are few.",
"Mali is very unsafe for them.",
"Public transport is enough."
],
"question": "Why do taxi ... | I never knew how amazing it would feel to help a family 4,560 miles away from my home. I never knew how great an effect I could have on that single family.
From the moment I walked into French class, I knew almost instantly that I belonged there. My teacher, Madame Weiser, is a kind and caring woman, and is the person who started the interest within me to help a family abroad, no matter how many miles apart.
Back in 2011, my teacher traveled as a tourist to Maxi, a country settled in West Africa with a large French-speaking population. She didn't expect to adopt an entire family, but fate had other plans. Madame met a nice man named Monsieur Diarra, a driver who had shown her the way through the dry lands of Mali.
Mali is now a war-torn country and unsafe for tourists to visit, leaving little work for taxi drivers. Madame Weiser realized how Monsieur Driarra's family struggled on a daily basis, for he had a wife and four children to support as well as their grandmother, so she made a final decision to send the family as much money as she could raise every month.
Now, three years later, Madame Weiser has still kept up her fund, collecting money from family and friends as well as students to support _ . It has become more than just my teacher donating to her adopted family abroad.
As president of French Club at my high school and a French Honor Society member, I decided that our club should work to raise money for the family in need. By washing cars, we raised over $1,000.
From my experience, I've learned that making an effort is worth more than anything. Its effect is priceless! | high12313.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "by cheating him"
},
"options": [
"to buy a chicken for himself",
"and kept the money for future use",
"by cheating him",
"and said he would return the money soon"
],
"question": "The captain got the sailors' wag... | There was once a captain who loved money so much that he cheated his sailors at the end of every voyage and took their wages.
On the last day of one voyage, the ship was in a small port. It was winter time, and the sea was very cold, so the captain said to his sailors, "If one of you stays in the water during the whole night, I will give him my ship. But if he comes out before the sun appears, I shall get his wages."
The sailors had heard about the captain's cheating, so they didn't trust him. But then one of them, who thought that he was cleverer than the captain, said that he would do it. He got into the water, and, though it was very cold, he stayed in it. When it was nearly morning, some fishermen lit a fire on the shore about half a mile away.
"You are cheating," the captain said to the sailor. "The fire's warming you."
"But it's half a mile away!" said the sailor.
"A fire's fire," answered the captain. "I have won."
The sailor came out of the water, and said, "Perhaps you think that you are clever because you have won my wages, but you can't cook a chicken."
"I can," answered the captain.
"If you cook this chicken," said the sailor, "I shall work for you without wages for seven years, but if you can't, you will give me your ship."
The captain agreed, took the chicken and said, "Where's the fire?"
"There it is," answered the sailor. "On the shore."
"But it's half a mile away," said the captain angrily.
"A fire's fire,' you said," answered the sailor. "If it is enough to warm me in the water, it is enough to cook your chicken." | high8208.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she was surprised at seeing the cat there"
},
"options": [
"she admitted the eat belonged to that author",
"the author had stolen the lovely eat PJ",
"she was surprised at seeing the cat there",
"she was very angry with... | They say that cats have nine lives but our lazy old cat,PJ,had concurrent lives and identities. He became well-known for sleeping around the neighbourhood and used to nap in the spare bedroom of elderly couple who lived three doors up from us.While I wasn't always aware of all his liaisons, it didn't matter as long as he always came home at mealtimes.
One day we noticed he had gained weight. We guessed he was enjoying snacks at the local takeaway shop bins and so we began to reduce the amount of his food. He didn't seem to notice.
Some months later. we invited some new neighbours in for drinks. Not long into the evening, our new neighbor saw PJ sitting proudly on the window ledge. "You've got my cat!" She exclaimed, laughing.
We let her down gently, and learnt that at their house, PJ was known as Tiger. Thanks to them, he'd been receiving the royal treatment, including removing small insects from his body by spraying medicine. PJ continued living with us until a new cat and a new dog finally tested his patience. _ walked out and was missing for ten days before my husband spotted him near his work. He brought our wandering cat home, but it was clear that PJ wasn't happy. After shouting at him angrily, I let him out and he never returned.
A few months later, our new neighbour told us she'd seen PJ. It seems that an elderly neighbour had welcomed him into her home, and since taking up residence he'd doubled in size and been given his own sitting - room chair to lie. The two had become very fond of each other, ever since he'd followed her home. What a smart cat. | high4432.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He suffers a muscles' disease."
},
"options": [
"He is blind.",
"He isn't smart enough.",
"He suffers a muscles' disease.",
"He can't speak and read."
],
"question": "What is Matt's problem?",
"question_type... | Before I spoke to his school, Matt was waiting for me. He sat in his wheelchair barely able to move. As soon as he saw me he started smiling. He could not talk but I pretended the sharks were eating his cereal and his laugh melted the hearts of everyone walking by.
One of the teachers told me that he was actually very smart, he just could not control his muscles due to a childhood disease. He was happy and very popular at his school-his'parents' love and encouragement made all the difference. On the contrary--at a book signing session, I met a girl by the name of Anne. She walked up with her mom with a bright smile. Anne asked about my book with a slur in her speech indicating a slight head-injury. I told her about it and she smiled the whole time and asked me to sign one for her. I did.
Five minutes later, I heard a voice from Anne's father, "you know you will not understand the book. You can't read well enough. You aren't smart enough." He said it so loudly that people were staring in their direction. She was ly crushed and her bright smile was now replaced with a look of total despair. He pried the book from her and brought it back to me and asked me to take it back. I asked him if he would allow me to purchase the book for Anne. He said no with a heartless response. I thought back to Matt. He could not speak, walk, run or play but was actually very happy and even doing well in school because of the love and encouragement of his parents. Anne on the other hand had a slight learning problem and may never know happiness of success because of a stern father.
What kind of parent are you? The truth is that whatever you are telling your kids-makes the difference between their success or failure in life. | high19246.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "At his home."
},
"options": [
"In his truck.",
"At a restaurant.",
"At his home.",
"In a hotel."
],
"question": "Where do you think the writer was having dinner?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
... | Two weeks ago while my daughter and I were eating dinner I saw a police officer walking past my backyard with a worried looking woman following.
I went out, opened my door and asked if everything was okay. The woman was the grandmother of an eight-year-old boy who had gone missing an hour before. She was so anxious that she looked pale. With fear she trembled all the time.
They came to ask us about it. I said we hadn't seen the boy, but we would help to look for him. I asked my two-year-old daughter if she understood why we had to go looking for this boy and couldn't finish dinner right then. She replied, "Be kind people, Daddy." _ !
We hopped into our truck and went searching all over the town for about an hour and a half. Along the way, as we asked various strangers on the street if they had seen this little boy. A group of kids said they would help too. They hopped on their bikes and joined the search without any hesitation. I was surprised and very impressed. What a moving scene!
The little boy was found safe and sound a few miles away in forest. He had just decided to go on a little adventure on his own as his story said. Finding him, his grandmother was moved to tear.
I was just so happy to see so many people joined the search for a complete stranger. At least two dozen people from the neighborhood went looking for this boy just because being"kind people"was the right thing to do. | high21901.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Sunshine on a Rainy Day"
},
"options": [
"Sunshine on a Rainy Day",
"Discouraged by Nothing",
"Giving Help to a Friend",
"Experience a Cheerless Day"
],
"question": "Which of the following is the best title for ... | Have you ever had a day when everything seemed to go wrong, and nothing seemed to go right? Not too long ago I was having one of those days. I was discouraged, weary, and plain sad. My focus was on me. After all, no one else was experiencing the same trials I was.
I expressed my upset state to my mother, hoping for some pity. Instead, she said, "I heard Jamie was having a difficult day too. Why don't you make her some cookies and take them to her this afternoon?"
I didn't really want to, but decided that I didn't want to go back to my other problems just yet. I made the cookies and arranged them on a little plate. Then I made a card with a sunflower on it and wrote a small note of empathy.
That afternoon I dropped by my friend's house. I went to the door and rang the bell. Soon, Jamie came to the door and looked at me in surprise for the unexpected visit. Before she could say anything I rushed, " I heard you were having a hard day and decided to bring you something. I hope your day goes better." The look that came over Jamie's face was one that I could never put into words. It was as if a darkened sky was suddenly lit with the golden rays of the sun; it was as if in that small act, her day was brightened.
I got back into the car and for some amazing reason; I felt a lot better myself. That day I experienced the truth that James Barri attempted to describe, " Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves." | high2043.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "body weight and cancer"
},
"options": [
"diet and cancer",
"body weight and cancer",
"sex and cancer",
"smoking and cancer"
],
"question": "The passage is mainly concerned with the relationship between _ .",
... | In 2013, a report from The Nero England Journal of Medicine showed that increased body weight is related to the death rate for all cancers. This is based on a study involving about 900,000 people, spanning many years.
The study, started in 1992 by the American Cancer Society, included men and women from all 50 states. The youngest participants were 30 years old, and the '8verage age was 57. By December 2008, 24% of the participants had died, just a quarter of them from cancers. In analyzing the results, researchers attempted to take account of such potential factors as smoking drinking alcohol, taking aspirin and a wide variety of other factors that might otherwise affect the results.
The results are clear the more you weigh, the greater your risk of dying of cancer will be (up to 52% higher for men and 62% for women). In men as well as women, the only cancers that did not have a strong connection with weight were lung cancer and-brain cancer. For women, the strongest correlation with weight was uterine cancer ,which is 6.5 times higher for women with a BMI(Body Mass Index)of 40 or more. For men, it was liver cancer, which is 4.5 times higher in most obese men.
Smokers tend to be more successful in keeping weight off than non-smokers ,slightly reducing
the risk ,But many of them don't have good lungs .Thus ,in another way ,they also face risks.
As for why extra weight leads to excess cancer death rate ,there's no clear agreement .But
the decrease in vitamin D in obese people seems a likely factor .Vitamin D is known to have a
role in preventing cancer .Also, there is a simple fact that obesity makes the management of
cancer more difficult .Although for now there is no simple answer to why obesity increases a
person's cancer risk ,all we know for certain is that the risk is real. | high18158.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "are used to living in the day light"
},
"options": [
"prefer to live in the darkness",
"are used to living in the day light",
"were curious about the midnight world",
"had to stay at home with the light of the moon"
... | If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars,we would go in darkness happily,the midnight world as visible to us as it is to the vast number of nocturnal species on this planet. Instead,we are diurnal creatures, with eyes adapted to living in the sun's light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don't think of ourselves as diurnal beings. Yet it's the only way to explain what we've done to the night: We've engineered it to receive us by filling _ with light.
The benefits of this kind of engineering come with consequences called light pollution whose effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is largely the result of bad lighting design,which allows artificial light to shine outward and upward into the sky. III-designed lighting washes out the darkness of night and completely changes the light levels and light rhythms -- to which many forms of life, including, ourselves, have adapted. Wherever human light spills into the natural world, some aspect or life is affected .
In most cities the sky looks as though it has been emptied of stars, leaving behind a vacant haze that mirrors our fear of the dark. We've grown so used to this orange haze that the original glory of an unlit nigh, - dark enough for the planet Venus to throw shadow on Earth, is wholly beyond our experience, beyond memory almost.
We've lit up the night as if it were an unoccupied country, when nothing could be further form the truth. Among mammals alone, the number of nocturnal species is astonishing, Light is a powerful biological force, and on many species it acts as a magnet . The effect is so powerful that scientists speak of songbirds and seabirds being "captured" by searchlights on land or by the light from gas flares on marine oil platforms. Migrating at night, birds tend to collide with brightly lit tall buildings.
Frogs living near brightly lit highways suffer nocturnal light levels that are as much as a million times righter than normal, throwing nearly every aspect of their behavior out of joint including most other creatures ,we do need darkness .Darkness is as essential to our biological welfare, to our internal clockwork, as light itself.
Living in a glare of our making,we have cut ourselves off from our evolutionary and cultural heritage--the light of the stars and the rhythms of day and night .In a very real sense light pollution causes us to lose sight of our true place in the universe, to forget the scale of our being, which is best measured against the dimensions of a deep night with the Milky Way--the edge of our galaxy arching overhead. | high10262.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "slow movement"
},
"options": [
"industrial development",
"slow movement",
"global economy",
"city growth"
],
"question": "The church clock that is a half hour slow severs as a symbol of _ .",
"question_ty... | Just outside the northern Italian town of Bra, there rises a church tower with a clock that is a half hour slow. Though not far from the industrial city of Turin, Bra smells of roses, and leisure is the law. It is both the home of an international movement that promotes slow food and one of Italian cities that have joined the slow cities. In Bra, population 27,866, the town fathers have declared that all small food shops be closed every Thursday and Sunday. They forbid cars in the town square. All fruits and vegetables served in local schools must be organic . And as the movement goes well, the slow concept gradually spreads across Europe.
The argument for a Slow Europe is not only that it is good, but also that it can work. The Slow City Movement, which started in 1999, has improved local economies by promoting local goods and tourism. Young Italians are moving from larger cities to Bra, where unemployment is only 5 percent, about half the nationwide rate. Slow food and wine festivals draw thousands of tourists every year. Shops are doing well, many with sales rising at a rate of 15% per year. "This is our answer to the world." says Paolo Samrnini, the founder of Slow Cities.
France is in favor of slow economics. Most outsiders have long been doubtful of the French model: short hours and long vacations. Yet the French are more productive than those in the United States and Britain, and have been for years.
The mystery of French productivity has risen an Europewide debate about the advantages of working more slowly. | high4354.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "introduce the topic"
},
"options": [
"define a concept",
"introduce the topic",
"bring about an argument",
"define moral dilemmas"
],
"question": "The example of bin Laden is raised in order to .",
"quest... | The announcement of Osama bin Laden's killing by U.S. Navy SEALs touched off a series of emotional reactions around the world, from joy to grief. For most Americans, it prompted a time of rejoicing, a magnificent sense of closure, and a feeling that justice had been done. But for those who were followers of bin Laden, there was anger, heightened feelings of revenge , and a deep sense of loss.
How do we make meaning from such a moment in history? And how do we help children understand the deep values that unite us as a nation? This is indeed a teachable moment for families and for classrooms around the country.
Reactions to murder can be very confusing to children because they are not able to morally reason like adults. Instead of understanding his killing as an act of justice, children may interpret it as an act of revenge. They can internalize joyful reactions to mean"When someone harms me or my family, it is okay to hurt them back."Talking with children about this event is an important lesson in moral development.
Adults can help children understand justice and revenge by talking about the values behind these two concepts. There are sticky issues here -- and sometimes there are no concrete answers! Getting kids to reflect on and discuss moral dilemmas is important to development.
Justice is understood differently by different cultures, depending upon their history. At the core of justice are certain shared values about moral rightness, fairness, and ethics that ifbreachedpunishment will follow. Justice is an integral part of the American legal system, a foundation of how our culture thinks about crime and punishment. Justice is about how our actions have consequences.
John Stuart Mill, a British philosopher, suggested that justice evolved from two natural human tendencies: revenge and empathy. Humans have natural empathy for people who are hurt. Indeed, the human loss from 9*11 was overwhelming to everyone, not just those who lost loved ones. Through our ability to put ourselves into another person's place, we feel a natural desire to revenge on those who hurt us. Thus, Mill believed the laws of justice evolved from the difference between empathy and revenge.
What is the difference between justice and revenge? Justice is undertaken and supported by legitimate judicial systems founded on certain ethics and morals. It is meant to be restorative. On the other hand, revenge is often done to make others suffer the same or greater pain than that which was originally inflicted. It can be argued that the type of killing done by al-Qaeda is steeped in revenge because it is designed to inflict the greatest harm on innocent people.
Helping children understand the meaning of justice and its underlying values is important. It develops a child's ability to develop skills in moral reasoning. And it helps them distinguish between concepts such as justice and revenge. When they are faced with their own moral dilemmas, they will be able to respond.
An event like bin Laden's death and the intense emotions surrounding the event of 9*11 are different for each American household. Talk to your children about your feelings. Ask them about theirs. Perhaps they are too young to remember the day when the World Trade Center was attacked and the immense grief you felt. Tell them about that day. Talk about justice -- and the consequences of our actions. Share your own moral dilemmas and how you worked through them.
Current events present an opportunity to talk about American values. It is also an occasion to talk about family values. How do your kids experience the consequences of their actions when they are dishonest, selfish, or treat others with disrespect. Families should initiate conversations about values and moral dilemmas often in a child's life.
Families who create open environments for dialogue with children around values and meaning in life nurture kids who grow up to reason for themselves. Through respectful listening and conversations about moral dilemmas, you can help your child develop into a caring, sympathetic, engaged adult. | high19520.txt |
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"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "In a park in the mountains"
},
"options": [
"In a park in the mountains",
"In a large city",
"In a special kind of zoo",
"In three different countries"
],
"question": "These trips are",
"question_type": "fac... | Trip 1 Black bear Count
There have been fires in this area in the last few years and the Office of the National Park is not sure how many black bears are still living. Some bears have been seen since the fires, and the Office has asked for young people to help count them. The entire trip will last three hours. Bookings necessary.
Cost: Free When: May 8
Trip 2 Garland Valley
Bring your drink and lunch for this walk in a beautiful area of the Blue Mountains. Garland Valley is close to the town of Garland but is part of the National Park. Many wild animals live in this area, including many rare birds. This is a great walk for bird-lovers. The trip lasts four hours. Bookings necessary.
Cost: $15 When: May 8, May 15
Trip 3 Flashlight Adventure
Put on your warm clothes, bring a flashlight and a pair of glasses, and come for a night walk along the Dungog Valley, part of the National Park. A guide will lead the tour. Many of the animals you will see on this trip. The guide will tell you about the lives of the animals you see. Numbers are strictly limited on night trips, so be sure to book early. This walk lasts two and a half hours.
Cost: $12 When: May 8, May 15, May22
Equipment to be needed:
Please bring enough water and food for all walks.
Wear good walking shoes---no high heels.
Wear a hat for day walks.
Dress warmly for night walks.
Children must be with an adult.
Make sure your flashlight works well and bring extra batteries for night walks.
Follow all instructions from guides during the walks. The mountains are a dangerous place.
Bookings:
Bookings for the above trips can be trade by telephone (893 m 4847) or on the Internet at www. Blue mountain tour. com | high16613.txt |
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