questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Homeless and miserable"
},
"options": [
"Homeless and dangerous",
"Homeless and childish",
"Homeless and miserable",
"Homeless and sleepless"
],
"question": "What kind of life does George Brown lead?",
"ques... | Nobody Benefits
NEW YORK--America has been experiencing the longest economic increase in its history.Incomes have risen, unemployment has fallen, and cities such as New York are bursting with new office buildings.
But just a short walk from Manhattan's skyscrapers, George Brown sits on the side-walk, cooking a lunch of rice and bits of fish over a can of cooking fuel.
Brown is homeless -- one of the 2.3 million people in the US who end up on the street.
During the day, Brown collects aluminium cans and sells them for five cents a piece.At night, he sleeps on the street.
"I have been on the street about eight or nine years, something like that," said the 62-year-old former construction worker.
Brown admits he's had problems with alcohol and has smoked cocaine.But he said he still wants a more stable housing arrangement.He could afford it just with the money he earns by collecting cans and small pieces of metal, if only truly low-income housing were available.
However, he sees no hope of finding affordable housing in New York.
With the strong economy and unemployment down, beautiful housing is being built to meet demand.
A US report shows rents in New York city rose more than 27 percent between 1984 and 1999, from US $549 to US $700 a month.
One of the side effects of the strong economy is that rents have been going up.
The majority of people who experience homelessness really just need some affordable housing help.
But few housing companies have been built for the poor.Many small apartments in the city now rent for US $1,500 a month or more.
Brown, the homeless New Yorker, said he has a daughter who lives in the city but he rarely sees her.She is angry about his drinking and won't allow it in her house.
Smiling, he said he also has seven grandchildren whom he'd like to see more often.
"All I've got to do is clean up my act," he said. | high4584.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Human beings are more and more concerned with animals nowadays."
},
"options": [
"The story of the Anleys and their dog was too unique to be newsworthy.",
"Most people surveyed choose to save their own dog rather than a human.",
... | Recently, an almost literal case of lifeboat ethics occurred. On Aug. 4, Graham and Sheryl Anley, while boating off the coast of South Africa, hit a rock. As the boat threatened to sink the husband got off, but his wife was trapped in the boat. Instead of freeing his wife and getting her to shore, Graham grabbed Rosie, their pet dog. With Rosie safe and sound, Graham returned for Sheryl. All are doing fine.
It's a great story, but it doesn't strike me as especially newsworthy. News is supposed to be about something fairly unique, and recent research suggests that, in the right circumstances, lots of people also would have grabbed their Rosie first.
We have strange relationships with our pets. We lavish our pets with adoration and better health care than billions of people receive. We speak to pets with the same high-pitched voices that we use for babies. As an extreme example of our feelings about pets, the Nazis had strict laws that guaranteed the humane treatment of the pets of Jews being shipped to death camps.
A recent paper by George Regents University demonstrates this human involvement with pets to an astonishing extent. Participants in the study were told a situation in which a bus is out of control, bearing down on a dog and a human. Which do you save? With responses from more than 500 people, the answer was that it depended: What kind of human and what kind of dog?
Everyone would save a brother, grandparent or close friend rather than a strange dog. But when people considered their own dog versus people less connected with them--a distant cousin or a hometown stranger--votes in favor of saving the dog came rolling in. And an astonishing 40% of respondents, including 46% of women, voted to save their dog over a foreign tourist.
What does a finding like this mean? First, that your odds aren't so good if you find yourself in another country with a bus bearing down on you and a cute dog. But it also points to something deeper: our unprecedented attitude toward animals, which got its start with the birth of humane societies in the 19th century.
We prison people who abuse animals, put ourselves in harm's way in boats between whales and whalers and show sympathy to Bambi and his mother. We can extend empathy to an animal and feel its pain like no other species. But let's not be too proud of ourselves. As this study and too much of our history show, we're pretty selective about how we extend our humaneness to other human beings. | high5842.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Chinese born in America"
},
"options": [
"three English letters",
"a kind of banana",
"Chinese born in America",
"Americans born in China"
],
"question": "\"ABC\" in this passage means\" _ \".",
"question_... | You may know the English letters A, B and C.But do you know there are people called ABC? You may 1ike eating bananas.But do you know there is such a thing, a "banana person"? How strange! Are these people from "another earth"? No, they are just Chinese people like you and me.
ABC means American-born Chinese.An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States.Sometimes,people call an ABC a "banana person".A banana is yellow outside but white inside--their life and minds inside are Westerners, but they look like Chinese outside.
Do you know why? Usually, ABCs know little about China or Chinese language.Some of them don't speak Chinese.Also, they are not interested in Chinese politics .
But if ABCs cannot speak Chinese.can we still call them Chinese people? Yes,of course.They are Chinese.They are overseas Chinese.These people may be citizens of another country like the US, Canada or Singapore.But they have Chinese blood.Their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents were from China.They all have black eyes and black hair.But they are not Chinese citizens.For example.we all know the famous scientist C.N.Yang .He got the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1957.Chinese people love him.But he is an American citizen | high18950.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "strong-minded and courageous"
},
"options": [
"honest and curious",
"patient and confident",
"cautious and creative",
"strong-minded and courageous"
],
"question": "Marie Colvin's story in the passage indicates ... | After spending a year in Brazil on a student exchange program, her mother recalled, Marie
Colvin returned home to find that her classmates had narrowed down their college choices.
"Everyone else was already admitted to college," her mother, Rosemarie Colvin, said from the
family home. "So she took our car and drove up to Yale and said, ` _ "'
Impressed-she was a National Merit finalist who had picked up Portuguese in Brazil-Yale did, admitting her to the class of 1978, where she started writing for The Yale Daily News "and decided to be a journalist," her mother said.
On Wednesday, Marie Colvin, 56, an experienced journalist for The Sunday Times of London, was killed as Syrian forces attacked the city of Homs. She was working in a temporary media center that was destroyed in the attack.
"She was supposed to leave Syria on Wednesday", Ms. Colvin said. "Her editor told me he called her yesterday and said it was getting too dangerous and they wanted to take her out. She said she was doing a story and she wanted to finish it."
Ms. Colvin said it was pointless to try to prevent her daughter from going to conflict zones. "If you knew my daughter," she said; "it would have been such a waste of words. She was determined, she was enthusiastic about what she did, it was her life. There was no saying `Don't do this.'This is who she was, ly who she was and what she believed in: cover the story, not just have pictures of it, but bring it to life in the deepest way you could." So it was not a surprise when she took an interest in journalism, her mother said. | high21109.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Dairy Products Build Slimmer Bodies in Girls"
},
"options": [
"Dairy Products Build Slimmer Bodies in Girls",
"Different Ways Help Girls Keep Weight Balance",
"Dairy Products Gain Popularity with Girls",
"Study Suggests... | Girls who get enough dairy products in their diets may weigh less than other teens with the same age.
Girls who consumed more dairy products were found to have slimmer middles than girls of the same age and race who ate the same number of calories and got the same amount of exercise. Girls who drank more soda, but also ate the same total calories, tended to be heavier.
The newly reported study included 323 white and Asian girls between the ages of 9 and 14.
A number of studies, mostly in adults, have shown that calcium may be key in maintaining normal body weight and fat stores. One reason may be the nutrient's effects on hormones that help store calories as fat. In the new study, reported in the Journal of Nutrition, calcium from dairy sources, but not non-dairy foods, was related to lower weight and less abdominal fat--the link was particularly strong among girls of Asian decent , who made up 47 percent of the study group. This suggests that "the dairy ingredient of the calcium intake is the key factor," write the study authors, led by Dr. Rachel Novotny of the University of Hawaii in prefix = st1 /Honolulu. It's possible, they explain, that other nutrients in milk play an important role in weight balance.
For reasons that are unclear, the effect on body fat was stronger for Asian girls than for white girls, according to Novotny and her colleagues. They _ that ethnic differences in which dairy products are usually consumed, or in eating habits-having small amounts of dairy throughout the day, for instance, rather than a single large serving--may help explain the finding.
According to the researchers, soda may increase pounds by adding calories to kid's diets, or by replacing milk. Milk, they note, has a range of nutrients, including protein and fat, which means it is metabolized ly slowly. Soda contains only sugar, which is quickly metabolized, easily causing hunger. | high19496.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "steam engine"
},
"options": [
"train",
"engine",
"steam engine",
"bus"
],
"question": "Watt made the world's first _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2... | The horsepower was first used two hundred years ago. James Watt had made the world's first widely used steam engine. He had no way of telling people exactly how powerful it was, for at that time there were no units for measuring power.
Watt decided to find out how much work one strong horse could do in one minute. He called that init one horsepower. With this unit he could measure the work his steam engine could do.
He discovered that a horse could lift a 3,300-pound weight 10 feet into the air in one minute. His engine could lift a 3,300 pound weight 100 feet in one minute.
Because his engine did ten times as much work as the horse, Watt called it a ten-horsepower engine. | high20217.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "keep a leading position in liberal education"
},
"options": [
"maintain people's interest in liberal education",
"define the government's role in education",
"keep a leading position in liberal education",
"safeguard in... | "The Heart of the Matter," the newly-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), deserves praise for attaching the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in America. Regrettably, however, the report's failure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good.
In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identify actions that could be taken by federal states and local governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors and others to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education. In response, the AAAS formed the Committee on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Among the Committee's 51 members are top-university presidents, scholars, lawyers, judges, and business executives, as well as distinguished figures from diplomacy, filmmaking, music and journalism.
The goals identified in the report are generally admirable. Because the government supports full literacy of citizens, the report stresses the study of history and government, particularly American history and American government; and encourages the use of new digital technologies. To encourage innovation and competition, the report calls for increased investment in research, the introduction of a series of curricula that improve students' ability to solve problems and communicate effectively in the 21st century, increased funding for teachers and the encouragement of scholars to bring their learning into practice on the great challenges of the day. The report also advocates greater study of foreign languages, international affairs and the expansion of study abroad programs.
Unfortunately, despite 2 years in the making, "The Heart of the Matter" never gets to the heart of the matter: the illiberal nature of liberal education at our leading colleges and universities. The committee ignores that for several decades America's colleges and universities have produced graduates who don't know the content and character of liberal education and are thus deprived of its benefits. Sadly, the spirit of inquiry once at home on campus has been replaced by the use of the humanities and social sciences as vehicles for publicizing "progressive".
Today, professors routinely treat the progressive interpretation of history and progressive public policy as the proper subject of study while portraying conservative or classical liberal ideas--such as free markets and self-reliance--as falling outside the boundaries of routine, and sometimes legal intellectual investigation.
The AAAS displays great enthusiasm for liberal education. Yet its report may well hold back reform by obscuring the depth and breadth of the challenge that Congress asked it to clarify. | high18788.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "best meets one's own personal needs and interests"
},
"options": [
"has the best location",
"best meets one's own personal needs and interests",
"best meets one's assessment of an institution's prestige",
"offers good l... | For most Chinese university students, the prefix = st1 /USis a favorite destination for further education. But apart from obstacles such as the GRE and TOEFL exams, choosing a good graduate school is no easy task.
Admission is very competitive for international students, so it is important to apply to a number of institutions to have a reasonable chance of acceptance.
Since the application to most universities requires a certain fee, Chinese students usually choose seven to 17 universities according to their own financial circumstances.
Wang Yuwei, a Zhejiang University graduate, sent applications to 15 USuniversities.
When the 24-year-old began looking for a USgraduate school in her senior year, she took time to compare the various schools and find the ones most suiting her needs. Now, studying at theUniversityofWashington, she knows that her hard work paid off.
"To broaden your chances, at least one third of the applications should be to less selective schools," said Wang. "Applicants shouldn't limit their choices to the most famous institutions."
Furthermore, one shouldn't rely on too much on college rankings such as the Gorman Report or US News & World Report's annual league tables.
The right school is the one that best meets your own personal needs and interests, rather than someone else's assessment of an institution's prestige .
"Usually choices are based on one's personal interests and academic background, but it is important to make sure that your chosen subject is satisfied," said Wang. | high24071.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It can offer detailed information."
},
"options": [
"It may get lost easily in the air.",
"It can't work in the windy days.",
"It can offer detailed information.",
"It is useless when the poacher stays still."
],
... | Since 2008, hunters have illegally killed more than 3000 rhinos in South Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that rhinos may die out by 2026. People who hunt and kill illegally are called poachers. The most effective way to watch for and prevent illegal hunting is from the air. However, piloted flights are too costly. Fortunately, some Spanish college students have invented a drone that can observe more places than a plane.
Arnau Garcia is an aeronautical engineering student at the Polytechnic Institute of Catalonia, in Spain. He says observers from the air have trouble finding poachers when they hide under the trees. Mr. Garcia and other students have worked with the drone manufacturer HEMAV to help find the hidden poachers. They make it by using the thermal camera, which is especially sensitive to body heat. Even when the poachers keep still, it can also keep track of them.
The drone can fly in the wind up to 55 kilometers per hour. It has an autopilot system, so it memorizes the flight path. The drone also has a microphone, a video camera and a GPS system. These permit it to report accurately where a picture is taken. After each flight, the drone can bring back detailed information about where rhinos are found, the conditions of water and plants in the area, and the positions of suspected poachers.
Experts say the drone can fly as far as 70 kilometers from the base. It means that it could quickly observe large areas for poachers. However, the same search operation would take days for human observers. Thanks to the drone, many poachers have been caught and the number of rhinos is on the increase. In addition, HEMAV has received an increasing number of orders for the drone. Even South African national park officials attempt to fill the air with drones. | high13805.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "His wife's wage increase."
},
"options": [
"His being out of work.",
"His making more money.",
"His wife's wage increase.",
"His wife's encouragement."
],
"question": "What made Al Watts decide to become a stay-... | A new study by the Pew Research Center shows that the number of dads who choose to stay home and care for their children and families has quadrupled over the past 25 years. Can social and economic factors explain the change?
Make no mistake; _ . In fact, they are only 16% of all stay-at-home parents.but that number is up from 10% since 1989. When pew started analyzing data. The steady growth since then suggests that these numbers represent a growing trend.
"It's up from 1.1 million to 2 million," says Gretchen Livingston, one of the study authors. " More significantly, the number of man who say they stay at home specially to take care of their home and children is at an all-time high, more than four times the rate of fathers who gave that same answer in 1989."
As women have taken on more high-paying careers, the assumption that they'll stay home with the children has become less automatic.
"My wife and I were earning about the same income at the time just after our daughter was born. We felt that if someone was going to raise our children it would have to be one of us," says Al Watts, the president of the national At-Home Dad Network. "My wife was promoted shortly after she got back from maternity leave and that rise in pay would allow us to live on one income."
In 1989, 10% of fathers were stay-at-home parents. In 2014, 16% are. Fourteen percent of the fathers without a high school diploma stay at home, compared to 3% of those with a college degree. In 1989, more than half (56%) of dads who stayed at home cited illness or disability ass the top reason. Thirty-five percent cite that reason now. Only 5% of stay-at-home dads in 1989 said caring for family was the main reason for staying at home. Now, that number is 21%.
The rise in stay-at-home dads coincides with a change in social and economic trends regarding
women in the workforce, says Farnoosh Torabi, author of When She Makes More. "We know that before they even get married, women are out-earning and out-earning men," she says, noting that younger women are now getting more degrees and better paying jobs, on average, than men. | high13811.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "all of the above"
},
"options": [
"they are crazy about pop stars in South Korea",
"Korean people have certain qualities they respect",
"there are many similarities between China and South Korea",
"all of the above"
... | SHE dresses in saggy pants and is crazy about the pop star, Rain. Bin Xue is in love with South Korean culture. The 19-year-old from Sichuan Province feels a strong connection with the neighbouring country.
"The two nations have a long history of friendship and there are many similarities between them," she said. "But Koreans are iron-willed, and we could learn this quality from them."
Bin is not the only Chinese deeply affected by Korean culture. A recent survey shows that most Chinese teenagers think highly of their eastern neighbour.
However, Koreans do not view the Chinese in the same good light. In a recent survey, only 5.5 per cent of Korean teens thought the Chinese people friendly.
The survey among high school students in China, Japan, South Korea and the United States, was conducted in 156 high schools. More than 7,000 teenagers were questioned on success, family, their self-identity , as well as their opinions about the world at large.
Results showed that most Korean teens gave a low score to the Chinese for patriotism , responsibility and honesty. In their eyes, Chinese people are not hard-working and don't obey the rules.
"The result is surprising, but it does reflect a real information gap between teenagers in the two countries," said Lei Li, a psychology professor from the Capital Normal University.
Experts say that Chinese students' positive feelings about South Korea were a result of the booming popularity of Korean pop music. Korean movies and TV series have flooded China. And 73 per cent of the Chinese respondents said they watched Korean TV serials and cartoons.
On the other hand, Lei added, Korean teenagers don't have much access to China. The survey found that only 6.7 per cent of Korean students have ever read Chinese books or news magazines or watch Chinese TV programmes.1
Professor Lei thinks that Chinese teens should give themselves a better basis for appreciating the cultures of their neighbours. It's not enough to simply enjoy their music, TV and fashion sense. "The survey shows that Chinese teens should make friends with their foreign peers . They shouldn't judge other countries by their media alone," said Lei.
Luo Xi'er, 17, from Hunan Province, hopes Chinese people can improve their image. "In my opinion, it is the bad behaviour of Chinese tourists which has destroyed our image abroad," she said.
The girl has read several online articles in which Koreans put Chinese tourists' bad manners under the spotlight. "I would like to go to South Korea some day and show them that most Chinese are good-mannered." | high22414.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Ellen Logan at the Holiday Inn"
},
"options": [
"Ellen Logan at the Holiday Inn",
"American Holiday Inn",
"A Special Holiday Inn Hotel in Manhattan",
"How to Deal with People"
],
"question": "A good title for th... | For a small town, Manhattan, Kansas has some big surprises. And one of them is the Holiday Inn Hotel, with rooms built around a swimming pool and a friendly family atmosphere.
The Holiday Inn is where Manhattan people often go for a special party, or a night out. A lot of them choose to eat in the brightly lit restaurant near the pool. And many of them will be served by Ellen Logan, who has worked as a waitress here for more than two years .
Ellen, like most of the waitresses, is also a student. She comes from Nebraska, but she's planning one day to be a veterinary surgeon, and to care for small animals. But in order to support herself at college, she works twenty hours a week at the Holiday Inn.
Ellen soon learned what every waitress finds out. Your best friend has a good pair of shoes. She paid forty - five dollars for hers, much more than she would usually spend. She's discovered something else too. You don't have to know much about food to be a good waitress, but you do have to know a lot about people.
"A lot of business people always stay here when they come to Manhattan, " she explains. "They like you to recognize them and remember their favorite dishes. But some couples come for a night out together. They just want to be left alone. Then there are people who can't make up their minds. They look down the menu and say'What do you suggest?'So I ask them how hungry they are. If they say, 'Not very', I suggest the salad bar, with soup, salad, bread, and a fruit plate. But if they say they're very hungry, I suggest a Kansas Strip Steak, with potatoes or rice. You get salad and bread as well. It's very nice. Real good value."
Ellen may get tired feet sometimes, but at least she's learning too much about people . She'll probably make a good animal doctor, but if she find she doesn't like it after all, she can always become a psychiatrist instead." | high18944.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A type of wild vegetation."
},
"options": [
"Western migration after the Civil War.",
"The raising of cattle.",
"The climate of the westernprefix = st1 /United States.",
"A type of wild vegetation."
],
"question... | Legend has it that sometime toward the end of the Civil War (1861 - 1865) a government train carrying oxen was caught in a snowstorm and had to be abandoned. The driver returned the next spring to see what had become of his cargo. Instead of the skeletons he had expected to find, he saw his oxen, living, fat, and healthy. How had they survived?
The answer lay in a resource that unknowing Americans had trampled underfoot in their haste to cross the "Great American Desert" to reach lands that sometimes proved barren. In the eastern parts of the United States, the preferred grass for forage was a cultivated plant. It grew well with enough rain, then when cut and stored it would cure and become nourishing hay for winter feed. But in the dry grazing lands of the west, that familiar blue joint grass was often killed by drought. To raise cattle out there seemed risky or even hopeless.
Who could imagine a fairy-tale grass that required no rain and somehow made it possible for cattle to feed themselves all winter? But the surprising western wild grasses did just that. They had wonderfully convenient features that made them superior to the cultivated eastern grasses. Variously known as buffalo grass, not only were they immune to drought, but they were actually preserved by the lack of summer and autumn rains. They were not juicy like the cultivated eastern grasses, but had short, hard stems. And they did not need to be cured in a barn, but dried right where they grew on the ground. When they dried in this way, they remained naturally sweet and nourishing through the winter. Cattle left outdoors to fend for themselves thrived on this hay. And the cattle themselves helped plant the fresh grass year after year, for they trampled the natural seeds firmly into the soil to be watered by the melting snows of winter and the occasional rains of spring. The dry summer air cured them much as storing in a barn cured the cultivated grasses. | high19482.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "She mistook her sister's Christmas gift for hers."
},
"options": [
"Her mother couldn't understand her at all.",
"Her mother didn't buy her any Christmas gift.",
"She mistook her sister's Christmas gift for hers.",
"She... | Christmas Eve was tomorrow. I hoped one of the packages that held a camera had already been placed under the Christmas tree. It was the only thing I wanted. I had been _ to my parents. I love taking photos. My bedroom walls are covered with photos I had taken with my mom's old camera. I'm always trying to capture those perfect moments in which you can hear the laughter or touch the beautiful scene, but my camera has always seemed to fall short.
I knew Mom had put a few presents under the tree this morning, so I went on a hunt in my mom's room. I opened the door and found my Christmas present was lying unwrapped on the floor -- a big pink cat. I felt so disappointed.
Mom seemed to notice that, and she tried to cheer me up. "Stacy, I got your present today. I am so excited to surprise you!" "I can't wait," I said.
The next day I couldn't wait any longer. I needed to tell her.
"Mom, may I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure, dear. What do you need to talk about?" she asked.
And so it came -- how upset I was that I was getting a cat.
"Stacy, that cat is for your sister Julia!" she said with a smile.
"Then what am I getting?" I asked.
She just smiled. "You'll have to wait and see."
Next morning, I happily got into the living room and sat next to the tree. I pulled out the box with my name on it and opened the wrapping paper to find ...
My camera! "Thank you!" I said to both Dad and Mom.
Dad picked up the camera and took a picture of Julia, Mom and me. It has become one of my favorite pictures. Just on that Christmas morning, I took lots of photos with my camera -- my little sister making a face, my parents giving me a soft smile -- and all of these photos have come to mean one thing to me: love. | high2687.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Three kinds of friends in our life."
},
"options": [
"What a true friend is like.",
"Three kinds of friends in our life.",
"The role that friends play in our life.",
"Why there are different kinds of friends."
],
... | There are three different kinds of friends in our life. I classify them according to how well I know them and how well they know me.
The first type of friend is just an acquaintance . This means that you only know their names. You might not even remember what they look like if you go away for a short vacation. You don't miss them when they are elsewhere. It is also this type of friend who gives you the most amount of aggravation . Since most of the time you are placed in a position where you have to act friendly, you would not normally tell an acquaintance when he or she is doing something that makes you feel angry, such as tapping the fingers on a table or shouting loudly. I call them "pest friends".www.ks5u.com
The second kind of friend is a "guest friend". They are just social partners. You meet them at a certain location and at the end of the meeting you go your separate way and they go theirs. You don't talk too often with this sort of friend, and you don't share each other's secrets. Lastly, we have "best friends". This sort of friend is there when you need them. They know you as a person and they are there through thick and thin. Best friends are the ones that you can lean and depend on no matter what happens. If you need a listening ear, they will be the one to lend support.
Friends come in all different shapes and sizes. Every friend has an impact on our life. | high16969.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Four"
},
"options": [
"Three",
"Four",
"Five",
"Six"
],
"question": "How many goals of agriculture are mentioned in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
... | The future of agriculture must achieve several goals at the same time.
First, it now appears that we will have to double world food production in the next 40 years due to population growth, increasing meat consumption and pressure from biofuels . We will also have to reduce the environmental impacts from our farming practices, which have caused widespread damage to soils, ecosystems, waters and even the atmosphere. In fact, agriculture's impacts are as bad as climate change as an environmental concern. Besides, we will have to improve food security for the world's poor. While the Green Revolution of the 1960s made it possible to feed hundreds of millions more people than in earlier eras, the number of the under-nourished in the world has started to rise again. Finally, we will have to increase the recovering ability of agriculture from shocks. Today, our high-efficiency, globalized world has many benefits, but it is vulnerable to destruction, whether from droughts, diseases or sudden price rises. We must start building better food systems to better keep us away from future shocks.
Currently, there are two models of agriculture: local and organic agriculture vs. globalized and industrialized agriculture. Each has been strongly supported and severely criticized, but neither of these models, standing alone, can fully meet our needs.
Organic agriculture teaches us important lessons about soils, nutrition and pest management. Unfortunately, organic food provides less than 1% of the world's calories, mostly to the wealthy. It is hard to imagine organic farming developing to feed 9 billion. Globalized and industrialized agriculture has benefits of high output and low labor demands. Without it, billions of people would have starved. However, it has come with enormous environmental and social costs, which cannot be sustained.
Rather than voting for just one solution, we need a third way to solve the crisis. Let's take ideas from both sides, creating new, hybrid solutions that increase production, save resources and build a more sustainable agriculture.
There are many promising avenues to pursue. A new "third way" for agriculture is not only possible but also necessary. Our problems are huge, and they will require everyone at the table, working together toward solutions. | high20565.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he was affected by his daughter's long absence"
},
"options": [
"all kinds of passwords made him confused",
"he was thinking too much about his work",
"he was affected by his daughter's long absence",
"he was getting ol... | DEAR Daughter,
We have not seen you for a while now, so I thought we might check in. Did you fall off the edge of the Earth? Your mother worries, you know, and I am just curious. Well, I am more than curious. I feel abandoned.
Apparently you've dumped us for your career. I can understand that, because you've always had a wonderful work ethic .
Look, obviously your long absence has confused us. As we go about our daily routines, your mother and I are distracted - both by your absence and our pride in your career. The other day, I entered my work password into the microwave, then stood there cursing it for not working. And I was so off my game that I actually used that cholesterol-free mayo your mother insisted on buying in an effort to drive me from the house.
Listen, a lot has happened since you've been away. Abraham Lincoln was shot. We had two more children - a princess, now 23; a boy, now 12.
Yesterday I bought a very clean 2001 Camaro car from an older woman. Your mother is not happy about this. She says it is the kind of muscle car driven by ex-convicts when they examine your house at 2 am.
In response, I tell her it was the car of my dreams (when I was 18). So that's where your long absence has left us. Your long absence is not so bad, though we miss your roaring laughter ... the way your cheeks flush when you eat Thai food. How you always march too hard into the house, like a Scotsman stepping on snakes.
Each evening, your mother now waits by the window the way she did when you used to step off the bus in first grade, your hair full of rubber bands.
Bet that drove you crazy even then, her running out on the porch like you'd just returned from a month-long journey to the moon.
Look, parents are not easy people.
But should the urge ever hit you, feel free to stop by some time. Our house is your house. Our hearts are yours too.
And your mother is still waiting by the window.
Love, Dad | high11960.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "can't be used to pay taxes"
},
"options": [
"includes shipping fees",
"will be mailed to buyers",
"can't be used to pay taxes",
"needs to be cashed at banks"
],
"question": "The voucher mentioned in the passage ... | Money off your rented textbooks from TextbookRental.ca
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Keeping school expenses low is important. Get a better bargain on academic supplies with today's WagJag: for $10, receive $25 towards rental textbooks from TextbookRental.ca.
TextbookRental.ca helps students continue with their study while saving precious money for other purposes. The site contains books in all academic fields--arts, sciences, business, education and more. Once you find your desired textbooks, complete the easy checkout process and your course materials will be shipped to your dorm or home. Discounts on each single book vary but can save you up to 75%. After the semester finishes, mail back your books (free of marking, stains or other damage), using the included prepaid return envelope. The site's 15-day return policy lets you send unneeded books back for a refund.
Centered in Toronto, TextbookRental.ca has delivery places across the country to make sure students from Victoria to St. John's get their textbooks in a timely fashion. The site also lets students save a little money by buying their previously purchased used textbooks.
If you're not happy with your purchase, let us know why and we'll give you a full refund. Seriously, it's that simple!
TextbookRental.ca
Contact WagJag--WagJag Business Hours are Monday-Friday 9:00 am to 7:00 pm.
E-mail: info@wagjag.com Phone: 416-687-5848
Toll free :1-855-492-4524 Fax: 1-866-268-4286 | high5856.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the roses in Bulgaria"
},
"options": [
"the Bulgarian life",
"rose festivals of the world",
"the roses in Bulgaria",
"the living habits of roses"
],
"question": "The passage mainly talks about _ .",
"ques... | Bulgaria is famous for its roses and produces about 85 percent of all the rose oil in the world. Rose oil is called liquid gold and is used in making soaps, chocolates, perfumes and so on.
The first records about growing roses on Bulgarian land go back many centuries. The Rose Valley developed in the area between the cities of Kazanlak and Karlovo in central Bulgaria.
The roses seem to love the soil and weather there. The rose is the most important plant grown in Bulgaria, which could be called the country on the roses. The rose plantations in the Rose Valley are the largest in the world.
Much of the population in the Rose Valley works in the rose industry. In Bulgaria, we produce rose oil, rose water and other products. Rose oil is used in high-quality perfumes produced in many countries. The main flower grown is the Kazanlak rose, which is famous around the world.
The oil is prepared by distillation . Each flower is picked by hand, and you need 3,000 kilos to make one kilo of rose oil. That means about 30 flowers for just one tiny drop oil. So you can understand why it is so expensive and is called liquid gold.
Each year on the first weekend in June, during the harvest, there is a Festival of Rose in Kazanlak with many performances. Judges choose the Queen of Roses as part of the summer festival. After this, she honors the most skillful picker of roses in the harvest.
This festival is an old tradition and goes back more than a century. Today it also includes an International Folklore Festival and attracts many tourists. The festival ends with a concert in the evening. There are also festivals in Karlovo and other towns. Come to see and enjoy. | high22372.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "proved that clothes can't show a person's true personality"
},
"options": [
"immediately won the admiration of his daughters",
"turned out unsuited to his plan",
"proved that clothes can't show a person's true personality",
... | I bought a Paul Smith shirt three months ago. For those who don't know, Paul Smith is an English designer brand.
His shirts cost about 1,000 yuan and upwards. I paid 50 yuan for my colorful shirt from a street vendor in Beijing.
Of course my shirt was a knockoff, a cheap copy of the brand. After a few washes, little balls formed on the surface of the thin material.
Do I care? Not at all. You get what you pay for.
I have to admit I hate shopping. _ I have other priorities.
In You Are What You Wear, US writer Jennifer Baumgartner says people's clothes tell a story about their personality.
She writes: "The clothes you choose to wear provide important information about you as a person: your approximate education level, your income, social status and even your level of self-esteem ." When I started work as an undercover crime reporter, I had to shop for jeans and a hoodie in order to fit in with a rough and ready social group.
I bought the hoodie in a charity shop. My daughters were shocked. They thought I looked bad, but I knew my disguise was perfect.
Elizabeth L. Cline thinks she knows best when it comes to cheap clothes in her book Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion. She expresses sadness that clothing has been turned into a good that is thrown away after being used once or twice.
She looks down her nose at cheap fashion and longs for the good old days when department stores sold quality clothes at high prices.
I don't agree. At least people now can choose what to wear without breaking the bank. | high6387.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A modern treasure hunt."
},
"options": [
"An exciting historical event.",
"The importance of logical thinking.",
"The attraction of Masquerade.",
"A modern treasure hunt."
],
"question": "What is the subject dis... | Treasure hunts have excited people's imagination for hundreds of years both in real life and in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Kit Williams, a modern writer, had the idea of combining the real excitement of a treasure hunt with clues found in a book when he wrote a children's story, Masquerade, in 1979. The book was about a hare, and a month before it came out, Williams buried a gold hare in a park in Bedfordshire. The book contained a large number of clues to help readers find the hare, but Williams put in a lot of "red herrings", or false clues, to mislead _ .
Ken Roberts, the man who found the hare, had been looking for it for nearly two years. Although he had been searching in the wrong area most of the time, he found it by logic, not by luck. His success came from the fact that he had gained an important clue at the start. He had realized that the words: "One of Six to Eight" under the first picture in the book connected the hare in some way to Katherine of Aragon, the first of Henry VIII's six wives. Even here, however, Williams had succeeded in misleading him. Ken knew that Katherine of Aragon had died at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire in 1536 and thought that Williams had buried the hare there. He had been digging there for over a year before a new idea occurred to him. He found out that Kit Williams had spent his childhood near Ampthill, in Bedfordshire, and thought that he must have buried the hare in a place he knew well, but he still could not see the connection with Katherine of Aragon, until one day he came across two stone crosses in Ampthill Park and learnt that they had been built in her honor in 1773.
Even then his search had not come to an end. It was only after he had spent several nights digging around the cross that he decided to write to Kit Williams to find out if he was wasting his time there. Williams encouraged him to continue, and on February 24th 1982, he found the treasure. It was worth L3000 in the beginning, but the excitement it had caused since its burial made it much more valuable. | high11948.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "how people open up when emailing"
},
"options": [
"how people open up when emailing",
"how people do research studies",
"how to communicate at work",
"how to discuss and solve a problem"
],
"question": "The subj... | People tend to become more personal and hide less of themselves when using email.Researchers from Open University in Britain have found in a recent study that there are good reasons for this.
The team of researchers asked 83 pairs of students, all strangers to each other, to solve a problem.They had to discuss this question: If only five people in the world could be saved from a world disaster, who should they be? The pairs of students had to talk over the problem either face to face or by computers.Dr.Johnson said, "They told their partners four times as much about themselves when they talked over the Internet as when they talked face to face.When the computers were fitted with cameras so that students could see each other, this limited the personal side of the conversation."
Generally the information was not extremely personal.It was mainly about things such as where they went to school, or where they used to live.But some students discussed their love stories, and personal childhood experiences.
Dr.Johnson believes that emailing encourages people to focus on themselves.And when they do this, they become more open , especially if there are no cameras."If you cannot see the other person, it becomes easier to talk about yourself.This is because you are not thinking what the other person is thinking of you.So emailing has become the modern way of talking." said Dr.Johnson.However, this style of talking is not entirely new."In the 19th century people started to use the 'telegraph' to communicate.Now the same kind of thing has happened and people ended up speaking more freely."
Dr.Johnson thinks that e-mailers need to know about these effects of emailing, especially when they start work in a company."If you don't know about it, you could find yourself saying more about yourself than you wanted to ." | high21653.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Cars passing a school in towns should drive at a speed of less than 31 mph."
},
"options": [
"A passenger's not wearing the seat belt has little to do with the driver.",
"There will be a reminder for drivers to remember to drive on... | Driving in a foreign country is always different in at least some ways from driving in your own country. Here are some general points regarding driving in New Zealand.
Visitors wishing to drive in New Zealand do not require an international driver's license but are required to carry their local driver's license whenever driving.
Vehicles drive on the left-hand side of the road as they do in Britain, Australia, and Japan. Most rental vehicles will have a sticker reminding you of this important fact.
When the traffic light is red, you must stop. There is no left turn rule as in North America.
New Zealand road rules follow international standards but please note that in New Zealand vehicles turning left must give way to traffic turning right.
In general, if you are turning left (where there are give-way signs or no signs), give way to vehicles that not turning. In all other situations, give way to vehicles crossing or coming from your right.
Seat belts must be worn at all times while driving in New Zealand. This stands for the driver and passengers. The driver is responsible for ensuring all passengers are wearing their seatbelts.
Do not drink alcohol before driving in New Zealand--drinking and driving laws are strictly enforced.
Speed limits are in kilometres per hour (kph), not miles per hour (mph).
Speed conversion: 1 kph equals 0.621 mph; 1 mph equals 1.61 kph.
The speed limit on the open road is 100km/h. In towns and cities the speed limit is 50km/h. Be sure to obey all school crossing speed reductions as speed cameras operate regularly throughout New Zealand.
For further information and up to date road conditions visit: http://www.transit.govt.nz | high11790.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "3"
},
"options": [
"2",
"3",
"4",
"5"
],
"question": "According to the passage how many dogs starred in movies?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": ... | Blair: Blair was the first to appear in movies in history. In 1905, Blair appeared in the movie Rescued by Rover . It is a British film that a baby is kidnapped by an old woman, but the faithful family dog Rover saves the baby at last.
Though Rover is a common name, it became popular because of the dog hero in the movie.
Lassie: lassie used to be the most famous dog in the world. She is a character who has starred in many movies, TV shows and books over the years.
Lassie was created by Eric Knight and made her way into a short story in a newspaper in 1913 and into a novel in 1940.
Laika: Laika is the first animal that has orbited the earth. On November 3, 1957, Laika was sent to space in the Soviet Union's Sputnik 2.(2). The Soviets admitted soon after the launch that the spacecraft would not return. It meant that the poor animal would die. People argued a lot about Laika's death. Several countries issued stamps in memory of Laika. She became the first animal to give her life for the exploration of space.
Rin Tin Tin: Rin Tin Tin is the first American dog movie star. He first appeared in WhereThe North Begins in 1925. Rin Tin Tin went on to make 25 movies, he even signed his own contracts with paw prints . During his best time, he earned about 5 million dollars for those people who worked for him.
Snoopy: snoopy may be the most famous cartoon dog in the world. As a hunting beagle from Charles Schultz' popular newspaper comic strip , Peanuts, snoopy first appeared in 1950. Though snoopy was at first a minor figure, he grew to become the strip's best-known character. He is famous for always sleeping on top of his doghouse and sometimes dressing up and pretending himself as a World War I airplane pilot. Snoopy appeared in the Peanuts comic strips until Schultz's retirement ( and death ) in February of 2000. | high12299.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It was performed in space."
},
"options": [
"It was performed in space.",
"It was created by an astronaut.",
"It was a very familiar song.",
"It was first sung by a famous singer."
],
"question": "Why was Chris ... | For more than 40 years, scientists have sought to learn how well human beings can adapt to long periods in space. The International Space Station continues to provide valuable knowledge about spaceflight. But an earlier space station, Skylab, helped make the current space project possible.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sang aboard the International Space Station on May 12, 2013. His music video has become extremely popular. The astronaut played his own version of David Bowie's song Space Oddity. He performed while floating weightlessly, with images of planet earth and space appearing in the window behind him.
Chris Hadfield recently returned home after nearly five months on the space station. For him, the long flight produced a hit video on YouTube and no major physical problems. But 40 years ago, scientists did not know how humans would react to long-term spaceflight. To find out, NASA, the American space agency, launched Skylab in May, 1973. Over nearly a year, three teams of astronauts visited Skylab for stays of between 28 to 84 days. They learned how people react to extended periods in space.
Gerald Carr commanded Skylab 4. He spoke at a NASA event marking the 40th anniversary of Skylab's launch. He said that the loss of the body's muscle mass was a main concern. Astronauts on Skylab used exercise equipment to stay strong. The astronauts spent their workdays carrying out experiments, including biomedical research.
Marshall Porterfield is the director of NASA's Space Life and Physical Sciences Division. He says the Skylab astronauts' understanding of their own ability to deal with long-term spaceflight continues to help current astronauts. NASA says the next step for life away from Earth is a year-long space station mission, set for 2015. | high8382.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "there was a rainfall of 243 mm in 22 hours before 6 a.m. in northern district of Miyun"
},
"options": [
"there was a rainfall of 243 mm in 22 hours before 6 a.m. in northern district of Miyun",
"a man and a woman were killed in the... | Beijing, July 25 (Xinhua) --- Two people found dead on a rain-flooded road in Beijing Sunday night are doubted to have been killed by lightning, as the heaviest rainstorm in 13 years hit the city from Sunday through Monday morning and is expected to last into Monday evening.
The victims, a man and a woman were found dead on a road outside a plant in Nancai Industrial Park in Shunyi District at 9 p.m. Sunday.
The northern district of Miyun recorded rainfall of 243 mm in 22 hours before 6 a.m. Monday, said Wei Jianmin, chief forecaster of the Beijing Observatory . He said the rain is important to fill up Beijing's important water source of the Miyun Reservoir , which has received 17 million cubic meters of water during the rain so far.
Although the rain had little effect on traffic Monday, it caused a disorder in the city's busy air traffic. According to Beijing Capital International Airport's website, 329 flights were called off due to the rainstorm. Meanwhile, traffic on a rail link between Beijing and Chengde City in neighboring Hebei province was put off after several sections of the track were flooded in rainwater Sunday night. Workers are still rushing to clear the railway.
The city acted Sunday evening to take measures against rainstorm-caused disasters.
More than 6,000 people living in the hilly regions of Miyun and Pinggu districts in Beijing's outskirts were brought to safe grounds Sunday evening before floods threatened more than 10 villages and caused four landslides there.
The China National Meteorological Center on Monday morning continued a rainstorm warning, forecasting rains to hit Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Liaoning and Hebei provinces in the north, as well as eastern Shandong and Jiangsu provinces in the next 24 hours. | high23044.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "People who work in London prefer to live in the country."
},
"options": [
"People who like country things prefer to live outside the city.",
"People who work in London prefer to live in the country.",
"Because of certain disa... | Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go in to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening.
One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper. Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to rent. With the same money, one can get a little house in the country with a garden of one's own.
Then, in the country one can rest from the noise and hurry of the town. Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country. If one likes gardens, one can spend one's free time digging, planting, watering and doing other jobs which are needed in a garden. Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature.
Some people, however, take no interest in country things: for them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance-halls and restaurants. Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London. An occasional walk in one of the parks and a fortnight's (two weeks) visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want: the rest they are quite prepared to leave to those who are glad to get away from London every night. | high154.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "More research should be made before the technology comes into wide use."
},
"options": [
"Dr. Baltimore started his research on modiffing gene in 1975.",
"Scientists' opinions about the use of gene editing are consistent.",
"... | "Over the years the unthinkable has become thinkable and today we sense we are close to being able to alter human heredity oe#)." These were the words of David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology, on December 1st, when he opened a three-day meeting in Washington to discuss the morality and use of human gene editing. Dr Baltimore is an old hand at these sorts of discussions, for he was also a participant in the Asilomar conference, in 1975, which brought scientists together to discuss a safe way of using the then-new tcchnology of recombinant DNA, and whose recommendations influenced a generation of biotechnology researchers.
Four decades on, the need for a similar sort of _ has arisen. The International Summit on Human Gene Editing has been held by the national scientific academies of three countries -- America, Britain and China. They are particularly concerned about whether gene editing should be used to make heritable changes to the human germ line, something Dr Baltimore described as a deep and troubling question. Like those of Asilomar, the conclusions of this meeting will not be binding. But the hope is that, again like Asilomar, a mixture of common sense and peer pressure will create a world in which scientists are trusted to regulate themselves, rather than having politicians and civil servants do it for them. The meeting is being held against a backdrop of rapid scientific advance, Since 2012 research into a new, easy-to-use editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has blossomed. This technique involves a piece of RNA (a chemical messenger, which can be used to recognise a target section of DNA) and an enzyme called a nuclease that can snip unwanted genes out and paste new ones in.
Public interest was aroused in April, when Chinese scientists announced they had edited genes in non-viable ( ) human embryos, and again in November when British researchers said they had successfully treated a one-year-old girl who had leukaemia ( ), using gene-edited T-cells. T-cells are part of the immune system that attack, among other things, tumour cells. The researchers altered T-cells from a healthy donor to encourage them to recognise and kill the patient's cancer, to make them immune to her leukaemia drug, and to ensure they did not attack her healthy cells.
In another recent development, a firm called Edit as Medicine, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has said it hopes, in 2017, to start human clinical trials of CRISPR-Cas9 as a treatment for a rare genetic form of blindness known as Leber congenital amaurosis . Though other companies are already testing gene-editing therapies, these employ older, clunkier forms of the technology that seem likely to have less commercial potential. Moreover, researchers at the Broad Institute, also in Cambridge, said this week that they had made changes to CRISPR-Cas9 which greatly reduce the rate of editing errors -- one of the main obstacles to the technique's medical use.
On the subject of germ-line editing, Eric Lander, the Broad's head, told the meeting it would be useful only in rare cases and said it might be a good idea to "exercise caution? before making permanent changes to the gene pool. The need for caution is advice that might also be heeded by those pursuing work in animals other than people, and in plants -- subjects not being covered by the summit. | high13187.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "More women shopped online than men in 2004"
},
"options": [
"There were fewer women online shoppers than men in 2004",
"Most of the Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 are women.",
"People in the US were more likely ... | Women turn to online shopping
Women have jumped ahead of men for the first time in using the Internet to do their holiday shopping, according to a study published last week in the US.
For years men have been more likely to shop on the Internet than women, but during the 2004 holiday season, 58 percent of those making online purchases were women.
"It shows how mainstream the Internet is becoming," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project group, which carried out the study.
Rainie said it was only a matter of time before women shoppers caught up with men. This is because women traditionally make decisions about spending.
Users were more likely to shop online to save time. Internet users between the ages 18 and 29 were responsible for some of the most dramatic increase in the online gift-buying population this time around.
However, three- quarters of the US Internet users did not buy holiday gifts online in 2004. They worried about credit card security, or just compared online prices with off-line prices, then dashed off to the shops to get the best deals.
" But even if shoppers don't buy online , websites are becoming promotion tools for stores," said Dan Hess, vice president of ComScore Networks Inc. Hess said that actually most stores' websites can make customers fully believe the security of their credit card numbers. And most are able to ensure that gifts arrive on time.
" It's all about making the shopping experience more efficient, more reliable and more comfortable." Hess said. | high632.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "writing was not intended for women in the 19th century in Britain"
},
"options": [
"the three sisters were badly treated by their step-mother",
"The three Bronte sisters were brought up in Ireland",
"Haworth was suffering hig... | The Bronte sisters were three sisters who became famous novelists. Their lives and works are connected with the lonely moors of Yorkshire, England, where they lived. Patrick Bronte, the sisters' father, was a poor Irishman who became the parish clergyman of the small, isolated town of Haworth, Yorkshire. Bronte was somewhat strange and tended to be strict. His wife died in 1821 and her sister brought up the family out of duty, but with little love or understanding. The sisters went to several boarding schools where they received a better education than usual for girls at that time, but in a bad atmosphere.
Few jobs were available for women at that time, and the Bronte sisters, except for occasional jobs as governesses or schoolteachers, lived their entire lives at home. They were shy, poor, and lonely, and occupied themselves with music, drawing, reading and ---above all---writing. Their isolation led to the early development of their imaginations. In 1846, under the male pen names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, the sisters published a joint volume of poems.Although only two copies were sold, all three sisters soon had their first novels published.
Charlotte Bronte's most famous novel Jane Eyre (1847) is largely _ . Through the heroine, Charlotte relived her hated boarding school life and her experiences as a governess in a large house. Rochester, the hero and master of the house, is fictional. Jane Eyre was enormously successful, but many readers were shocked that Rochester, who tried to make Jane his mistress, should be rewarded by marrying her. Some readers were also shocked because Jane wanted to be regarded as a thinking and independent person, rather than as a weak female.
Charlotte Bronte wrote three other novels. The first one, The Professor, was not published until 1857, after her death. Shirley (1849) is set among the labour riots of the early 1800s. Villette (1853) the most popular of the three, is based on Charlotte's unhappy experiences as a governess in Brussels. | high13839.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a folktale"
},
"options": [
"a news article",
"a folktale",
"realistic fiction",
"historical fiction"
],
"question": "This story is most like _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer":... | There's a small town in the central part of England called Gotham. Some say it's a town of fools. Others say all the villagers are wise. Let me tell you about the people of Gotham so you can decide for yourself.
Long ago, England was ruled by a cruel king named John. One day, the people of Gotham heard that King John and his men would soon be riding through their town.This worried the villagers, for they knew the greedy king would demand food and accommodation for his men. What's more, if he saw anything to his liking, he would surely take it.
A town meeting was called. After much discussion, the townspeople decided to cut down a number of huge trees to block the roads leading into Gotham. When King John and his men reached the outskirts of the village, they could not pass. Angry, King John ordered his men to go into the town and punish the villagers.
When the king's officers finally made their way over the trees, they found a village of fools. Some say that was because the people of Gotham had a plan--they had decided to act like fools since they had never heard of anyone being punished for being a noodlehead. Others say that's just the way they were.
In the village, the king's men encountered a man riding a donkey. The man was bent over because he carried a huge bag of grain on his own shoulders. He looked exhausted. One of the king's men approached him and asked, "Why, in heaven's name, are you carrying that bag? Why don't you just put it behind you on your donkey's back?"
"You see," replied the man from Gotham, "my donkey is feeling poor today. It's bad enough that she has to carry me, so I decided to lighten her burden by carrying the bag myself."
The king's men said, "But sir, don't you see that if you're riding on top of the donkey, she's
still carrying the weight of the bag?" The man didn't reply. He just looked at the king's men as if they were crazy and went on his way. The king's officers giggled at the foolishness of the man. Before long, they passed a pond where they found a number of villagers in the midst of a great argument. Two of them were holding a big eel. "Quiet down," commanded one of the king's men. "What's the problem here?"
One of the villagers stepped forward and said, "Last year we took all the extra fish we [caught and put them in this pond so they would multiply. But this year when we came back, all we caught was this one huge eel. Obviously it has eaten all of our fish! Since then, we have argued long and hard over how to punish this bad eel. But we have finally agreed on the perfect punishment. We are just about to drown the eel in this very pond!" The king's officers couldn't believe their ears. Drown an eel whose home is in the water? These men were sillier than the first man they met!
Before long, they reached the center of the village, where they were in for another surprise. There they found the rest of the townspeople building a towering stone wall. When the soldiers inquired what was going on, one of the villagers replied, "Every spring a cuckoo comes to live in our village. It always brings warm weather. When it leaves, the cold weather returns. Last year we decided that if we could get the cuckoo to stay here all year, we would always have warm weather. We built this stone wall, but it obviously wasn't high enough because the bird flew away. This year we're determined to build it so high that the cuckoo can't escape."
The king's officers had heard enough. They couldn't bring themselves to punish such stupid people. They returned to King John and told him all about the fools of Gotham. Whether it's fair or not, the people of Gotham have been known as fools ever since.
What do you think? Were the villagers of Gotham wise or foolish? | high9922.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Home education in the UK"
},
"options": [
"New ways of learning to read and write",
"Problems with UK schools",
"Home education in the UK",
"New methods of teaching"
],
"question": "What is the topic of this art... | Eight-year-old Bethany and seven-year-old Eliza are having a great time jumping around in the orchard of their home in a village near Penrith. They can play any time they like because they don't go to school. Instead, they are educated at home by their parents, Paul and Veronika Robinson. But they don't have lessons, have never used a timetable and learn only what and when they want to learn.
"I want my kids to have freedom in their childhood, not spend it in an institution," says 37-year-old Veronika, "School is all about control and following the rules." Veronika and her 56-year-old husband Paul have never experienced the daily rush to get dressed and out of the door that is common in most households with school-aged children. "We get up at our leisure - usually around 8:30," says Veronika. "We might visit a friend, or go to the library, and on Tuesdays we shop at the market. In summer, we spend most of our time outside and the girls entertain themselves a lot."
New research due to be published this spring reveals a very different picture of Britain's home educators. "Out of 297 families, 184 said that they never use a timetable," says Mike Fortune-Wood of Home Education UK. "Ninety per cent never or rarely use textbooks, and nearly all said that happiness, contentment and self-fulfillment were more important than academic achievement. Only 15% felt that planning what to learn was important."
So far, so good. But what, you might ask, are the children actually learning?
"It wasn't important to me that the girls could read by a certain age, but they both picked it up for themselves at around seven," says Robinson. "Weighing cooking ingredients uses maths, and making a shopping list teaches them to write. Observing five hens has taught the girls about survival of the fittest. "
But what about when the children grow up? Can they go to university? The home educators' answer is they can if they want to. There are a variety of routes into higher education, but probably the most common is to join a local college. This is what Gus Harris-Reid has done. "I was educated at home all my life. I'd never had a lesson or been inside a classroom until I started GCSEs," says the 18-year-old. "I'm now studying for 4 A-levels at Exeter College. I've had no problem with the work or with fitting in." When asked to reflect on his experience of home education, his considered response is, "Like a permanent holiday, really!" Not a bad start for someone who plans to take a mechanical engineering degree next year. | high16799.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "brave"
},
"options": [
"brave",
"fearful",
"artificial",
"tricky"
],
"question": "According to this passage, which word can best describe Jim Hawkins?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"... | Treasure Island isn't a true story, _
armed to the teeth and ready to go treasure hunting. But you will find, as you read this book, that
although pirates can be murderous and treacherous ,they can also be cowardly, superstitious, and easily led. As it turns out, that is fortunate for Jim Hawkins.
It's a brilliant story. Billy Bones, a retired seaman, comes to live at the Admiral Benbow inn. Jim is just a boy, but he can see that Billy Bones is a nervous man, always on the look-out for strangers arriving at the inn. And well he might be nervous, because he carries with him in his battered old sea-chest a map drawn by Captain Flint himself giving the whereabouts of all Flint's buried treasure! Captain Flint! -the most feared pirate ever to travel the high seas.
Well,Flint is dead, but there are plenty of men who served with Captain Flint still alive who will feel they have a fair claim to the treasure. The map, though, ends up in the possession of Jim Hawkins---(it's a near thing, read the book to see how that happens)
Jim tells the secret in the local doctor, who quickly joins forces to acquire a ship and crew to sail for Treasure Island
There's a famous scene where Jim, hiding in the apple barrel on deck, discovers that mutiny is planned. It's a bad moment. The numbers suggest that the pirates are going to have it all their own way. There are nineteen mutineers and seven honest men, including Jim. And now, you will have to read the book for yourself. This is a fantastic tale of cheat, bravery and cowardice. I don't know how things would have turned out if it hadn't been for Jim Hawkins. For it is Jim who single-handedly steals the Hispaniola from under the very noses of the pirates and sails her round the island to a secret beaching place.
And do you know what happens to Long John Silver, the greatest double-crosser of them all? No? Well, don't expect me to tell you. Don't be nervous of reading a 'classic'. I know it was published a long time ago, but that doesn't mean it is difficult to read. There is one piece of advice I will give, though. I don't think this book is ever out of print---there are hundreds of different copies around. If you can, choose a copy with large enough print to be able to read comfortably, and exciting illustrations. It makes all the difference.
Go ahead! Read the book. I think you'll love it. | high21135.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "new generation gap between the old and the young"
},
"options": [
"the impact of computer technology on modern surgery",
"an interview with a distinguished Asian neurosurgeon",
"new generation gap between the old and the youn... | There is a saying in French--"Si vieillesse pouvait, si jeunesse savait"--which means roughly "if age had the ability, if youth had the knowledge." I was reminded of this saying the other day when I saw an interview with a distinguished Asian neurosurgeon , now retired, about the impact of computer technology on modern surgery.
He was referring to the difficulty people of his age had in using the new techniques, but also to the fact that younger surgeons, who are more comfortable with the technology, lack some of the wisdom of experience.
It struck me that this problem is not just confined to specialized fields such as medicine, but is widespread in modern life. There are many areas where the rapid growth of technology has widened the generation gap.
Young people are at ease with modern technology and propose all sorts of ways for using and developing it. But they often lack the experience needed to see further into the future to the possible dangers that a particular development may cause.
Older people see all sorts of difficulties and dangers, but are sometimes ignored, or even accused of being against progress, if they point out potential problems. Equally, they may see potential uses, but not have the technical skills to put them into practice themselves or the trust in the younger generation to do so.
Enthusiasm and inexperience come into conflict with caution and arrogance, usually with unsatisfactory results for both sides.
What is needed is the development of a partnership, based on mutual respect, which can deliver real progress by combining enthusiasm and caution in a constructive way, rather than in conflict with each other. The old need to give the younger generation the time, the resources and, above all, the authority to develop new ideas and use their skills. In exchange, the young need to turn more actively to the older generation to seek their advice and exploit their greater experience of the world in foreseeing and overcoming potential problems. | high2877.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "60% of them."
},
"options": [
"14% of them.",
"46% of them.",
"32% of them.",
"60% of them."
],
"question": "How many of the wealthy Chinese interviewed were in favor of moving overseas?",
"question_type": "... | China has a long tradition of respecting education. But its present education is not that respectable.
According to the Hurun Report, which conducted one-on-one interviews with 980 wealthy Chinese people with net assets of more than 60 million yuan ($9.5 million) in 18 mainland cities from May to September, about 14 percent of them said they had either already moved overseas or had applied to do so, and another 46 percent said they planned to emigrate within three years. All cited the higher-quality education available for their children overseas as the reason.
Such a mindset has resulted in a growing number of Chinese students studying abroad.
To be fair, our primary and high schools are a leader in content throughout the world. The Program for International Student Assessment last year offered a feather in the cap for our education. Participating in the program administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, teenagers in Shanghai were far in advance of their peers from 64 countries, including the United States, in reading literacy, mathematics and science.
So why does education in this country leave so many wealthy parents cold?
Children in China have no say in what they learn. They normally learn by rote and are forced to study the subjects that help them in examinations for a school of a higher grade, especially the college entrance exams.
Studies conducted by the China Youth and Children Research Center show that more than half of Chinese secondary school students study overtime and they don't get enough sleep. And more than 70 percent of students in primary and middle schools take after-school tutoring classes, which is considered a heavy burden on children.
And this situation turns many parents into demons like "Wolf Father" Xiao Baiyou in Guangdong province, who supported his children's learning with verbal abuse and physical violence. Xiao doesn't pale in comparison to Tiger Mother Amy Chua in the United States. He is satisfied with his parenting skills, as he has sent three of his four children to Peking University, one of China's most prestigious higher learning institutions.
Such ways of stimulating children to learn are certainly scary enough to make those Chinese parents with deep pockets choose a foreign school for their kids.
As long as exams-oriented education continues, parents will look overseas for a better way to educate their children. | high17487.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "six"
},
"options": [
"two",
"four",
"six",
"eight"
],
"question": "How many germy places are mentioned in this passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer... | No one likes germs.You wash your hands often and avoid sick people.But some of the germiest places are in your own home where you can't avoid them!
Over 77,500 bacteria per square centimeter can live in your kitchen sink drain.More bacteria live in and around the sink itself.To get rid of them,clean the entire sink area with a _ .
Those wet clothes from your washer are not all that clean,especially if they include underwear.Use hot water and bleach to wash underwear as it contains E.colin .Put wet laundry in the dryer quickly so the bacteria do not multiply.
The germs you wash off your body stay in the tub-about 15.500 bacteria per square centimeter! Use a disinfectant to clean your tub weekly.And dry the tub with a clean towel so more germs won't grow on the wet surface.
You'll find plenty of germs outside your home too.
Lots of germs live on the buttons of your local ATM.According to www.health.corn,Chinese researchers tested 38 ATMs in downtown Taipei.They found that each button hosted an average of 1,200 germs.Use a hand sanitizer after using the ATM and after handling paper money too.
The bottoms of women's purses house tens of thousands if not millions of bacteria.University of Arizona researchers discovered all kinds of different bacteria on purse bottoms.These included E.coli as well as bacteria that cause eye and skin infections.Women should wipe their purses every few days with a mild soap solution.
All kinds of germs live on shopping cart shopping cart handles.Lots of people touch the handles each day----and who knows where their hands have been! Carry disinfectant wipes and use them on the handles.That will kill nearly a11 germs. | high16941.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "because the Nobles are quite possibly slow to recognize achievement"
},
"options": [
"because usually the Nobels award work done in the previous year.",
"just because they envy those who have won the Nobles.",
"because differ... | The Nobel Prizes in physiology or medicine, physics and chemistry are the most respected prizes in science. But talk to scientists in private, and many will complain why (besides jealousy, perhaps) are some scientists unhappy with the Nobels?
One reason is that the committees can often be slow to recognize achievement. Alfred Nobel specified in his will that the prizes should reward work done in the previous year. But experience soon showed that this was risky, as medals were given out for discoveries that later proved questionable. So a degree of caution is probably advisable. Sometimes, though, it can lead to strange results. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, for instance, had to wait until 1983 to win a prize for work he had done in the 1930s on the structure of stars. However, Albert Einstein never won a prize for his theory of relativity. Even though some pretty suggestive evidence had been produced by Arthur Eddington in 1919, relativity, which has later passed every experimental test ever thrown at it, was still considered somewhat risky and obscure.
Another criticism concerns the tradition that no more than three people can share a prize. Science is rarely this clear-cut. Take this year's physics prize, which recognised Peter Higgs for predicting the existence of the mass-bestowing particle that now bears his name. Dr Higgs was only one of several people with a claim. Two other teams---- Rober Brout and Francois Englert, as well as Gerald Guralnik, Carl Hageh and Tom Kibble----- submitted papers on the same idea to the same journal that published Dr Higgs's work, all within a few months of each other. Science often works like this, with different people coming up with similar ideas at similar times. In the event, the committee decided to honour Dr Engler (Brout is dead, therefore unqualified), whose paper was earlier than Dr Higgs's but did not explicitly predict a particle, over Dr Guralnik and his collaborators, who were more comprehensive but published a few weeks later. | high18978.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Jack, 8 years old."
},
"options": [
"Jack, 8 years old.",
"Tom, 9 years old.",
"John, 11 years old.",
"Linda, 13 years old."
],
"question": "Which of the following kids may NOT be included in Tabb's program \" T... | Tabb doesn't look like a typical music teacher. But every weekday evening in the French Quarter New Orleans, he beats out the rhythm on his music stand as students play their chosen instruments.
"I'm doing my best to take young people away from harmful things," said Tabb. His program, "The Roots of Music", offers free music education to more than 100 students. He struggles to _ in the city with the nation's highest murder rate .
Tabb chose to target 9to14yearolds with his program. "That's a very important time in your life," he said. "If I catch them then, I can hold onto them for at least four or five years and guide them the way that will lead them to success."
Students meet from 4 pm to 7 pm every weekday, all year round. They work with tutors on schoolwork, practice their music and eat a hot meal before heading home. With the money provided by some people, Tabb's group is able to provide bus transportation, instruments and food for free. He calls it his "no excuse" policy. "You have no excuse why you're not here," Tabb said. Tabb owes the success in part to the nature of music. "You're always learning something new,"he said. "That's what keeps the kids coming back every day."
But the program isn't only about fun. "Music is about discipline ,"said Tabb. He insists on good behavior and keeps kids in order with threats of situps , pushups or tasks like picking up grains of rice -- but these measures aren't just punishment. Tabb wants young people to realize that music can help them build a better future. "I don't say that I'm saving lives," he said. "I say I'm giving life -- a whole different life of music." | high2863.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "develop gamers' problem-solving skills"
},
"options": [
"give gamers more chances to play online games",
"develop gamers' problem-solving skills",
"help gamers get used to social changes",
"make gamers take proper attit... | At Institute for the Future, game designer Jane McGonigal creates massive multi-player free online role-playing games (MMORPGs), which focus on social changes and environmental problems. She hopes that players will use their new skills to make the real world better.
According to Jane, our addiction to gaming is actually a great thing, so long as we use it properly.Speaking at the TED (Technology/Entertainment/Design)2010 Conference, Jane says that people should devote more time to games to build the skills necessary to make the world better.People who take part in MMORPGs develop specialized skills in problem-solving as a team.So, if gamers are willing to take part in role-playing games based on real-world problems,they will be able to work together to find ways that can be used in the real world.
Jane focuses on creating the kinds of video games that enable players to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of those around them.In 2007, she helped create a video game called A World Without Oil, in which 1, 800 players tried to find new ways to transport themselves in a world without oil.Even after completing the game, the players focused on the problem and its possible solutions.Her next game, Evoke, takes an even more practical way.Game players are mainly young people in Africa.They will learn to create a business that will help stop problems such as poverty and AIDS on a local level.By the end of the game, players will be guided by experts on how to start their own businesses.
"We can make any future we imagine and we can play any games we want," she said at the TED Conference."So let the world-changing games begin." | high21121.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He was afraid Shane had been killed by the tsunami."
},
"options": [
"He couldn't go back home to take Shane.",
"He was afraid Shane had been killed by the tsunami.",
"He thought Shane had been taken away by his neighbour.",
... | The earthquake that shook Japan on March 11, 2011 was the strongest earthquake in that country's recorded history and the fourth strongest recorded on Earth since 1900. It cracked open the ground, knocked people off their feet, and made tall buildings move. Then things got even worse.
It created huge waves called a tsunami . Walls of water as tall as 30 feet flooded into the coast and swept six miles inland, wiping out everything in the way.
Many human survivors were separated from their pets. Many animal lovers went out of their way to help pets in need after the tsunami. And some pets helped their owners, too.
When Kamata heard the tsunami alert , he decided to visit his neighbours to warn them of the coming danger. He put his dog, Shane, in the yard so they could leave as soon as he returned. But later, as he headed home, the tsunami flooded into the city, destroying his path. Kamata was forced to run to higher ground, to a school that served as a shelter. He feared he would never see Shane again.
Six hours later, Kamata heard that a dog was waiting outside the school. He went to look: It's Shane! The dog swam through the tsunami and found Kamata, even though Shane had never been to the school.
After the huge earthquake ended, 83-year-old Tami Akanuma thought that she and her small dog, Babu, were safe. But Babu was anything but calm. She cried and walked worriedly, as if really wanting to go for a walk. That's strange, since Babu didn't like taking walks. But Akanuma took her out.
Outside, Babu headed up a hill instead of toward their normal route near the water. When Akanuma slowed down, the little dog pulled her higher. Once they reached the hilltop, Akanuma looked back and was surprised: The path they had taken was flooded and her home had been destroyed by fast-flowing water. Little Babu helped his owner escape in time. | high16955.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "old people with special cards"
},
"options": [
"those who have special cards",
"old people with special cards",
"people who hold high positions in the government",
"those who wanted to travel cheaply"
],
"questi... | Senior citizens are permitted to travel cheaply on a bus if they have a special card. Women may get cards when they are sixty.
Mrs. Matthews lived in the country but she went into town once a week to buy food and other things for the house, and she usually went by bus. She always had to pay the full price for her ride.
Then she reached the age of sixty and got her senior citizen's card, but when she used it for the first time on the bus, it made her feel very old.
The bus driver had often seen her traveling on the bus before, and he noticed that she was feeling unhappy, so after she had paid her money, he winked at her and whispered, "Don't forget to give your mother's card back to her when you see her again."
Mrs. Matthews was very happy when she heard this. | high626.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "At a graduation ceremony"
},
"options": [
"At an open-air theater.",
"At a traditional festival.",
"At a graduation ceremony",
"At an important sports game."
],
"question": "Where did the story take place?",
... | Last weekend marked one of the nicest days so far this spring. It was warm with a tiny wind, the sun streamed through lightweight sweaters to warm the skin; the male choir was warming up, and the students were moving around the lawn behind the huge crowd of six-thousand-plus observers.
With all of the parents, sisters, brothers, grandparents, aunts and uncles, the state university was a center of activity. My nephew was going to receive his bachelor's degree. Who would have guessed that four years would go by so quickly?
As the crowd of freshly polished candidates wandered, joked, hugged and chatted behind the bleachers , I heard several cell phones ring. There were several casual conversations going on with the accompanying giggles of the not-quite-mature students, but then one conversation in particular caught my attention:
"Yes, Grandma, I'm really graduating. I can't believe it, either! I never thought I'd be here today, you know? Really! Like, I know it! Yes, it's a very special day. Oh, what did the doctor say? He did? I know, Gran... I know you wanted to come... It's okay... No, really, please don't cry...It's a very happy day, you know?
"Hold on, we're lining up okay, all set... yes, the center aisle ... the grass is awesome! Smells really good, too... Oh wow, they've got like a million balloons they're going to release! Yes, Kelly's here... Okay, I'll give her your love... here we go! Gran, I'm graduating!
"Love you, too, Gran. I'm so glad you could be here with me!"
And somehow, my initial dislike at the use of cell phones and the casual conservations during such a serious occasion left me. For these little representatives of modern technology had joined a young woman and her fond Gran to share a very special moment in time. | high24059.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A Precious Gift."
},
"options": [
"A Special Funeral.",
"A Kind Old Man.",
"A Thankful Young Man.",
"A Precious Gift."
],
"question": "Which of the following may be the title of the passage?",
"question_type... | It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man.Over the phone ,his mother told him,"Mr.Belser died last night ,The funeral is Wednesday."Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
When Jack was very young ,his father died.Mr Belser,who lived in the same neighborhood with them,spent as much time as he could to make sure Jack had a man's influence in his life.He spent a lot of time teachimg Jack he thought what was important in his following life.If Mr.Belser hadn' taught him how to weave,he wouldn't be in this business now.So he promised his mother he would attend Mr.Belser's funeral.
"You'd better not drive your car.It's a long way."his mother warned him.
Busy as he was,he kept his word.Though tired from the earliest flight,Jack tried his best to help.Mr.Belser's funeral was small because he had no children of his own and most of his s had passed away.
The night before he had to return home,Jack and his mother stopped by to see the old house Mr.Belser once lived.Now it belonged to him.He bought the house from one of his s.
The house was exactly as he remembered.Every step held memories.Every picture,every piece of furniture... Jadk stopped suddenly.
The box on his desk was gone!He once asked the old man what was inside.He just smiled and said it was the most valuable thing to him,though it almost cost nothing to others.He figured that someone from the Belser family had taken it ."I will never know what was so valuable to him."Jack thought disappotntedly.
Three days later returning home from work,Jack discovered a small package in his mailbox.
The handwriting was difficult to read,but the return address caught his attention."Mr.Harold Belser"it read.
Jack couldn't wait to open it .Inside lay the familiar small box.His heart racing,Jack unlocked the box.Inside he found a gold pocket watch with these words engraved:"Jack,Thanks for your time!Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most was my time."Jack held the watch before his chest,tears filling his eyes. | high23736.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It resulted from lack of vitamins."
},
"options": [
"It killed large numbers of people.",
"It resulted from lack of vitamins.",
"It was transmitted by milled rice.",
"It was caused by diseased chickens."
],
"que... | The vitamins necessary for a healthy body are normally supplied by a good mixed diet, including a variety of fruits and green vegetables. It is only when people try to live on a very _ diet, say that when trying to lose weight, that it is necessary to make special provisions to supply the missing vitamins.
An example of the dangers of a restricted diet may be seen in the disease known as "beri-beri", which used to make large numbers of Eastern people who lived mainly on rice suffer. In the early years of last century, a Dutch scientist named Eijkman was trying to discover the cause of beri-beri. At first he thought it was transmitted by a germ . He was working in a Japanese hospital, where the patients were fed on polished rice which had had the outer coverings removed from the grain, it was thought this would be easier for weak and sick people to digest.
Eijkman thought his germ theory was proved when he noticed the chickens in the hospital yard, which were fed on remains from the patients' plates, were also showing signs of the disease. He then tried to separate the germ, which he thought was causing the disease, but his experiments were interrupted by a hospital official, who ordered that the rice without coverings, even though left over by the patients, was too good for chickens. It should be recooked for the patients, and the chickens should be fed on cheap, rough rice with the outer coverings still on the grain.
Eijkman noticed that the chickens began to recover on the new diet. He began to consider the possibility that eating unmilled rice somehow prevented or cured beri-beri--even that a lack of some ingredient in the coverings may be the cause of the disease. Indeed this was the case. The element needed to prevent beri-beri was shortly afterwards separated from rice coverings and is now known as vitamin B. The milled rice, though more expensive, was in fact causing the disease the hospital was trying to cure. Nowadays, this terrible disease is much less common thanks to our knowledge of vitamins. | high15284.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "behave yourself"
},
"options": [
"behave yourself",
"take care of yourself",
"make yourself at home",
"do everything on your own"
],
"question": "If your parents ask you to act your age, they really mean to advi... | Parents might tell older children to "Act your age". But some researchers say that is what persons from thirteen to nineteen years old are doing. While teenagers can look all grown up, studies have shown that their brains are still developing. How much this explains their behavior, though, is a subject of debate.
Jay Giedd of America's National Institutes of Health is a leader in this area of research. Doctor Giedd has been studying a group of young people since 1991. They visit him every two years for imaging tests of their brains. He says considerable development continues in young people from the teenage years into the twenties.
A part of the brain called the dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex appears especially undeveloped in teenagers. Researchers believe that this area controls judgment and consideration of risk. So, its underdevelopment may explain why young people seem more willing to take risks like driving too fast.
Laurence Steinberg is a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. He says stronger laws and stronger parental control are needed to protect teens from themselves. That includes raising the age for driving. He says research shows that teenage brains are not fully equipped to control behavior.
Other researchers, however, say there is not enough evidence to make a strong case for such findings. Psychologist Robert Epstein is a visiting scholar at the University of California in San Diego. Mr. Epstein notes that teen behavior differs from culture to culture. He says behavior depends for the most part on socialization. He believes that teenagers will demonstrate better, safer behavior if they spend more time with adults, and are treated more like them.
But is that always true? Mike Males works at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. He suggests that all of this talk lately about brainless teens could be an attempt to take away attention from the reality. Writing in the New York Times, he says it is middle-aged adults whose behavior has worsened. In his words, if grown-ups really have superior brains, why don't we act as if we do? | high9936.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He helped his father,but not very happily."
},
"options": [
"He helped his father happily.",
"He never helped his father.",
"He helped his father,but not very happily.",
"He only helped his father take a walk after su... | When I was growing up,I was embarrassed to be seen with my father. He was badly crippled ,and when we would walk together,his hand on my arm for balance,people would stare,I would be ashamed of the unwanted attention.
It was difficult to walk together--and because of that,we didn't say much as we went along. But as we started out,he always said,"You set the pace. I will try to follow you."
Our usual walk was to or from the subway,which was how he got to work. He went to work sick,and even in bad weather. He almost never missed a day,and would make it to the office even if others could not. It was a matter of pride for him.
When snow or ice was on the ground,it was impossible for him to walk,even with help. At such times my sister or I would pull him through the streets of Brooklyn,N.Y.,on a child's sleigh to the subway entrance. Once there,he would try to grasp handrail until he reached the lower steps that the warmer tunnel air kept ice free. In Manhattan the subway station was the basement of his office building,and he would not have to go outside again until we met him in Brooklyn on his way home.
When I think of it now,I am surprised at how much courage it must have taken for a grown man to suffer from shame and disability. And I am also surprised at how he did it--without bitterness or complaint.
He never talked about himself as an object of pity,nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a "good heart",and if he found one,the owner was good enough for him.
Now that I am older,I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people,even though I still don't know exactly what a "good heart" is. But I know the times I don't have one myself.
He has been away for many years now,but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my reluctance to be seen with him during our walks. If he did,I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was,how unworthy I was,how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about my troubles,when I am envious of another's good fortune,when I don't have a "good heart". | high14824.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It didn't show Mr. Sultan's name."
},
"options": [
"It was picked up by Mr. Sultan",
"It was taken away by Mr. Sultan.",
"It didn't show Mr. Sultan's name.",
"t didn't have the courses that he had chosen."
],
"q... | I had a very good teacher named Leon Sultan .I liked him very much.
Mr. Sultan had just got a job at my high school but his name wasn't in the school's system. So when I got my schedule ,it read: Staff F. It was during _ hat I realised that "Staff F" was Mr. Sultan. When he called my name, he asked if I remembered him. Then I realised that he was the teacher who had taught me English when I was in primary school.
Mr. Sultan was a very special teacher. Even though he was older and had been to college, but he was Still ready to learn from others. He would listen to your opinion carefully before expressing his opinion.
I think what he taught me more than anything else is to have an open mind Another thing I couldn't forget was his teaching method -group work
There were four members in the group. Each group had its own topic. Everyone in the group would play a certain role. One would keep the discussion moving, the other one would write down the thoughts of the group, another one would be responsible for gathering information, and another one would share everything the group had discovered with the rest of the class. This allowed us to become "experts" on one topic and teach the rest of our classmates.
Now ,I have become a more open-minded boy. That is because of my two and a half years in Mr. Sultan's class. | high8396.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Solar energy."
},
"options": [
"Something about solar energy and pollution.",
"Solar energy.",
"Energy and pollution.",
"Energy and money."
],
"question": "What's this passage mainly about?",
"question_type"... | Solar energy for your home is coming. It can help you as a single home owner. It can help the whole country as well. Whether or not solar energy can save your money depends on many things. Where you live is one factor and the type of home you have is another. Things like insulation , present energy costs, and the type of system you buy are added factors.
Using solar energy can help save our precious fuel. As you know, our supplies of oil and gas are very limited. There is just not enough on hand to meet all our future energy needs. Sooner or later Mother Nature will say that's all. The only way we can delay hearing those words is by starting to save energy now and by using other sources, like the sun.
We won't have to worry about the sun's running out of energy for another several billion years or so. Besides, the sun doesn't offer as many problems as other energy sources. For example, fossil fuel adds to already high pollution levels. With solar energy, we will still need sources of energy, but we won't need as much. That means we can cut down on our pollution problems.
With all these good points, why don't we use more solar power? There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason is money. Until now, it was just not practical for a home owner to put in a solar unit. There were cheaper sources of energy.
All that is changing now. Solar costs are starting to equal the costs of oil and electricity. Experts say that gas, oil and electricity prices will continue to rise. The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. But new power plants will use more gas, oil or coal. Already in some places the supply of electricity is being rationed . Solar energy is now in its infancy . It could soon grow to become a major part of our nation's energy supply. | high23050.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "use the Internet more than enough"
},
"options": [
"use the Internet more than enough",
"feel depressed when using the Internet",
"seldom connect to the Internet",
"feel depressed without the Internet"
],
"quest... | British paychologists have found evidence of a link between excessive Internet use and depression, a research has shown.
Leeds University researchers, writing in the Psychopathology journal, said a small part of Internet users were classed as Internet addicts and that people in this group were more likely to be depressed than non-addicted users.
The article on the relationship between excessive Internet use and depression is from a questionnaire-based study of 1,319 young people and adults.
The respondents answered questions about how much time they spent on the Internet and what they used it for; they also complete the Beck Depression Inventory---a series of questions designed to measure the seriousness of depression.
The six--page report, by the university's Institute of Psychological Science, said 18 of the people who complete the questionnaire were Internet addict."Our research indicates that excessive Internet use is associated with depression, but what we don't know is which comes first--are depressed people drawn to the Internet or does the Internet cause depression?" the article's lead author Dr Catriona Morrison said."What is clear is that, for a small part of people, excessive use of the Internet could be warning signal for depressive tendencies."
The age range of all respondents was between 16 and 51 years, with an average age of 21.24. The average age of the 18 Internet addicts was 18.3 years. By comparing the levels of depression within this group to that within a group of 18 non--addicted Internet users, researchers found the Internet addicts had a higher chance of developing depression than non-addicts. They also discovered that addicts spent more time visiting sexually pleasing website, online gaming sites and online communities.
"The public speculation was further proved by this study. That's to say, over-engaging in websites which serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction," Morrison said."We now need to consider the wider social influence of this relationship and clearly prove the effects of excessive Internet use on mental health." | high140.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because he wanted to show he was an adult."
},
"options": [
"Because he was thirsty.",
"Because he wanted to show he was an adult.",
"Because he wanted to impress his father casually.",
"Because he wanted to discuss his... | It was my first day back home since starting college. A lot had changed in the last year. Not with my hometown but with me. I had left as a 17-year-old boy and had now returned as an 18-year-old man. In the city, I was living on my own, had a part-time job and was studying. Even the government recognized I was an adult: I had a driver's license. So here I was, on my summer vacation, walking down the main street with my father, desperate for him to acknowledge how mature I was. When his recognition failed to appear, I took matters into my own hands. "Dad," I said casually, "I'm thirsty. Let's go for a beer." It was the first time I'd ever mentioned beer in front of my father, let alone ask him to drink one with me.
He turned to me with a curious expression on his face. "A beer ? Well I guess you're old enough now. Let's go to Sailors' Bar. It's where my cousin Tom, your uncle, used to drink. You remember him, right?"
I had only some vague memories of my uncle. He was _ . We didn't talk about him much. "What ever happened to Uncle Tom, Dad? I haven't seen him in years," I said as we continued towards the bar.
"Neither have I, unfortunately. He was a good kid once. But things changed," my father said sadly. As a boy, he explained, there had been no better-behaved boy than Tom. But after leaving school, he moved to the city and fell in with bad company. He started going out every night, drinking in nightclubs and playing cards. Soon he lost everything and had to beg his mum to pay his debts. She agreed on the condition he returned home.
My dad took a deep breath and continued his tale. "Things settled down for a while. He married a lovely woman, gave up his bad habits. But it didn't last. He was soon back to his old ways. He couldn't resist. He was at Sailors' Bar almost every night. His poor mother died of grief and shame. His wife followed her soon after.
"What ruined him was alcohol. He told me once, when a man begins drinking, he never knows where it'll end. 'So', Tom warned me, 'beware of your first drink!'
"He went from bad to worse. Last year Tom sent me a letter saying he had been found guilty of stealing, and sent to prison for ten years."
Dad finished talking just as we reached the front of Sailors' Bar. "Anyway, here we are. Let's go in," he said. But I understood. I put my arm around my father and said, "I'm not thirsty any more, Dad. Let's go home." | high13193.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He thought it was unfair for Charlie."
},
"options": [
"He was worried he would lose the match.",
"He thought it was unfair for Charlie.",
"He didn't care about money.",
"He preferred chicken to money."
],
"ques... | Charlie Boswell has always been a great hero. He has encouraged thousands of people to rise above circumstances and live out true meaning of life.
He was blinded during World War II while rescuing his friend from a tank that was under fire.
He was a great athlete before the accident. In order to prove his talent and determination, he decided to try a brand new sport, a sport he never imagined playing, even with his eyesight--golf ! Through determination and a deep love for the game he became the National Blind Golf Champion! He won that honor 13 times.
One of his heroes was the great golfer Ben Hogan, so it truly was an honor for Charlie to win
the Ben Hogan Award in 1958.
Upon meeting Ben Hogan, Charlie was respectful and stated that he had one wish and it was
to have one round of golf with the great Ben Hogan. Mr. Hogan agreed that playing a round together would be an honor for him as well, as he had heard about all of Charlie's accomplishments and truly admired his skills.
"Would you like to play for money, Mr. Hogan?" asked out Charlie
"I can't play you for money, it wouldn't be fair!" said Mr. Hogan.
"Aw, come on Mr. Hogan...$ 1,000 per hole!"
"I can't, what would people think of me, taking advantage of you and your circumstance?" replied the sighted golfer.
"Chicken, Mr. Hogan?"
"Okay," replied the embarrassed Hogan, "but I am going to play my best!"
"I wouldn't expect anything else," said the confident Boswell.
"Now that you're on, Mr. Boswell, you name the time and the place!"
The very _ Boswell responded, "10 o'clock ... tonight!" | high20559.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Children."
},
"options": [
"Parents.",
"Teachers.",
"Researchers.",
"Children."
],
"question": "Who is \"What Darwin Saw\" intended for?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Many people enjoy an adventure story. Others like mysteries that lead the reader to an exciting discovery. The story of the young British naturalist Charles Darwin combines both of these. That is why the author and illustrator Rosalyn Schanzer chose to write the children's book "What Darwin Saw". The book was published just in time for the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth on February 12, 1809.
Rosalyn Schanzer carefully gathered Darwin's thoughts and observations from his diaries, letters and books. Many of the words in the book are Darwin's own. She also traveled to the Galapagos Islands and South America. She researched some of the places Darwin had visited on his trip on the ship, the Beagle in the 1830s. She took thousands of pictures, which helped her create the book's beautiful and color1ful drawings. These pictures show young readers what led Darwin to form his great discovery: the evolution of species through natural selection.
"What Darwin Saw" tells of the adventures of a young man who traveled around the world as a scientist. The voyage of the Beagle took Charles Darwin to South America, where he rode horses with cowboys and met Native Americans in Argentina. He reported the eruption of the Osorno Volcano and experienced an earthquake in Chile. Darwin's observations showed him that environments can change very quickly and a great deal over time.
Rosalyn Schanzer brings to life the clues that suggested to Darwin that living things evolve, or change, over time. She illustrates the unusual tortoises, birds and lizards that Darwin studied in the Galapagos Islands. She shows how Darwin came to understand that these island animals had differences, developed over time, that helped them survive. And she explains the theory of evolution through natural selection in a way that both children and adults will enjoy. | high21647.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he didn't believe in himself"
},
"options": [
"nobody looked after him",
"he was thrown into the open air",
"he was such a small seed",
"he didn't believe in himself"
],
"question": "The seed didn't realize the ... | A long time ago, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody noticed him.Thus, feeling inferior , the seed gave no importance to his existence .
Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field under the sun.Later, he was given rain.
Years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side."Thank God for this.I really need some rest," he heard the traveler say.
"What are you talking about?" the seed quickly asked.He thought the man was making fun of him.No one ever spoke to him like that.
"Who just spoke?" the shocked man asked.
"It is me.A seed."
`"A seed?" The man looked at the big tree."Are you joking? You are not a seed.You are a big tree!"
"Really?"
"Yes! Why else do you think people come here?"
"What do they come here for?"
"To feel your shade ! Don't tell me you didn't know you had grown over time."
A moment passed before the traveler's words brought him pride.
The seed thought and smiled for the first time in his life.The years of torture by the sun and the rain finally helped him grow up.
"Oh! That means I'm not a little seed anymore! I was actually born to make people feel comfortable.Wow! That's great!" | high11784.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he is interrupted by something unexpected"
},
"options": [
"people are more interested in food than his story",
"many guests bring their babies to the party",
"his story is easily forgotten by the listeners",
"he is int... | In ancient Japan, if you saved someone's life, they would make it their duty to spend the rest of their life serving you. Nowadays, if you rescue someone's story, he or she will feel the same kind of gratitude .
It happens all the time. Someone in a group is telling a story and, just before their big point, BOOM! There's an interruption. Someone new joins the group, a waiter with a plate of biscuits comes over, or a baby starts crying. Suddenly everyone's attention turns to the new arrival, the food on the plate, or the "charming" little child. Nobody is aware of the interruption -- except the speaker. They forget all about the fact that the speaker hasn't made his or her point.
Or you're all sitting around the living room and someone is telling a joke. Suddenly, just before his big punch line , little Johnny drops a dish or the phone rings. After the crash, everyone talks about little Johnny's carelessness. After the call, the subject turns to the upcoming marriage or medical operation of the caller. Nobody remembers the great punch line got unfinished -- except the joke teller. When it's you entertaining everyone at a restaurant, have you ever noticed how you can almost set your clock by the waiter coming to take everyone's order just before your funny punch line?
Most joke and story tellers are too shy to say, after the interruption, "Now, as I was saying..." Instead, they'll spend the rest of the evening feeling bad they didn't get to finish. Here's where you come in. Rescue them with the technique I call "Lend a Helping Tongue."
Watch the gratitude in the storyteller's eyes as he stabilizes where his story sunk and he sails off again toward the center of attention. His expression and the appreciation of your consideration by the rest of the group are often reward enough. You are even more fortunate if you can rescue the story of someone who can hire you, promote you, buy from you, or otherwise lift your life. Big winners have excellent memories. When you do them subtle favors like Lend a Helping Tongue, they find a way to pay you back. | high16000.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "making wagon covers and tents"
},
"options": [
"making tent covers and wagons",
"making tents for wagons",
"making trousers for the miners",
"making wagon covers and tents"
],
"question": "The denim cloth was or... | In 1859,during the Gold Rush,a twenty- year-old immigrant from Bavaria named Levi Strauss stepped off the boat in San Francisco. He had with him a special cloth called Serge de Nimes that was later called denim in America. Levi Strauss hoped to sell the denim as material to make tents and covers for wagons to the men who were going to the goldfields to look for gold.
"You should have brought trousers to sell. In the goldfields we need strong trousers that don't wear out,"one young miner advised Strauss. So Levi Strauss took some of his denim to the nearest tailor and had him make the miner a pair of trousers. The miner was so pleased that he told other miners about the wonderful newcomer,Levi,and soon Levi Strauss had to open a shop,producing enough trousers for the miners. The miners wanted trousers that were comfortable to ride in and were low cut so that they could bend over easily to pick up the gold from under their feet. Besides they wanted the trousers to have big useful pockets. One miner complained that the gold in his pockets kept tearing them. So Levi put metal corners in the pockets to make them stronger. Very soon,miners and cowboys from all over came to get fitted up with Levi's trousers. Today more than a hundred years later, Levi's trousers walk the world a Levi's blue jeans . | high4547.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "People can live to 122."
},
"options": [
"People can live to 122.",
"Old people are creative.",
"Women are sporty at 85.",
"Women live longer than men."
],
"question": "What does the story of Jeanne Calment prov... | She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121st birthday.
When it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world's recordholder. She lived to the ripe old age of 122. So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span ? If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150-or beyond?
Researchers don't entirely agree on the answers. "Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn't surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135, "says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas.
Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees. "People can live much longer than we think, "he says. "Experts used to say that humans couldn't live past 110. When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120. So why can't we go higher? "
The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it's all just guessing. "Anyone can make up a number, "says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan. "Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine. "
Won't new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries? Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120. Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most. So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller, "adding another 50 percent would get you to 120. "
So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers? That life span is flexible , but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington. "We can get flies to live 50 percent longer, "he says. "But a fly's never going to live 150 years. "Of course, if you became a new species , one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story, he adds.
Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve their way to longer life? "It's pretty cool to think about, "he says with a smile. | high3228.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "doesn't think it necessary to see a doctor immediately if a person has a temperature of 40degC"
},
"options": [
"doesn't believe in the old advice about preventing colds",
"is now trying his best to provide proofs for long-held bel... | Autumn and winter are cold and flu seasons. Will the old advice about dressing warmly help prevent a cold, or if you get sick, should you follow the old saying, "feed a cold and starve a fever?" And what about that fever? Should you take medicine to reduce your temperature, or is it better to let the body treat the fever itself? Everyone seems to have an answer. But is popular wisdom valuable?
Doctor Nelson knows a lot about cold and flu seasons. Nelson says research may be just starting to provide proofs for long-held beliefs. For example, scientists for years were against the idea that getting cold and wet might cause colds or flu. But recent studies have shown that cold temperatures cause stress on the body, and that stress can create conditions more inviting to viruses. So maybe it does make sense to wrap up warmly before going outside.
And what about feeding a cold and starving a fever? Nelson says if you have a cold and are hungry, you should eat. But a fever, especially a high one, suggests a more serious problem. He says people are usually not hungry when they have a high fever. Eating might even make a person sick. But drinking enough water is important. A fever easily makes the body lose water.
Finally, when should you treat a fever? Nelson says a fever should be treated if it stays at
40degC or above for a day or more. A high temperature can damage brain cells. The doctor also believes in treating a fever if it prevents a person from sleeping.
Medicine like aspirin, for example, can be used to reduce pain and fever. But aspirin should not be given to children because it can cause serious problems. | high7.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The boy was shorter than other boys."
},
"options": [
"The boy was not good at football.",
"The coach didn't like him.",
"His father always watched him.",
"The boy was shorter than other boys."
],
"question": "W... | A skinny young boy loved football with all his heart. But being half the size of the other boys, he got ly nowhere. This teenager lived alone with his father. Even though the boy was always standing on the bench , his father was always standing with cheering. He never missed a game. This young man was still the smallest of the class when he entered high school. But his father continued to encourage him.
When the young man went to college, he always put his heart and soul to every practice. This persistent young athlete never missed practice during his four years at college, but he never got to play in a game.
It was the end of his last football season, and he entered the practice field, the coach met him with a telegram. The young man read the telegram and became silent. He said to the coach, "My father died this morning." the coach said, "Take the rest of the week off, son."
The big game arrived and it was not going well. In the third quarter, when the team was ten points behind, a silent man said quietly to the coach. "Coach, please let me play," said the young man. Before long, the players and everyone in the stands could not believe their eyes. This little unknown, who had never played before, was doing everything right. His team finally won.
He looked at the coach, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Well you know my dad died, but did you know that my dad was blind?" the young man said, "Dad came to all my games, but today was the first time he could see me play, and I wanted to show him I could do it!" | high21874.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the everyday problems of people who use their left hands"
},
"options": [
"the right-handers",
"the everyday problems",
"the people who have some difficulty using equipment and tools",
"the everyday problems of people w... | Left-Handers' Day
International Left-Handers' Day is August the thirteenth. The International Left-Handers Day, Web site says the Left-Handers Club started the holiday in 1992. It wanted left-handers around the world to celebrate. And it wanted to bring attention to the everyday problems of people who use their left hands.
One of these problems is difficulty using equipment and tools, like scissors. In general, most tools and equipment are made for people who are right-handed. The Left-Handers Club tries to educate designers and producers to consider the safety of left-handed people when producing their products.
Another problem is that many people have considered it bad to be left-handed. Some teachers and parents have tried to force children who used their left hands to use their right ones instead.
Scientists do not really know why some people are left-handed. They have believed the reason is genetic.They say the gene increases the chance of being left-handed. It appears to play an important part in deciding which part of the brain controls different activities. In right-handed people, the left side of the brain usually controls speech and language. The right side controls feelings. However, the opposite is often true in left-handed people.
Scientists believe the gene is responsible for this. The gene showed a link with left-handedness in nine to twelve percent of the population.
About ten percent of people around the world are left-handed. | high2136.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Dispute on the budget bill."
},
"options": [
"Economic crisis.",
"The senate voting.",
"Dispute on the budget bill.",
"Lazy people across the country."
],
"question": "What may have lead to the government shutdo... | The United States government is back in business. Early Thursday morning, President Barack Obama signed a bill to reopen the government. The budget bill, drafted by Senate late on Wednesday night, raised the government's debt ceiling and averted a serious economic crisis. "With the shutdown behind us," Obama said after the Senate vote, "we now have an opportunity to focus on a sensible budget that is responsible, that is fair and that helps hardworking people all across this country."
Now that a settlement has been reached, formerly furloughed employees have returned to work, national museums and parks are reopening, and the government's gears are slowly beginning to turn again.
Before the shutdown, a federal funding bill went back and forth between the Senate and the House. A major issue was whether or not the government would pay for changes in Obama's healthcare plan. The Senate, with a Democratic majority, wanted to pass a budget that would fund the new healthcare law. But the House, which has a Republican majority, did not want government money used that way. Because an agreement could not be reached on a budget plan, the government was forced to partially shut down.
Sixteen days later, _ have come together to pass a measure that raised the country's debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is the strict legal limit Congress places on the amount of money that can be borrowed each year. Had this agreement not been met by October 17, the U.S. may not have been able to pay its promised payments. This legislation, or law, will fund the government through January 15. During this time, Obama and Congress will work on a long-term spending plan.
The effects of the two-week government shutdown were widespread. In addition to national parks, museums, memorials and monuments were off-limits to visitors. Workers at government-run organizations like NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency were furloughed. Part of the new legislation will pay back the 800,000 workers who were without pay during the shutdown.
Early Thursday, the Smithsonian Institution celebrated the government's reopening on Twitter. "We're back from the shutdown!" they wrote, announcing that museums would reopen Thursday and the National Zoo in Washington on Friday.
To the delight of many people, that also means the return of the zoo's popular live Panda camera. | high10471.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Some different celebrations still exist"
},
"options": [
"Chinese New Year Celebration is one of the most important celebrations in China",
"Chinese New Year Celebration can bring luck to them during the next year",
"Some dif... | Chinese New Year Celebration is the most important celebration of the year. Chinese people may celebrate the Chinese New Year in slightly different ways but their wishes are almost the same; they want their family members and friends to be healthy and lucky during next year.
Chinese New Year Celebration usually lasts for 15 days. Celebratory activities include Chinese New Feast, firecrackers, giving lucky money to children, the New Year bell ringing and Chinese New Year Greetings. Most of Chinese people will stop the celebrating in their home on the 7th day of New Year because the national holiday usually ends around that day, however celebrations in public areas can last until the 15th day of New Year.
It is the money given to kids from their parents and grandparents as New Year gift. The money is believed to bring good luck, ward off monsters; hence the name "lucky money". Parents and grandparents first put money in small, especially-made red envelopes and give the red envelopes to their kids after the New Year's Feast or when they come to visit them on the New Year. They choose to put the money in red envelopes because Chinese people think red is a lucky color. They want to give their children both lucky money and lucky color. | high5659.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "we can fly directly from Beijing to Zurich"
},
"options": [
"it will only take us a day to fly from Beijing to Zurich",
"we can fly directly from Beijing to Zurich",
"the first flight from Beijing to Europe will only cost you... | Swiss International Air lines(SWISS)will introduce daily non-stop flights between Beijing and Zurich.
The new service to the financial center of Switzerland is expected to start on Dec.12,2012,which marks an expansion of services for the Chinese market.In May 2008,SWISS already started direct flights to Shanghai.
The first flight to Europe has a special price of 2,680 yuan,which does not include taxes and fuel surcharges.
"I am delighted the airlines of Switzerland can contribute to growing economic ties between the two countries with new daily flights scheduled,"says SWISS CEO Harry Hohmeister.
"We are witnessing a growing demand for tourist travel in both directions."
Apart from Shanghai and Hong Kong,Beijing will be the third Chinese destination for SWISS.
The new route marks a return to Beijing for SWISS:the airlines previously flew to the Chinese capital as late as June 2003.
SWISS will initially operate its new daily non-stop Beijing-Zurich flights with an Airbus A340-300(219 seats)and Airbu: A330-300(236 seats)air-crafts.
The modem SWISS business class offers the most suitable comforts since the seats can be adjusted into a two-meter-long bed.
Seating firmness and softness can be adjusted thanks to air cushions.
With the introduction of the new SWISS service from Beijing,the Lufthansa Group Airlines may attract more Chinese customers when traveling to Europe.
SWISS.Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines already connect five Chinese cities with Europe and beyond.
This airlines group is the leading European airlines network in the Chinese market.
In the summer of 2011,the Lufthansa Group operated 78 weekly flights from China including Hong Kong to Europe.
SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group as well as a member of the Star Alliance,the world's biggest airlines grouping. | high6350.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Upset."
},
"options": [
"Happy.",
"Excited.",
"Cool.",
"Upset."
],
"question": "How do you feel when you are drowned by a lot of tourists?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | If you choose a hot tourist spot for your holiday, you are likely to be drowned by a great number of tourists, noise and long lines. At this point you might wonder why you ever left home. Here are some tips to deal with crowds and avoid the trouble that might ruin your trip.
Book Tickets In Advance
Buy tickets online before you leave home, and skip the crowds and endless lines at your destination . Smart travelers can avoid the queue when visiting abroad with online ticket sales.
Talk To People
You can ask the travel agency and the hotel for help. Ask questions, get maps, ask about taxis, restaurants and the sites you wish to visit. These people are experts and can save you lots of time trying to find things out for yourself.
Sign Up For Special Tours
If there are any special events or tours being offered for your vacation, buy them in advance. Firstly they are usually cheaper bought in advance and secondly it makes sure you get booked in before they are sold out.
Visit During the Weekdays
We all know that most sites and events are less crowded during the week than on weekends when people are off work and the kids are out of school. Flights are also usually cheaper on weekdays than they are on weekends.
Watch The Weather
_ controls a lot of what we do especially for outdoor activities. Check the weather forecasts and plan your indoor and outdoor activities according to the weather ahead of time. | high14617.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Petroleum formation appears to begin in marine sediments where organic matter exists."
},
"options": [
"Microscopic organisms that live in mud produce crude oil and natural gas.",
"Large amounts of oxygen are needed for petroleum f... | Petroleum, consisting of crude oil and natural gas, seems to originate from organic matter in marine sediment .Tiny organisms settle to the seafloor and gather in marine mud. The organic matter may partially break down, using up the dissolved oxygen in the sediment. As soon as the oxygen is gone, decay stops and the remaining organic matter is preserved.
Continued sedimentation buries the organic matter and subjects it to higher temperatures and pressures, which change the organic matter to oil and gas. As muddy sediments are pressed together, the gas and small drops of oil may be squeezed out of the mud and may move into sandy layers nearby. Over millions of years, accumulations of gas and oil can collect in the sandy layers. Both oil and gas are less dense than water, so they generally tend to rise upward through rock and sediment.
Oil pools are valuable underground accumulations of oil, and oil fields are regions underlain by one or more oil pools. When an oil pool or field is discovered, wells are drilled into the ground. When the well reaches a pool, oil usually rises up the well because of its density difference with water beneath it or because of the pressure of expanding gas trapped above it. Although this rise of oil is almost always carefully controlled today, strong natural flows of oil were common in the past. Gas pressure gradually dies out, and oil is pumped from the well. Water or steam may be pumped down neighboring wells to help push the oil out.
As oil becomes increasingly difficult to find, the search for it is extended into more unfriendly environments. The development of the oil field on the North Slope of Alaska and the construction of the Alaska pipeline are examples of the great expense and difficulty involved in new oil discoveries. Offshore drilling platforms extend the search for oil to the ocean's continental shelves. More than one-quarter of the world's oil and almost one-fifth of the world's natural gas come from offshore, even though offshore drilling is six to seven times more expensive than drilling on land.
Of course, there is far more oil underground than can be recovered. Even given the best exploration techniques, only about 30 to 40 percent of the oil in a given pool can be brought to the surface. The rest is far too difficult to reach and has to remain underground. | high9063.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a myth or legend"
},
"options": [
"history",
"politics",
"a contemporary life",
"a myth or legend"
],
"question": "This reading passages is most probably an account of _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questi... | The Toltec---as they were now called ---began to know great abundance and enjoy the
generous gifts of the land, as had been foretold by Quetzalcoatl.
"He has great powers.He has made us rich.We have not known hunger since he arrived.Where he places his eyes and hands,everything is abundance and beauty."
They were happy, they were proud. At that time they all still worked at the jobs Quetzalcoatl assigned to them.
Tula grew. People came from far away to admire its growth. Many asked permission to settle down and enjoy its abundance,which was distributed according to the needs of the people.
Topiltzin was in charge of distributing the riches,under the orders of Quetzalcoatl, so that no one would want. They were all content because they all had more than they had ever had. Many worked.They were busy all day.
Quetzalcoatl had spent six years among the Toltecs. The house for the heart of the people was almost finished and the granaries full when he decided.
"There is prosperity and abundance in all the land.Let us extend it beyond the mountains.We shall go to the land of the Chichimecs.It is time to take my mission to them. I shall make them better,I shall make them live together,I shall gather them in towns,I shall teach them to till the land and to build their homes."
"Let us leave them in their land as they are now ,"Topiltzin argued,"They are savages ;their life is violent and disorderly.They move freely,like the wind in the mountains and the plains,with nothing to keep them.Leave them where they are.There is much that we must do in our own land.
"I do not belong to this land alone.They are all my brothers,I am to give all of them, I shall look for them. I shall take the gods of Tula to them,"Quetzalcoatl said.
"Think carefully about what we shall do.You do not know them.They do not understand words. They are like savage animals,like jaguars," Topiltzin insisted.
"I shall go,"said Quetzalcoatl."My life must be accomplished.This time you will not accompany me because you do not have the will to go.I shall leave soon with some of my followers."
"Do not go with so few people! I shall accompany you with skillful warriors who are used
to killing Chichimecs and avoiding their traps." Topiltzin insisted.
"I am not going there with violence. I shall go to them as I came here,to take them the gifts of life and the doctrine of sin and redemption ."
"You have not spoken of sin and redemption for a long time," Tattle remarked. He had been listening attentively to the dialogue,and was then close to seventeen years of age."You have not come near the Tree you planted in the square in a long time.The Tree has no shoots,it has not grown,it looks sad and lonely."
"During this time,Tattle,I have often thought of it.There was confusion in my spirit.Now the Tree orders me to spread good in other lands,to make other brothers happy. It will soon have shoots." | high13178.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They are able to play a lot of tricks."
},
"options": [
"They are able to play a lot of tricks.",
"Humans know well of dolphins' language.",
"Their brain chemistry is similar to humans'.",
"Dolphins' mothers care little... | There's no doubt that man is the smartest. But do you know what other animals are smart, too?
Dolphins
Dolphins are very smart. Most of the "tricks" they're taught to do are actually behavior they would engage in on their own. They love to play, race and generally enjoy their life to the fullest. They speak a language we have yet to completely understand and like all civilized creatures, dolphins' mothers always provide their young children with guidance and possibly, love.
Great apes
The great ape family primarily consists of gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans. Their brain chemistry is so similar to humans' that NASA once used chimpanzees in place of astronauts during many dangerous missions. Gorillas have been taught sign language and orangutans exist in complex familial relationships.
Elephants
Everyone has heard the phrase "an elephant never forgets". Elephants establish long-term friendships, recognizing and remembering their friends years later. If an elephant comes upon a fallen friend, it has even been known to feel sad.
Parrots
As proved by this list, parrots are very smart. They are also the only animals listed that can actually hold a conversation. Some parrots know hundreds of words by imitating humans. The birds are also capable of remembering words and using them intelligently in response to situations. | high12266.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "training classes for students"
},
"options": [
"training classes for students",
"the directions for a product",
"acting classes for college students",
"an introduction to a film"
],
"question": "The ad is about ... | HAVE FUN IN SPRING!
Special four-week mini-session
April -- May
Acting Classes for Ages 4+ and Teens!
Classes meet once a week for four weeks. All classes are led by highly experienced Dallas Children's Theater (DCT) artists. Since this is a mini-session, classes will not present a show. Pre-K (Pre-Kindergarten) students will explore stories and characters from the world of books and literature. For students in Act It Up (K-1st && 2nd-3rd) and Acting (4th-6th), the classes will explore characters, expression and creativity through creative dramatics activities.
Full $80 payment per student is required for enrollment . Classes will be filled first-come-first-served. For questions or to enroll, contact Nancy Schaeffer at 214-978-0110 or nancy@dct.org.
Tuesdays 4:00-5:30 April 22-May 13, 2008
Play Days -- Pre-K
*Explore the wonderful characters from your favorite books
*Act out the stories you know so well and maybe a few new ones too!
*Take turns being on the stage with your class as you become many fun and creative characters
Act It Up! Grades K-1 & Grades 2-3
Explore the most important aspects of acting:
*Characters: Who are You?
* Imagination: See where it takes you -- be creative!
Wednesdays 4:30-6:00 April 23-May 14, 2008
Acting -- Grades 4-6
Explore the most important aspects of acting:
* Characterization: Movement and Voice
* Imagination: Listening, Learning and Taking a chance
Auditions and Monologues -- Grade 7+
* Work on a monologue that you can use for any audition
*Learn the tricks for how to do your best at your next audition -- at school, church or local theater
*Get feedback from a professional and make improvements to your auditioning skills | high15509.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He was fooled by a schoolboy."
},
"options": [
"He had a fight with an eleventh-grader.",
"He was fooled by a schoolboy.",
"He was five minutes late for class.",
"He fell into a pool on the fourth floor."
],
"qu... | On my first day of high school, I asked an eleventh-grader where my class was. And he told me it was "on the fourth floor, next to the pool." I found out five minutes later that we didn't even have a fourth floor and there was no pool either! Besides that, I didn't have any trouble with the older kid.
I think the biggest difference between middle and high school is the homework load and size of the school. I went from maybe fifteen minutes of homework a night to several hours, so I had to learn how to make full use of time! Our class size is around 550, but joining in clubs, sports, music and other activities at school makes it easier to get to know people in every grade.
The best advice I can give about the years you spend in high school is to learn things for yourself, not just to get a good grade. There have been so many tests that I've prepared for the night before, gotten an A, but not remember anything later. I've changed that this year, and I enjoy school so much more. Don't take easy classes just to have a simple year. If you have a choice between chemistry and sports, the first will prove to be a lot more useful!
While drinking and smoking might be present in some middle schools, they are also around in high school. I have a lot of friends who promised they would never drink or smoke, but are now partying every weekend. If you have "fun" and spend your nights wasted instead of studying, you will regret it when you are applying for college. The "friends" who say you are a loser for not partying are really not your friends at all. It's hard to see your closest friends grow apart and go in different directions, but don't follow their footsteps. Follow your own path in life and make your own decisions. | high7728.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "is well worth focusing on"
},
"options": [
"would like to talk to you",
"is well worth focusing on",
"wants to make friends with you",
"is the one you're looking for"
],
"question": "A person who has a low-level... | When you are talking to somebody at a party, do you focus entirely on the person you are speaking with or does your attention keep jumping around the room to all the other people there? General1y, if the person is someone you really want to talk to, you will focus on him. Most other people will only get about half of your attention.
You may think that this is OK, because if you don't really want to talk to him, then what does it matter if you don't give him your full attention? Consider two things. First, you may just not realize the importance of that conversation. If you are at a networking meeting and you hope to meet the CEO of Company X, but you end up talking to someone who has a low-level job at a different company, then you may let your attention wander as you speak to him. But maybe you don't realize that this person has already met the CEO and could introduce you. Do you think he will do that if he feels you don't really care about speaking to him? This doesn't mean you need to spend the whole time talking to him. Five or ten minutes of real attentive conversation can be worth 30 minutes to an hour of partial attention.
Second, whether you want to speak to someone is based on the situation. You can love your wife, but if she tries to talk to you while you are watching something you like on TV, where is your attention going? Make your own decision, but if you want her to feel valued, give her your 100% attention. The nice thing is that in many cases you can give her your attention for a few minutes and then return to what you were doing. You miss very little, she feels valued, and all is good. | high815.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "seldom put models on the cover"
},
"options": [
"seldom put models on the cover",
"no longer put models on the cover",
"need not worry about celebrities' market potential",
"judge the market potential of every celebrity... | Celebrity has become one of the most important representatives of popular culture. Fans used to be crazy about a specific film, but now the public tends to base its consumption on the interest of celebrity attached to any given product. Besides, fashion magazines have almost abandoned the practice of putting models on the cover because they don't sell nearly as well as famous faces. As a result, celebrities have realized their unbelievably powerful market potential, moving from advertising for others' products to developing their own.
Celebrity clothing lines aren't a completely new phenomenon, but in the past they were typically aimed at the ordinary consumers, and limited to a few TV actresses. Today they're started by first-class stars whose products enjoy equal fame with some world top brands. The most successful start-ups have been those by celebrities with specific personal style. As celebrities become more and more experienced at the market, they expand their production scale rapidly, covering almost all the products of daily life.
However, for every success story, there's a related warning tale of a celebrity who overvalued his consumer appeal. No matter how famous the product's origins is, if it fails to impress consumers with its own qualities it begins to resemble an exercise in self-promotional marketing. And once the initial attention dies down, consumer interest might fade, loyalty returning to tried-and-true labels.
Today, celebrities face ever more severe embarrassment. The pop-cultural circle might be bigger than ever, but its rate of turnover has speeded up as well. _ and the same newspaper or magazine that once brought him fame has no problem picking him to pieces when the opportunity appears. Still, the ego's potential for expansion is limitless. Having already achieved great wealth and public recognition, many celebrities see fashion as the next frontier to be conquered. As the saying goes, success and failure always go hand in hand. Their success as designers might last only a short time, but fashion -- like celebrity -- has always been temporary. | high12500.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "you get a book somewhere for free without knowing in advance"
},
"options": [
"you get a book on how to avoid accidents",
"you know where to get a book for free",
"you get a book somewhere for free without knowing in advance"... | If you happen to find "On the Road" at a gas station or "Who Moved My Cheese?" in your grocery store, it might not be and accident. You could be the unwitting beneficiary of a "bookcrosser"---- a person who on purpose leaves books in public places hoping they'll be found by strangers.
The idea o leaving a book for someone else to find and enjoy is not new ---- some people have been leaving just-finished books in airports and on buses since the dawn of the hurry-up-and-wait. Creating a system for book-leavers to find out what happened to those books adds a new way to the practice. Bokcrossing.com, the website that encourages books to be "released into the wild", has more than 18,000 members since its start last year, and averages 112 new participants daily.
Its members have scattered more than 42,000 novels, self-help books, memoirs, technical manuals and biographies in 45 countries, leaving them in public restrooms, movie theatres, coffee studios or anywhere that they can imagine. The result: a worldwide living library.
Peri Doslu, a California yoga instructor, has dropped three--- one on top of a telephone booth, one on a rock wall at remote Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada, and another in one of the studios where she teaches.
"I'm always looking for paces to pass on books," said Doslu. "To think my book's going to go off and have this future, and I might even get to know a little bit about it down the road." | high1359.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Her life was saved by a lifeguard."
},
"options": [
"She ran into the sea.",
"Her life was saved by a lifeguard.",
"She was drowned.",
"She died."
],
"question": "What happened to Sandra?",
"question_type": ... | Mr. and Mrs. Gordon were sitting on the sand, reading their magazines. Mr. Gordon was too stingy to rent a chair. Their twelve-year-old daughter,Sandra, was playing at the water's edge. Suddenly a huge wave lifted Sandra up and carried her out to sea. Fortunately, a lifeguard was on duty and he saw the wave carry Sandra away. He ran along the beach and dived into the sea. He swam quickly to where the girl, with her head only just above the water, was shouting for help. She was very frightened. When the lifeguard reached her, she struggled with him, as drowning people often do. However, he was a skilful lifeguard and quickly took hold of her and swam with her back to the beach. By the time he reached it, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon had realized what had happened. They had run down to the water's edge. Neither of them could swim. They just stood in the shallow water, and worried about their daughter. Had the lifeguard reached her in time? Fortunately, he had. "That was quick work,young man,"Mr. Gordon said. He turned to his wife, "Give the lifeguard a dollar." "A dollar!" Sandra cried. "Dad,how can you give him a dollar! He saved my life. I was half dead." "Quite right, girl" Mr. Gordon said, pleased by his daughter's awareness of the value of money. He turned to his wife again and said, "She's right. She was only half dead. Give him fifty cents. " | high55.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "providing customer service"
},
"options": [
"scheduling appointments",
"providing customer service",
"assisting the physician with examinations",
"recording health information"
],
"question": "As a medical assis... | Five Booming Careers in Health Care
Loving what you do is great,but knowing your career will be there tomorrow is even better. And when it comes to booming fields,the health care industry is one that's primed for growth.
Want to prepare to take your place in the health care field?Check out these five indemand health care careers.
Career 1 Medical and Health Services Manager
If you want to take your leadership skills into the growing health care field,consider pursuing a career as a medical and health services manager.
As a medical and health services manager you might plan,direct,and organize health services in an entire health care facility,or a specific department or clinical area,says U.S. Department of Labor. Daily duties could include handling a facility's finances,creating work schedules,and making sure that health care services are delivered efficiently.
Career 2 Medical Assistant
If you are interested in working in a doctor's office,consider preparing for a career in the indemand field of medical assisting.
As a medical assistant,you could play a role in helping patients' visits go smoothly from when they first walk in the door. Your duties might include measuring vital signs,assisting the physician with examinations,recording health information,and scheduling appointments,according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Career 3 Registered Nurse
Ready to put your helpful nature to use in the largest health care field?Look into prepping to pursue a career in registered nursing.
As a registered nurse,you could work closely with patients by providing care,education,and emotional support. You might give patients medicines and treatments,observe their conditions,or perform diagnostic tests,says the U.S. Department of Labor.
Career 4 Physical Therapist Assistant
Want to enter an indemand health care field where you could really play a handson role in helping patients restore their physical functionality?If so,a career as a physical therapist assistant could be a good fit.
Under the supervision of a physical therapist,you could help patients regain movement as they recover from injuries,illnesses, or surgery. Your role in the rehabilitation process could include assisting patients with techniques(massage[],stretching)and therapeutic methods like electrical stimulation and mechanical traction,says the U.S. Department of Labor.
Career 5 Pharmacy Technician
Prefer a health care career that is less handson?Consider pursuing a career in the growing pharmacy technician field.
Pharmacy technicians can be responsible for counting pills,filling prescriptions,providing customer service,and fulfilling administrative tasks under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist,according to the U.S. Department of Labor. | high9705.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "people he knows"
},
"options": [
"anyone heading the same way",
"friends of friends",
"people he knows",
"strangers of his age"
],
"question": "The writer usually shares a car with _ .",
"question_type": ... | Well, what a bonus! Lots of us are using technology to find rides, and not just to school. It's awkward to call
a friend and ask for a ride, and half the time they'll say, "Sorry,my car is full." But with Twitter and Facebook, you just tweet Ashleys Pool Party and look for other people heading the same way.
It may sound risky, but many teens stay within their own social circles to find rides, and don't branch out beyond friends of friends when asking on Twitter. For me, I only rideshare with people I know, but to some young people, especially those taking longer trips, stranger danger is less of a concern.
The sharing economy got big during the recession . It allows people to access more goods and services using technology, while also allowing them to share cost. And that, technology, for me, is what the car was for my mom, a gateway to more freedom.
According to the researchers at the University of Michigan,30 years ago, eight in ten American 18-year-olds had a driver's license. Today it's six in ten. So it's not that surprising that on my 16th birthday I wasn't rushing to get a license. All I wanted was an IPhone, Juliet Schor (Sociology professor at Boston College) knows people of my age love being connected and for young people driving means they have to disconnect from their technology, and that's negative. So if they could sit in the passenger side and still be connected, that's going to be a plus.
To me, another plus is ridesharing represents something much bigger than trying to save money. I see it as evidence that people still depend on each other. My generation shares their cars and apartments the way neighbors used to share cups of sugar. For the system to work, we still need our own cars. But until I get my own version of the silver Super Beetle, you can find me on twitter. | high17478.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Smoking can make them cool"
},
"options": [
"Smoking will do harm to their health",
"Smoking can make them cool",
"Smoking will stop them from making friends",
"Smoking make them look less educated"
],
"question... | SOME teenagers take up smoking during the holidays either because they become "rich" enough to afford a pack of cigarettes or they think they look "cool". Everyone knows that "smoking is bad for you", but do smokers really know what the health warnings mean to them?
Smoking, the world's second leading cause of preventable death, kills 4.9 million people a year, the United Nations said on February 27. The world has about l.2 billion smokers and World Health Organization surveys show that about 20 per cent of them are children aged between 13 and 15 years old.
On the same day, a global treaty aimed at encouraging children not to smoke and help people kick the habit came into force. This is the first worldwide agreement on a public health issue. It will see strong warnings added to cigarette packets and a ban on all tobacco advertising.
Young smokers may think little of the health effects of smoking. But smoking can stop them from making friends, as most non-smokers don't like being around smokers.
"I feel sick when I see people of my age smoke. Smokers make themselves look less educated ," said Shi Qingyu, a Senior 3 student at Luanxian No 1 High School in Hebei Province. Once while on a bus, he asked a girl who was smoking next to him to put out her cigarette.
For Wang Gezhu, a Senior l girl from Wuxi Furen High School in Jiangsu Province,boys who smoke are less attractive.
"Boys that smoke may think they are cool or impressive, but I think they look weird compared to other ordinary students in my eyes. They only do what others won't risk doing," Wang said.
Every one wants to impress others, but there are ways to show off other than smoking.
On February 26, around 200 students from across the country gathered in Beijing to be awarded for their outstanding performance in the 2004 "Sunflower Cup". The programme included several contests in writing, calligraphy , drawing and painting. It aimed to encourage students to take part in meaningful activities so that they could spend their free time developing healthy habits and hobbies.
"Teenagers are energetic and quick to learn, both good and bad things. For the sake of their own health, teenagers should learn to say no to their first cigarette because life as a smoker is a life of addiction. You can't quit," said Wang Zhengqi, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Association on Smoking and Health. | high10317.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Her hometown with fantastic scenery."
},
"options": [
"Her dignity from education.",
"Her lifelong devotion to teaching.",
"Her hometown with fantastic scenery.",
"Her experience as a speech maker."
],
"question... | "Holding girls back from an education is robbing them of their dignity ," says Mariam, a teacher, in an interview with Action Press.
"I feel proud when I tell people that I'm from Swat in Pakistan, with its green and mountainous valley. But I don't feel proud about the number of women and girls where I'm from who are still being unable to enjoy the right for an education.
"I have taught many students -- including Malaya, the young education activist who was shot in the head as travelling to school in Pakistan after campaigning for girls' education. Among them I see the dignity that education can offer. This is why I have long been devoted to teaching, and why I am doing what I can to make sure that all girls have the chance to go to school.
"At the Khushaal school and college in Mingora, many girls are prevented from going to school because of poverty and fights. However, the most common reasons for girls not attending classes are cultural. People fear that females will become too independent if educated. Instead, parents prefer to marry off girls early. Girls and young women are considered a financial burden if left dependent on their parents."
"In the school where I have been teaching for over ten years, I have seen how this discrimination plays out. Parents regard an educated and independent female as being too clever for her own. Even if parents agree to give a girl an education, a limit is set to the number of years for her to attend classes and it is common for girls to make it through only primary school. This is why I have been working tirelessly to change these damaging views and cultural practices. These are crimes against humanity ,which I have no choice but to strongly accuse of."
"Malala was right to fight for her education." says Mariam, who will be in New York with UNESCO , delivering a speech calling for world leaders to make sure every child gets a chance to go to school. | high11009.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Cave Art Turns Out to Be Britain's Oldest"
},
"options": [
"Cave Art About Animals Is Most Beautiful",
"Cave Art Found in an Unusual Way",
"Cave Art Turns Out to Be Britain's Oldest",
"Cave Art in Britain"
],
"q... | Scientists recently discovered that pictures on cave walls at Creswell Crags are the oldest known in Great Britain. But they didn't find out in the usual way.
Archaeologists often date cave art with a process called radiocarbon dating. The technique can measure the age of carbon found in charcoal drawings or painted pictures. Carbon is an element found in many things, including charcoal and even people. But in this case, there was no paint or charcoal to test. People carved the pictures of animals and figures into the rock using stone tools. The scientists had an "aha!" moment when they noticed small rocks stuck to the top of the drawings. The small rocks must have formed after the drawings were made.
"It is rare to be able to scientifically date rock art," said Alistair Pike, an archaeological scientist at Britain's University of Bristol. "We were very fortunate that some of the engravings were covered by stalagmites .
When a test proved that the stalagmites formed 12,800 years ago, the scientists knew the art underneath them had to be at least that old. And some of the animals shown, like the European bison, are now extinct--another tip-off that the art is quite old.
The artists came to Creswell Crags, This place is one of the farthest points north reached by our ancient ancestors during the Ice Age. At that time, much of the North Sea was dry, so people could move about more easily.
Some tools and bones found there are 13,000 to 15,000 years old. They show that the travelers hunted horses, reindeer, and arctic hare. Their artwork is similar to art in France and Germany. It tells scientists that the Creswell Crags artists must have had a close connection to peoples several thousand kilometers away-another important clue to understanding how humans spread out across the world. | high18993.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "businessman"
},
"options": [
"teacher",
"doctor",
"businessman",
"professor"
],
"question": "When he was a teenager, Bill Gates wanted to be a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer... | As a teenager in 1972, Bill Gates boasted that he would be a millionaire by the time he was 20. While he did not quite achieve that goal, only 15 years later, he was a millionaire. And by 1992, as head of the Microsoft company, he became the richest man in America with assets of nearly US $ 6.3 billion.
Born in Seattle, Washington on 28, October, 1956, Gates was named William Henry after his father and grandfather. From the beginning, he was an extremely energetic and intelligent child. He had read the entire world book encyclopedia by the age of nine. His favorite subjects at school were science and math and his favorite pastime was "thinking".
Gates first started to play with computers at the age of 13. Before long he became an expert at working the school's computer. After his graduation from secondary school, Gates was accepted by the three top universities in the USA-Princeton, Harvard and Yale. He chose Harvard and began classes there the next autunm, majoring maths. But he was still obsessed with computers and spent as much time in the computer laboratories as he did in the lecture halls.
By 1975, Gates and a partner, Paul Allen, had developed a software program called BASIC. This was not the first program ever created, but its inventors were the first to decide that people who wanted to use it should pay for it.
BASIC was a success because until it came along, there had been no efficient way of getting computers to carry out instructions. Although he had not completed his degree, Gates left university and went to work full time for the new company he had formed called Microsoft.
His next project was the software program that made him famous and very rich. It was called DOS, short for Disk Operating System, and it was purchased by IBM in 1980. Today it is the operating system used in more than 14 million personal computers around the world.
As chief executive officer of Microsoft, Gates is known as a bright man, but one who is not easily satisfied. He is quick to criticize his staff and hates to be questioned about decisions he has made. He was regarded as a loner and unfashionable boring computer nut until his marriage to Microsoft manager Melinda French on New Year's Day 1994. Yet to many people now, Gates, is a person who is, in spite of his great wealth, humble and ordinary. He spends his money carefully. He eats in fast food restaurants and flies economy class. And when praised for Microsoft's great success, he has been heard to say, "All we do is put software in a box and if people see it in the stores and like it, they buy it." | high2888.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "his disease couldn't be cured"
},
"options": [
"he had to rest at home",
"his disease couldn't be cured",
"his disease was not serious at all",
"he had to wait for the result of the test"
],
"question": "The doc... | When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it were your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choice in life.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that was incurable, and that I would live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is my doctors' code for preparing yourself to die.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. I was completely in despair. Later that evening, I had another examination and my wife told me that tumor turned to be curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I' m fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death. To tell the truth, no one wants to die. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. It clears out the old to make room for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away.
Your time is so limited that you shouldn't waste it repeating someone else's life. Don' t be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people' s thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart. It somehow already knows what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Ks5u | high16766.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "there is no electricity"
},
"options": [
"there is no electricity",
"the weather is bad",
"there is no water",
"people don't want the dirty water"
],
"question": "Sometimes the water tanker doesn't come because ... | Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn: scores of silent women with babies on their backs, buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a bright-blue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker goes across the dirt path that serves as a road in Kesum Purbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don't come at all. "That water kills people," a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of pails filled with thick, caramel -colored liquid. "Whoever drinks it will die." The water was from a pipe shared by thousands of people in the poor neibourhood. Women often use it to wash clothes and bathe their children, but nobody is desperate enough to drink it.
There is no standard for how much water a person needs each day, but experts usually put the minimum at fifty litres. The government of India promises (but rarely provides) forty. Most people drink two or three litres--less than it takes to wash a toilet. The rest is typically used for cooking and bathing. Americans consume between four hundred and six hundred litres of water each day, more than any other people on earth. Most Europeans use less than half that. The women of Kesum Purbahari each hoped to drag away a hundred litres that day--two or three buckets' worth. Shoba has a husband and five children, and that much water doesn't go far in a family of seven, particularly when the temperature reaches a hundred and ten degrees before noon. She often makes up the difference with bottled water, which costs more than water delivered any other way. Sometimes she just buys milk; it's cheaper. Like the poorest people everywhere, the people of New Delhi's slums spend a far greater percentage of their incomes on water than anyone lucky enough to live in a house connected to a system of pipes. | high4221.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Foreign-English teachers."
},
"options": [
"Chinese-English teachers.",
"Foreign-English teachers.",
"Chinese-speaking students.",
"English-learning students."
],
"question": "What kind of people is the passage ... | Nanjing and Hangzhou summer camps offered
We are looking for hard-working and open-minded English teachers to join the Nanjing ( Jiangsu Province) and Hangzhou ( Zhejiang Province) summer camps !
Both of the summer camps will run from the beginning of July to the end of August. You will be expected to teach spoken English to Chinese students of different ages. We encourage you to bring your own culture to the classes to make things more interesting.
The information of the Nanjing camp:
* Working hours: 40 hours per week, 5 working days per week.
* Salary: about 7, 000 RMB per month.
* Accommodation: free (single room).
The information of the Hangzhou camp:
* Working hours: 5 hours per day ( = 50 min./class x 6 classes), one day rest per week.
* Salary: 20,160 RMB in total (420 RMB per day = 70 RMB/class x 6 classes).
* Accommodation: free (shared room).
The requirements of the summer camps:
* Native English speakers (US, England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand).
* A university degree.
* Teaching experience.
Please send us your resume , copies of certificates and passport if you are interested in the camps.
E-mail: teacher1324@ sina. com. cn
For more information you can visit our website at http://www. English summer camps. com. cn.
Look forward to hearing from you soon! | high19455.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she visited a club on Thursday"
},
"options": [
"she worked at a club on the day",
"she had visitors on Thursday",
"she visited a club on Thursday",
"a special visitor came on Thursday"
],
"question": "Mrs. Clar... | On Thursday afternoon Mrs. Clarke, dressed for going out, took her handbag with her money and her key in it, pulled the door behind her to lock it and went to the over 60s Club. She always went there on Thursdays. It was a nice outing for an old woman who lived alone.
At six o'clock she came home, let herself in and at once smelt cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke in her house? How? How? Had someone got in? She checked the back door and the windows. All were locked or fastened, as usual. There was no sign of forced entry.
Over a cup of tea she wondered whether someone might have a key that fitted her front door -- " _ " perhaps. So she stayed at home the following Thursday. Nothing happened. Was anyone watching her movements? On the Thursday after that she went out at her usual time, dressed as usual, but she didn't go to the club. Instead she took a short cut home again, letting herself in through her garden and the back door. She settled down to wait.
It was just after four o'clock when the front door bell rang. Mrs. Clarke was making a cup of tea at the time. The bell rang again, and then she heard her letter-box being pushed open. With the kettle of boiling water in her hand, she moved quietly towards the front door. A long piece of wire appeared through the letter-box, and then a hand. The wire turned and caught around the handle on the door-lock. Mrs. Clarke raised the kettle and poured the water over the hand. There was a shout outside, and the skin seemed to drop off the fingers like a glove. The wire fell to the floor, the hand was pulled back, and Mrs. Clarke heard the sound of running feet. | high2644.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He was lost in the thought of the fishing trip."
},
"options": [
"He was riding to school.",
"He was listening to a strange sound.",
"He was going fishing with his father.",
"He was lost in the thought of the fishing tr... | Andy rode slowly on his way to school, day-dreaming about the fishing trip that his father had promised him. He was so busy dreaming about all the fish he would catch that he was unaware of everything else around him.
He rode along until a strange sound drew him to the present. He came to a stop and looked curiously up to the sky. What he saw shocked and terrified him. A huge swarm of bees filled the sky like a black cloud and the buzzing mass seemed to be heading angrily towards him.
With no time to waste, Andy sped off in the opposite direction, riding furiously--but without knowing how to escape the swarm. As the bees came closer, his panic increased. Andy knew that he was sensitive to bee stings . The last sting had landed him in hospital--and that was only one bee sting! Suddenly, his father's words came to him. "When you are in a tight situation, don't panic. Use your brain and think your way out of it."
On a nearby hill, he could see smoke waving slowly skywards from the chimney of the Nelson family home. "Bees don't like smoke," he thought. "They couldn't get into the house." But Andy knew he could not reach the house in time. He estimated that the bees would catch up with him soon.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a small dam used by Mr. Nelson. Off his bike and into the cool water he dived, disappearing below the surface and away from the savage insects. After holding his breath for as long as he could, Andy came up for air and noticed the bees had gone. Dragging himself out of the dam, he struggled up the hilly slope and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Nelson took him inside and rang his mother. | high10303.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "She felt both very anxious and helpless."
},
"options": [
"She felt proud of her children.",
"She felt eager to go back to work.",
"She felt both very anxious and helpless.",
"She felt worried about her children's growt... | Our youngest child eagerly entered kindergarten, while our oldest child excitedly went to college--and I felt left behind. After being very happy as a stay-at-home mother of six children, I suddenly felt stuck on a dead-end road and lacked direction. An inner anxiety troubled me that life was passing by. The road, requiring expensive education, appeared too long and difficult.
Thanks to supportive friends and family, I eventually discovered the road sign pointing to the ideal program at an excellent college, which offered a lot of student grants . Driving to my first class, I, aged 40, was eager and nervous.
School required sacrifices : weekends for class, sleep for study, and life's luxuries for tuition fees. But the rewards greatly outweighed the cost. The narrow and rocky road developed perseverance and patience, while the smooth and open road built low confidence. Along the way, I met fellow travelers of all ages and interests: a 50-year-old woman who learned photography at the community college; a successful 62-year-old businessman who worked toward a nursing degree to serve in developing countries; an 80-year-old woman who enthusiastically started classes to learn how to surf the Internet, so she could keep up with the world.
Twelve years after starting the journey as a non-traditional student, I graduated with a doctoral degree in literature. My children have been especially proud, calling me Dr. Mom. When you hear the small, still voice asking you to do something more or different, remember you can trust your heart. | high16772.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "should be paid attention to"
},
"options": [
"only happens to a few children",
"should be paid attention to",
"only boys may meet with",
"has made news headlines"
],
"question": "Dog biting is a problem which ... | "Children should not be left unsupervised to play with a dog." say experts in this week's British Medical Journal. Their advice is part of a review aimed at doctors who deal with dog bites.
"Dog bites and maulings are a worldwide problem, particularly in children." write Marina Morgan and John Palmer. Every year 250,000 people who have been bitten by dogs attend minor injuries and emergency units in the United Kingdom, and half of all children are reportedly bitten by dogs at some time, boys more than girls.
Accurate death figures are difficult to obtain, but in the past five years, two to three cases a year have made news headlines.
Based on the latest medical evidence, _ advise doctors how to examine and treat a patient presenting with a dog bite. They discuss the risk of infection and when to refer to specialist care. For travelers bitten abroad, they suggest assessing the risk of rabies .
In terms of prevention, they suggest that children should be taught to treat dogs with respect, avoid direct eye contact, and not tease them. They should be taught not to approach an unfamiliar dog; play with any dog unless under close supervision; run or scream in the presence of a dog; pet a dog without first letting it sniff you; or disturb a dog that is eating, sleeping, or caring for its babies.
"Dog owners also need to change their behavior", says Rachel Besser, a children's doctor and lifetime dog owner, in an article.
"It is clear that not all dog owners appreciate that children should not be left unsupervised with a dog", she says. Just as some parents are obliged to take parenting classes, she would like to see compulsive classes for expectant dog owners to teach them about the responsibilities of dog ownership. Educational programs are also needed to teach children about some precautionary behaviors around dogs.
Finally, she would like to see animal doctors advising dog owners about bite prevention, and doctors promoting bite prevention when treating patients who have been bitten by dogs. | high801.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "His old glasses were broken."
},
"options": [
"It was very warm and fine.",
"His glasses were missing.",
"His old glasses were broken.",
"He forgot to wear his glasses."
],
"question": "Why didn't the clerk Char... | My wife and I have always been friendly with the clerks at the local store. I don't think many people appreciate what a difficult job these clerks have. They work for a little money and I often wonder how they make ends meet.
One of the clerks, Charlie, was always wearing his glasses but he didn't one day. I asked him about it and he said they'd been out of order and that he couldn't afford a new pair. His family needed money. It was clear that he was having a difficult time.
We wanted to help him, so we turned to our own eye doctor for help with a plan. We had his secretary contact him, asking him to come in for an eye exam for free. We told the doctor to let him order whatever glasses he wanted and that we would pay for them. Although Charlie questioned what was going on, the doctor just told him that someone had offered the money for his new glasses. When we went in to pay the bill, the doctor told us he was touched by our idea so that he _ the exam fee and only charged us for half the price of the glasses!
It was so wonderful to see Charlie in his new glasses and he enjoyed telling all the regular customers how the gift came about. I'm sure that upon hearing his story, ideas of kindness may have come in the minds of many people. | high12514.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Be responsible for Our Own Choices."
},
"options": [
"Be responsible for Our Own Choices.",
"Overcome the Challenges in Our Life.",
"Acknowledge the Truth Rather than Deny It.",
"More than a Comfortable Fantasy."
],... | Imagine the following scenario : A woman buys her lunch every day from a fast food outlet near her job. After some years, she finds herself 30 pounds overweight, and feeling unhealthy. So what does she do? She chooses to bring a lawsuit against the fast food outlet, claiming that the food served there was the cause of her being overweight and in poor health.
Sounds ridiculous, doesn't? The only thing more absurd than the story itself is the fact that is not fiction. There are people who have sued fast food chains for causing their weight problems.
This is an example of one of the ways in which many of us spend enormous amounts of energy trying to deny the undeniable and universal fact that we are all ultimately responsible for our own choices and our own lives.
How much easier would we make it for ourselves if we could accept this fact rather than resist it? But how can we embrace the truth, that we are living the lives we choose to live, that we are enjoying or suffering the consequences of our own choices, and that blaming others for our problems and shortcomings is nothing more than a comfortable fantasy?
We must acknowledge the truth of our lives, however unpleasant this may be. If we are overweight, in a bad relationship, in a dead end, we need to accept that this is where we are, at this moment in time.
Imagine that woman decided that she was unhappy with the extra pounds she'd gained after many years of eating fast food on a regular basis. Imagine that this woman took the time to really understand and accept that she and no one else was responsible for her eating choices. Having acknowledged this fact, she then decides to make the changes in her lifestyle to become the healthier, slimmer person she wants to be. | high41.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the ice in the North Pole is melting faster than expected"
},
"options": [
"the ice in the North Pole will stop melting",
"the ice in the North Pole is melting faster than expected",
"the ice in the North Pole will melt befor... | If you want to see climate change, head north and keep going until you run out of globe. That is easier said than done. The Arctic is home to few people and covered in ice much of the year. But those who make their way to the icy seas of the Arctic Ocean will see a part of the planet that is warming and changing faster than anywhere else.
In September, scientists announced at the National Snow and Ice Data Center that Arctic summer sea ice had fallen to its second lowest level since 1979, and probably long before that. The Arctic has lost an area of ice greater than the area of all U.S. states east of the Mississippi River. And what ice remains appears to be getting thinner and weaker.
Nick Toberg and Till Wagner are polar ice scientists who are doing sea ice fieldwork. "There is plenty of data to suggest that the ice is becoming thinner as well as smaller in area," they say.
The changes happening in the Arctic are a warning for the entire world . As polar expert Walt
Meier puts it, " _
Some scientists worry that Arctic sea ice may be going from a downward spiral to a "death spiral", one from which there is no escape. As more ice melts , more dark open water appears. The darkness absorbs more heat, which speeds up the pace of melting.
Until recently, many scientists thought it might take until the end of the century for the North Pole to become completely ice free during the summer. Now some believe it could happen by 2030 or even earlier. "The melting is happening faster in the real world than it has in the models," says Nick Toberg. | high6422.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To be an underwater explorer."
},
"options": [
"To be a science teacher.",
"To be an animal expert.",
"To be a famous writer.",
"To be an underwater explorer."
],
"question": "What was Ballard's dream when he wa... | Robert Ballard was born in 1942. From an early age, he loved the sea. Ballard grew up in Southern California. He spent his free time at the beach near his home. He enjoyed fishing and swimming. He even learned to dive.
When Ballard wasn't at the ocean, he loved reading about it. At age 10, he read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a book which describes the undersea adventures of Captain Nemo. Ballard decided he wanted to be like Captain Nemo when he grew up. His parents helped him follow his dream.
Ballard was a hardworking student. He spent many years learning all he could about the ocean. By the age of 28, he was an expert. In 1970, he took a job as a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. There he studied underwater mountains of the Atlantic Ocean. He came up with ways to predict volcanoes under the oceans.
Working with other scientists, Ballard also found previously unknown sea animals. These animals lived far below the ocean's surface, where scientists had believed no animals could live.
By the 1980s, Ballard's interests changed. He developed unmanned vehicles to explore the ocean bottom. His first find, the well-known ship Titanic, made Ballard famous. He was not happy with just one big find, however. He looked for -- and found -- other well-known ships. One was the German battleship Bismarck. Another was the U.S. Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that sank during World War II.
Today Robert Ballard is still an underwater explorer. He also heads an organization that encourages students to learn about science. Ballard hopes that some of the students will follow in his footsteps. After all, the world's huge oceans are mostly unknown. Who knows what remains to be discovered under the sea? | high6344.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He was out of work."
},
"options": [
"He was out of work.",
"He was bored with his job.",
"He wanted a higher position.",
"he hoped to find a better boss."
],
"question": "Why did Jimmy apply for a new job?",
... | Jimmy is an automotive mechanic, but he lost his job a few months ago. He has a good heart,but always afraid to apply for a new job.
One day, he gathered up all his strength and decided to attend a job interview. His appoint--ment was at 10 a.m. and it was already 8:30. While waiting for a bus, he saw an elderly man wildly kicking the tyre of his car. Obviously there was something wrong with the car. Jimmy immediately went up to lend him a hand. When Jimmy finished working on the car, the old man askedhim how much he should pay for the service. Jimmy said there was no need to pay him; he just helped someone in need, and he had to rush for an interview. Then the old man said,"Well, Icould take you to the office for your interview. It's the least I could do. Please, I insist."Jimmy agreed.
Upon arrival, Jimmy found a long line of applicants waiting to be interviewed. Finally his name was called. The interviewer was sitting on a large chair facing the office window. Rocking the chair back and forth, he asked,"Do you really need to be interviewed?"Jimmy's heart sank."With the way I look now, how could I possibly pass this interview?"He thought to himself.
Then the interviewer turned the chair and to Jimmy's surprise, it was the old man he helped earlier in the morning.
"Sorry I had to keep you waiting, but I was pretty sure I made the right decision to have you as part of our workforce before you even stepped into this office. I just know you'd be a trustworthy worker. Congratulations!"Jimmy sat down and they shared a cup of well-deserved coffee . | high9077.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "carrying a bunch of flower"
},
"options": [
"carrying a bunch of flower",
"with the groom",
"with the bridesmaid",
"from a side door."
],
"question": "According to the passage, the bride enters the church _ ."... | Weddings in the United States vary as much as the people do. There are church weddings with a great deal of fanfare ; there are weddings on mountain tops with guests barefooted; there have been weddings on the ocean floor with oxygen tanks for the guests. But many weddings, no matter where or how they are performed, include certain traditional customs.
Before a couple is married, they become engaged. And then invitations are sent to those who live nearby, their close friends and their relatives who live far away. When everything is ready, then comes the most exciting moment.
The wedding itself usually lasts between 30 and 40 minutes. The wedding party enters the church while the wedding march is played. The bride carrying a bouquet enters last with her father who will "give her away". The groom enters the church from a side door. When the wedding party is gathered by the altar, the bride and groom exchange vows . It is traditional to use the words "to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part." Following the vows, the couple exchange rings. Wearing the wedding rings on the fourth finger of the left hand is an old custom.
After the ceremony, there is often a party, called a "reception" which gives the wedding guests an opportunity to congratulate the new couple.
The car in which the couple leaves the church is decorated with balloons. The words "Just Married" are painted on the trunk or back window. And then the couple go in their honeymoon. | high14603.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "his wish to express his own feelings"
},
"options": [
"his wish to express his own feelings",
"his dream of becoming a famous artist",
"his admiration for Lewis Carroll",
"his eagerness to cure his wife's illness"
]... | Charles Blackman:Alice in Wonderland
An Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV),Australia
10 June --12 August 2015
Venue The Ian Potter Centre
Admission Free entry
Charles Blackman is famous for his beautiful painting of dreams. In 1956, he heard for the first time Lewis Carroll's extraordinary tale of Alice in Wonderland -the story of a Victorian girl who falls down a rabbit hole, meets a lot of funny characters and experiences all kinds of things. At that time, Blackman's wife was suffering form progressive blindness. The story of Alice moving through the strange situations, often disheartened by various events, was similar to his wife's experiences. It also reflected so much of his own life. All this contributed to the completion of the Alice in Wonderland paintings.
Illustrator Workshop
Go straight to the experts for an introductory course in book illustration. The course includes an introduction to the process of illustration and its techniques, workshop exercise and group projects.
Dates Sunday 17 June &Sunday 5Aug.10am--1pm
Venue Gas Works Arts Park
Wonderful World
Celebrate the exhibition and Children's Book Week with special activities just for the day, including a special visit from Alice and the White Rabbit
Date Sunday 24 June, 11am--4pm
Venue Exhibition Space, Level 3
Topsy-Turvy
Visit the exhibition or discover wonderful curiosities in artworks in the NGV Collection and make a magic world in a box. Alice and the White Rabbit will be with you. Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland will be screened.
Dates Sunday 8,15,22,29 July, and Tuesday 24-Friday 27 July, 12noon--3pm
Venue Theatre, NGV Australia
Drawing Workshop
Distortions of scale ( ) can make artworks strange but interesting. Find out how Charles Blackman distorted scale in his paintings to create a curious world. Then experiment with scale in your own drawings. More information upon booking.
Date Friday 27 July, 10:30am-3pm
Venue Foyer, Level 3 | high12272.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Supportive"
},
"options": [
"Doubtful",
"Supportive",
"Critical",
"Uninterested"
],
"question": "What's the author's attitude towards mobile phones? _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"a... | "I can't live without my mobile phone!" is what I often hear people say as they talk about how mobiles have become an essential part of their lives.
The all so common sight of heads bent, eyes staring at mobile screens and fingers busy tapping away repeats itself across major cities around the world. Whenever there is a moment to spare while on the train, taxi or waiting in a queue, people busy themselves with their mobile phones.
Some people believe our unhealthy obsession with mobile phones is destroying how we appreciate the little things in life or miss the moments that matter. The truth is that technology overall should be seen as just a tool to improve our lives.
Mobile phones have certainly had a great influence on our lives, but I truly believe it is for the better.
It's changed the way we communicate, whether for work or play. We are now less constrained by time and geographical location. With my mobile phone, I can dial into conference calls while stuck in a traffic jam, or reply to urgent e-mails while on the go. I can send a text message or share photos and videos with friends who aren't living in the same country. My phone calendar keeps my life organized, and even Facebook, Twitter, and instant messaging are now accessible from mobile phones!
The mobile revolution isn't just changing the lives of urbanities like myself. I know of a young Bangladeshi woman named Shompa Akhter who is crazy about fashion and design. She dreamt about starting her own business and she did just that, opening a shop in Kushtia featuring her own creations. Dealing with supplies in different towns was a problem for Shompa --- purchase orders had to either be hand delivered or mailed out to supplies. Shompa also found it tough publicizing her business to potential customers outside her town. But once she learnt to operate the mobile phone, she was addicted. The 25-year-old businesswoman now stays in touch easily with her suppliers. Mobile e-mail is a blessing in her life.
Who would have thought that mobility could bring about such enormous change? It shouldn't really be a surprise though. | high8369.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Without it we'll always depend on our native language and end up translating in our head."
},
"options": [
"Because it is a good friend.",
"Because it can help us to find the right direction if we get lost.",
"Without it we'l... | While reading a book in English, every few lines of text, you run across a word or two that you don't know. You look up every new word in the dictionary. Bad move. All that does slow you down. Even electric or CD -ROM dictionaries can get in the way of your reading progress. A dictionary is like a road map. It can help you if you get lost and point you in the right direction. But if you stop to look at the "map" each time you take a step, you'll get nowhere fast.
On your English learning "journey", a dictionary can be a helpful "travel companion "--if it is not overused. To help you start thinking in English, use an English-to-English dictionary. Otherwise, you will always depend on your native language and end up translating in your head.
A good dictionary can help you do more than just find the meaning of a word. It can help you verify spelling, check word forms and grammar usage, find example sentence and learn pronunciation. Some dictionaries even provide exercises to teach you how to use their resources.
Take time to get to know your dictionary. Learn the pronunciation symbols. Understand what the abbreviations mean. Try to master the important grammar rules. Look for charts, diagrams and lists
might be useful in the future. You will discover how helpful it can be to make friends with your dictionary. And as they say, "A friend in need is a friend indeed." | high16014.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The US and China"
},
"options": [
"Britain and China",
"The US and China",
"France and the US",
"Germany and the US"
],
"question": "The researchers in the team come from _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_que... | Endangered giant pandas are facing a new threat: the loss of their food source, bamboo. In China's Qinling Mountains, giant pandas spend most of their day eating bamboo. The plant makes up 99% of the panda's diet, with some pandas eating about 40 pounds of it a day. But Qinling's pandas may soon have to find another food source. A new study cause the loss of most of the region's bamboo by the end of the century.
A team made up of researchers from Michigan State University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences studied the effects of climate change on the region's three main bamboo species. They studied the influence of rising temperatures on the spread and growth of bamboo. Bamboo is sensitive to temperature changes. "Even with a 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit increase in temperature, we found that 80% to 100% of bamboo would be gone by the end of the century," Liu Jianguo, one of the study's authors said. Shirley Martin, who came from Paris but not involved in the team said that it's really a demanding challenge for us to get a desired result.
The Qinling Mountains, located in eastern China, are home to about 270 pandas. That is about 17% of the world's wild panda population. The panda is one of the world's most endangered species.
In recent years, China has stepped up efforts to protect pandas. But Liu says the country has yet to consider the long-term efforts of climate change in its conservation planning. Aside from increasing nature reserve areas where pandas are protected, Liu wants China to lower its use of fuels that release greenhouse gases-as should the rest of the world. " The future of pandas," he says, " is in our hands." | high19327.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He was there on holiday."
},
"options": [
"It was his hometown.",
"He was there on holiday.",
"He was in the making of a film.",
"He was there to have his photograph taken."
],
"question": "Why do you suppose Ed... | Edgar felt quite excited at the thought of his first swim of the summer. With the sun shining down so strongly, the sea was certain to be warm enough. He walked quickly along the sea-front towards the steps that led on to the sands. He smiled cheerfully at the passersby. He had just smiled and raised his hat to an elderly lady when a man with a camera caught his arm and stopped him. Edgar heard a little buzzing noise from the camera.
"Your photograph, sir, in glorious colour in just one moment if you please," said the man in one breath. Then the buzzing stopped, and he held the photograph in his hand and was waving it to and fro. In a
moment he handed it over, and Edgar saw the bright blue splash of his shirt half filling the picture.
"Seventy pence, sir," the man said. "It's the bargain of your holiday."
"Seventy pence," Edgar repeated, mildly. "For this?" He stared at the photographer.
"They're normally eighty-five, sir, but for a single subject I make a cut-price offer. It's the best value you'll get in Chadwell."
"You'll have to make a better offer," Edgar said. It was a good photo though, he thought, so bright and clear. His hat was held high, and he was smiling broadly at the old lady, whose arm and handbag came into a lower corner. He had had no idea that he was being snapped. He thought he was really quite a good-looking chap.
"That's as good as any studio job that would cost you pounds," said the cameraman. "It's better in a way because it's so natural. Only seventy pence, sir."
"I've never paid so much for a snap in my life. It simply isn't worth that kind of money. It's not as if I need the thing. Look, I'll give you twenty-five."
"No, I can't do that. Each of these instant colour shots costs me 50p -- that's the price of the blank frame, so you see..."
"Criminal, criminal," Edgar broke in. "You want a profit of forty per cent. Well, not at my expense, I'm afraid. I'll give you your 50p and that's that."
"Let me see, then." The man suddenly took the photograph out of Edgar's hand. "I can't waste any more time with you. It's 70p or I keep it."
"Keep it," Edgar said. He turned, looked out to the sea, and then walked quickly away. | high4553.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "send messages"
},
"options": [
"check emails",
"send messages",
"find the destination",
"watch a video"
],
"question": "People prefer a smart phone to a common one, because the latter only can help us _ .",
... | A smart phone is a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system, with more advanced computing abilities than a common phone. The first smart phones enabled the users to send and receive emails. Later models added the function of portable media players, pocket video cameras, and GPS navigation units to form one multi-use device. Many modern smart phones also include touchscreens and web browsers that display web pages.
A recent report says we spend an average of two hours and 40 minutes each day looking at a smart phone. That doesn't mean making calls, but playing phone games and browsing the Web.
Nowadays we always find people checking emails in a restaurant, taking a picture of the food when it arrives, or checking a message during a conversation instead of traditional communication. It's no secret that our lives are being affected by our smart phones _ .
However, this phenomenon has never been presented so vividly as in the short YouTube film I Forgot My Phone. Despite only being online for a few days, it's already been viewed more than 10.5 million times. Whether it will be screened in the cinema remains to be seen.
Ironically, YouTube's data show that the site gets a billion views per day from mobile devices, so a lot of those people watched it on their phones.
The short film, written by and starring actress Charlene Deguzman, shows groups of people in various social situations, the majority of whom are absorbed in their phones instead of the world around them. To a certain extent, we all do it. | high5895.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Behavior considered unacceptable to the society."
},
"options": [
"Behavior considered unacceptable to the society.",
"An unfavorable impression left on other people.",
"A strong desire to do something strange or terrible.",
... | Sometimes you may have a strong desire to do something strange or terrible. However, chances are that you don't act on your impulse , but let it pass instead. You know that to take the action is wrong in some way and that other people will not accept your behavior.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the phenomenon of _ behavior is how it can change over the years, how certain behavior and attitudes once considered taboo can become perfectly acceptable and natural at another point in time. Topics such as death, for example, were once considered so upsetting that it was a taboo to even talk about them. Now with the publication of important books such asOn Death and DyingandLearning to Say Goodbye, people have become more aware of the importance of expressing feelings about death and, as a result, are more willing to talk about this taboo subject.
One of the newest taboos is the topic of fat. Unlike many other taboos, fat is a topic that people talk about constantly. It's not taboo to talk about fat; it's taboo to be fat. The _ is thin, not fat. In the work world, most companies prefer youthful-looking, slim manager to sell their image as well as their products to the public. The thin look is associated with youth, vigor, and success. The fat person, on the other hand, is thought of as lazy and lacking in energy, self-discipline and self-respect. After all, how can people permit themselves to become fat? In an image-conscious society, thin is ''in", fat is "out".
It' s not surprising that millions of people have become obsessed with staying slim and "in shape". The pursuit of a youthful physical appearance is not, however, the only reason for people's obsession with diet and exercise. Recent research has shown the importance of diet and exercise for personal health. As in most technologically developed nations, the life-style of people has changed since last century. Modern machines do all the physical labor. Cars and buses transport us quickly from point to point. As a result of inactivity and disuse, people's bodies can easily become weak. In an effort to avoid such a fate , millions of people are spending more of their time exercising. Parks are filled with joggers and bicyclists, and many companies are providing special exercise equipment for their employees to use during the work day. | high2122.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "exists on a river"
},
"options": [
"is only an economic centre",
"exists on a river",
"covers more than thirty miles from west to east",
"is to the east of England"
],
"question": "According to the article, Lond... | London, the capital of England, is political, economic and commercial centre. It stands on the Thames, extending for nearly thirty miles from north to south and for nearly thirty miles from east to west.
London is divided into many administrative units. Greater London, the largest unit, cover 1,605 square miles. The heart of this unit is the City of London. It is surrounded by a ring of 12 boroughs called Inner London or Central London, covering 303 square miles, and itself, is again surrounded by a greater ring of 20 boroughs called Outer London with an area of 1,279 square miles. Thus, Greater London is made up of the City and 32 boroughs. | high21860.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "\"early bird special\" sale"
},
"options": [
"\"back-to-school\" sale",
"\"midnight madness\" sale",
"\"early bird special\" sale",
"\"buy one, get one free\" sale"
],
"question": "The day after Thanksgiving, th... | When a store sells goods or services at a price lower than usual, it is called a sale. Sales last for a limited time. Then the price returns to normal.
There are many kinds of sales. For example, a "back-to-school" sale is held near the beginning of the school year. A "midnight madness" event starts very late at night. An "early bird special" sale starts very early in the morning, usually before the sunrise. This kind of sale is popular the day after Thanksgiving in November. A favorite sale among many people is the "buy one, get one free" sale. You buy one thing and get a second one without cost. When people see the word "free" in an advertisement they think they will _ .
Another kind of sale is a "going out of business" sale. This is when a storekeeper tries to sell all the goods before closing the business for ever. Take the store selling floor coverings for example, the owner lowers the prices and puts up a sign:"Going out of business sale. All items MUST be sold by tomorrow." People who buy the floor coverings think they are getting a special price because everything must be sold in a short period of time. Then, a few days later they see the store did not close. And they see the same sign that says the store is going out of business. Some business owners really do not end the business but want to make more money.
In prefix = st1 /America, you can always find a good sale, no matter the day or the time of a year . There is the Independence Day sale, Veteran's Day sale, clearance sale, sidewalk sale, red tag sale, white sale, blue light special, liquidation sale, half-off sale, warehouse sale, tent sale... | high18039.txt |
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