questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They have different decorations in their hair."
},
"options": [
"They wear different spots shoes.",
"They wear school uniforms.",
"They have different decorations in their hair.",
"They drink coffee from colorful drink ... | With the start of the new term, students around the country exchange their fun and fashionable clothes for boring school uniforms. But not all campuses are fashion deserts. Colorful sports shoes, school bags, T-shirts and even drink containers are breathing life into campuses.
_ especially when we are doing morning exercises on the playground," and Qing Pei, a Senior 2 students from Shanghai Qibao High School. "But boys wear different sports shoes and girls have different decorations in their hair. These are the areas where you can express yourself," said Qing.
Although it might be strange for boys to talk about fashion, they do care about what they wear in school, especially shoes, according to Qing.
"Nike and Adidas basketball shoes, although they are still the must-have items for many of my friends, are becoming out-of-date," Qing added. He explained, "Since Liu Xiang ran so fast in Athens, running shoes are becoming popular in this autumn."
"Still in fashion are the various baseball caps and American-style T-shirts with some English words printed on them," said Qing. Besides sports shoes and T-shirts, styles and colors of schoolbags are another chance for students to express their taste in fashion. Some bags are made more eye-catching by decorating them with small dolls.
Other fashionable items are colorful drink containers, which are now popular with girls this term.
"Some teachers are surprised to see a teenager sucking a bottle like this at school and criticize it as childish regression . But some girls just love it," said Yang Rui, a Senior 3 student. | high5138.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "All the injured were not taken to a hospital"
},
"options": [
"All the injured were not taken to a hospital",
"13 of the injured were not taken to a hospital",
"The rubbish bin with a bomb was in a restaurant",
"The rub... | An explosion on Thursday killed one and injured 21 in a busy street in Tongren, Southwest China's Guizhou Province.
The bomb was hidden in a rubbish bin in the city's commercial hub ,where lots of shops and restaurants are concentrated.
The ear-splitting blast was heard around 12:50 p.m.,said a local newspaper, citing witnesses. The power of the blast shattered nearby shop windows and ripped the stainless steel rubbish can to pieces.
One passer-by,identified only as Zhang,said she was shocked by the noise and saw a lot of pedestrians lying on the ground when she got to the scene.
Thirteen of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the explosion. A doctor there said five were in serious condition but already out of danger after emergency treatment. The others were just slightly hurt.
"The cause of the explosion is still unknown", said an officer with the Tongren police, but refused to speculate as to the cause. | high2657.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "By boat."
},
"options": [
"By car.",
"By train.",
"By boat.",
"By plane."
],
"question": "How can you get to Clinton according to the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | A murder will occur this weekend in the peaceful seaside town of Langley, Washington. In fact, a murder has occurred there every February for the past 25 years. But don't panic! It's all part of the town's yearly Mystery Weekend.
What began as a local event in 1984 now attracts visitors from over the U.S. and even abroad. Would-be detectives arrive and check in at the visitor center on Saturday. There, they receive a packet, including a newspaper with details about the crime and information telling where to find clues . Participants then travel to various shops, restaurants and other downtown locations, picking up clues as they go. Along the way, they encounter and interview suspects played by local townspeople. Most Langley residents participate in some way in the Mystery Weekend, a true community event.
Amateur detectives have until Sunday at 4:00 p.m. to solve the crime and turn in their guesses. Then as everyone gathers, the murderer is found and arrested, and prizes are awarded for correct answers. It's the perfect ending for a murder mystery and enormous fun for those who get to play detective.
For visitors, Mystery Weekend is not only fun but also a great introduction to the charms of Langley. It's a very attractive community with historic buildings, exciting ocean views and above all, friendly people. Since Langley is on an island, a fun way to get there is by taking a car ferry to the nearby town of Clinton and then driving the rest of the way. Langley has a delightful selection of inns with bed and breakfasts that are open all year round. And activities in Langley aren't limited to Mystery Weekend. There is also great hiking, biking, golfing and diving to enjoy. And for a special adventure, visitors can book on one of the whale - watching ships that leave nearby harbors each day. | high10310.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Angry."
},
"options": [
"Puzzled.",
"Angry.",
"Shocked.",
"Satisfied."
],
"question": "What's the author's attitude towards the former owner of the dog?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | I stole your dog today. No, I didn't set a foot on your house, but from the condition of your dog, I can imagine what it looks like...the word "rubbish" comes to mind.
I found her along a road, with a heavy chain wrapped around her neck, still attached to rotten boards from her doghouse. Not only did I know that most of the town people had already ignored her, judging by where I found her, but I knew that if she had gotten into the Woods, the "cross" that she dragged behind her would have wrapped around a tree until starvation or thirst killed her. She has a beautiful name now. Already in the first week she has come to look more like she should. Her eyes sparkle and she has learned to wag her tail in greeting. She has stopped flinching when I make a sudden movement, because she knows now that I won't beat her, in fact, she rarely leaves my side. She's even become brave enough to bark at a cat and today I watched from the window as she attempted to play with the other dogs. No, it's clear she does not miss you or her former life on a chain.
It's not clear yet whether she'll remain here or whether I'll find her a loving home where she can count on more individual attention than I can give her, but one thing is certain, this is one bit of stolen "property" who is never returning to you. So sue me, accuse me, plead with the courts that she is rightfully yours ... I'm convinced this is the best "crime" I've ever committed. Hardly anything has pleased me more than the day I stole your dog. I need only look into her beautiful brown eyes to know that she'd defend my decision with her life. If we have one prayer, it is that you will not replace her, and if we have one special day to celebrate together, it is the day I stole your dog and the day she stole my heart. | high13619.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "on the Internet"
},
"options": [
"in a newspaper",
"in a magazine",
"on TV",
"on the Internet"
],
"question": "The advertisement may be found _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer"... | Top 10 Best-Sellers for $10 ( regularly between $15.95-$19.95)
Based on October's sales, our customers have chosen our 10 bestselling books and today we are placing these top 10 bestsellers on sale for $10 each!
Heart of a Caregiver is a book in praise of all the unknown heroes who provide loving care for others each day -- nurses, hospital workers, the CNAs and so on. It's the only book of its kind on the market that is devoted to thanking caregivers.
We all know caregivers who have touched our lives. This book makes a beautiful gift to thank them for the beautiful work they do.
Regularly priced at $15.95, today it's only $10.
Friends, the family we choose for ourselves is a book that you'll want to read and more importantly, one you'll want to share with all of your friends, to thank them for their gifts of time, encouragement and support.
This heartwarming book makes a great gift for Christmas or for any time!
Regularly priced at $15.95, today it's only $10.
The Richest Man in Town is certain to make you laugh, cry and think about life. It's a true story that describes the important things in life in an unforgettable way. It is a beautifully written, heartwarming story about an amazing man who touched so many people in a special way. Marty was a simple man who ran a cash register in a Wal-Mart store in South Dakota. He worked hard and was good to people. Can it be so simple?
It's a meaningful story to share with friends, family and all employees. They will love it, and love you for giving it.
Regularly priced at $19.95, today it's only $10.
Now that we have given you a preview of our top 10 list, click here to see all top 10 books available today only for $10 each!
Make sure to share this email with your friends and family so they can enjoy the savings too!
Sale ends tonight, Thursday 11/03/2011 at 11:59 pm CST . | high9702.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "about 5 years ago"
},
"options": [
"about 5 years ago",
"not long ago this year",
"only 10 months ago",
"when she was about 15"
],
"question": "We can learn that Winter Vinecki's father died _ .",
"questi... | Most teenagers in the United States spend their time trying to make time for school,family and friends.But some choose bigger goals.
At age 15,Winter Vinecki has already had more successes than most people have in their lifetime."I recently completed a marathon on all seven continents and became the youngest person in the world to do so.And I was really doing this for my dad."
Doctors discovered that Winter's father had a rare and deadly form of prostate cancer when she was nine years old.Then he died 10 months later."When he was first diagnosed with prostate cancer I immediately knew I had to do something to help him.That's when I formed Team Winter for prostate cancer research and awareness."
Through Team Winter and social media,Winter Vinecki has raised almost 500,000 dollars.She has taken prostate cancer education worldwide through foot races called marathons,on seven continents.In the United States she travels continually to talk about prostate cancer and urge others to act.
Winter Vinecki attended a conference recently in Los Angeles,California and spoke at the conference as one of several teenagers who spoke about young people who were living extraordinary lives.
"So prostate cancer is much more common but men don't want to talk about it.So that is why a ten-year-old girl had to go out there and start talking about it for them."
Another speaker was Jack Andraka who invented a sensor which is not as expensive as traditional equipment that can't be afforded by most common people.It can identify cancers of the pancreas and lungs.He was 15 at the time.
Jack is now 17 and seeking patents for his latest inventions.He has developed low-cost water quality equipment which can help identify and remove heavy metals and poisonous chemicals from water.
"I hope to see them used in the developing nations such as Bangladesh and parts of China and India,especially as well as in parts of Africa,where these heavy metal and pesticides and other kinds of waste are a major problem." | high14176.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "meet by chance"
},
"options": [
"knock off",
"meet by chance",
"strike",
"traffic accident"
],
"question": "According to the passage, we can infer that \"bump into\" means _ .",
"question_type": "summariz... | It was a very foggy day in London. The fog was so thick that it was impossible to see more than a foot or so. Buses, cars and taxis were not able to run and were standing by the side of the road. People were trying to find their way about on foot but were losing their way in the fog. Mr. Smith had a very important meeting at the House of Commons and had to get there but no one could take him. He tried to walk there but found he was quite lost. Suddenly he bumped into a stranger. The stranger asked if he could help him. Mr. Smith said he wanted to get to the Houses of Parliament. The stranger told him he would take him there. Mr. Smith thanked him and they started to walk there. The fog was getting thicker every minute but the stranger had no difficulty in finding the way. He went along one street, turned down another, crossed a square and at last after about half an hour's walk they arrived at the Houses of Parliament. Mr. Smith couldn't understand how the stranger found his way. "It is wonderful," he said. "How do you find the way in the fog?"
"It is no trouble at all to me," said the stranger, "I am blind." | high15268.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "people's ability to see accurately"
},
"options": [
"children's and adults' eye-sight",
"people's ability to see accurately",
"children's and adults' brains",
"the influence of people's age"
],
"question": "Dohe... | Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age.
Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists. In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception of some people, using pictures of some orange circles. The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people. The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25.
The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background. One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one. Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time. Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time.
Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles. Here's where the trick lies in. In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles -- making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one. And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles -- so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle.
When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren't fooled -- they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy as before. Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well. Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time.
As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context. In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once: the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle. As a result, they're more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick. | high812.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "introduce Wambugu's contribution to genetic engineering"
},
"options": [
"tell us sweet potatoes are in danger of being attacked by a virus",
"introduce Wambugu's contribution to genetic engineering",
"introduce a new way of ... | Scientist Florence Wambugu works with farmers in Kenya, a country in East Africa. She helps them grow bigger and better crops. Wambugu is especially interested in finding simple ways to produce more food.
In the past ten years, Wambugu has spent much of her time studying sweet potatoes, which are an important food in her part of Kenya. A virus kept attacking the plants. It stopped the sweet potatoes from growing well. Because of the virus, some farmers lost three quarters of their crops.
Wambugu went to war against the virus. Her research for a way to save the sweet potatoes led to a lab in St. Louis, Missouri.
The lab mainly works on genes , the chemical "computer programs" found in the cells of living things. Genes tell a plant to produce pink flowers or an animal to grow black hair. Now scientists have found ways to move genes from one living thing to another. That process is called genetic engineering.
Wambugu spent three years in the lab. As a result, she created a sweet potato plant that could fight off the virus. Wambugu tested her research in Kenya, and her plants produced wonderful sweet potatoes.
That's just the beginning, Wambugu believes. Genetically modified foods, she thinks, could help farmers in poor countries grow badly needed crops, thus, fewer people will go hungry. | high12507.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Love based on ordinary words and daily affairs"
},
"options": [
"Love full of romantic and striking stories",
"Love based on ordinary words and daily affairs",
"what the hero in the story did to the other",
"What the he... | One day, a boy said to a girl, "If I have only one bowl of gruel, I shall give one half to my mother, and the other half to you." The little girl liked the little boy from then on. That year he was twelve and she was ten.
Ten years passed. When their village was flooded, he _ rescued others, including old people, children, the acquainted and the unacquainted, everyone except her in person. After she was rescued by others, somebody asked him, "Since you like her, why didn't you rescue her?" He answered gently, "It's just because I love her that I first rescued others. I would never live alone if she died." So they got married. That year he was twenty two and she was twenty.
Later, the whole country suffered from famine. They also had few in the pot. Finally, only an ounce of noodles were left, and they cooked a bowl of noodles in soup. He was reluctant to eat and let her eat; she was reluctant to eat and let him eat! Three days later, the bowl of noodles went moldy. At that time, he was forty two and she was forty.
Since his grandfather was ever a landlord, he was criticized and denounced in public meetings. During those special years, the "Organization" asked her to "make clear the borderline and distinguish right and wrong", but she said, "I don't know who is the inner enemy, but I do know he is a good man. He loves me and I also love him. That's enough." That year he was fifty two and she was fifty.
Many years passed, he and she began to practice Qigong in order to keep healthy. Because they were transferred to a town, every morning they took a bus to the city center park. When a young man offered his seat to them, each of them wouldn't take the seat because the other had to stand. Therefore, holding the handrail, they leaned each other with content smiles on their faces, and all of other passengers couldn't help standing up. That year he was seventy two and she was seventy.
She said, "When we were both dead ten years later, I must turn into him and he must turn into me, then he could drink the half bowl of gruel that I give him!"
Seventy years of hardship life interprets this true love! | high23902.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "controlling the spread of AIDS"
},
"options": [
"winning the equal rights for the black people in South Africa",
"uniting South Africa",
"organizing a government in South Africa",
"controlling the spread of AIDS"
],... | His first fight was for the equal rights of black people in South Africa. Then, as the first black president he fought to unite the country and organize the government. Now Nelson Mandela has set his sights on a new enemy, AIDS.
On March 19 the 82-year-old, former president, hosted his second AIDS-awareness concert. He warned that 25 million people in Africa were already infected with the fatal disease.
Mandela was born in a small village in South Africa in 1918. He was adopted by the chief of his tribe and could have been a chief himself and lived a happy country life.
But he refused to be a chief when his people lived under racial discrimination ( ). He decided to fight for equal rights for all the people in South Africa. Before 1990, under the country's Racial Segregation Law , colored and white people lived separately. Black people were treated unfairly even when taking a bus. Blacks had to stand at the back of the bus to make room for white people even when there were only a few of them on board.
For his opposition to the system Mandela was arrested and spent 27 years in prison. He was freed in 1990 and become the president of the country after the first elections were held in which everyone could vote.
Mandela was not only a political fighter who attacked with speeches. He was also a trained boxer and fought in the ring when he was young.
" Although I did not enjoy the violence of boxing, I was interested in how one moved one's body to protect oneself, how one used a strategy both to attack and retreat ," he wrote in his autobiography.
As a skilful fighter, he chose music as his weapon against AIDS. He hopes to win another victory against AIDS. | high46.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A honeycomb."
},
"options": [
"A sand dune.",
"A honeycomb.",
"A snowdrift.",
"A thundercloud."
],
"question": "According to the article, which natural structure is a model for Bryan's card structures?",
"qu... | A house of cards? Sounds unbelievable, doesn't it? Not if the architect is 31-year-old Bryan Berg. He's made a career out of building fantastic card houses, stadiums, capitols, castles -- and the world's tallest card tower. How does he do it?
Bryan's structures are amazing because they are made entirely of perfectly balanced, freestanding playing cards. He never uses glue, tape, or anything else to hold the cards together. Nor does he fold the cards. He's discovered another way to make a strong house of cards, using a trick from nature.
To make plants strong, nature builds them with cells that have tough walls. Rows and rows of these cells form a grid that helps leaves and stems keep their shape. Bees use the same kind of repeating pattern to create strong honeycombs, where they live and store honey. Bryan designs similar grids, using cards to create a repeating pattern of cells.
He begins with a single cell made by balancing four cards against one another to form a box. Then he repeats the cell over and over, expanding outward to form the grid, which makes a good foundation for a strong card structure. The larger the grid, the more weight it can carry. Sometimes Bryan uses several cards, instead of just one, to construct the cell walls, making the grid even stronger. The trick, he tells kids when he speaks in classrooms, is to place your cards as tightly together as possible when laying out your grid, making sure the cards are not leaning at all.
After building this solid base, Bryan lays cards across the top to make the floor for the next "story" of the building. He may add towers, columns, steeples, or domes. Using the principle of repeating cells, Bryan builds structures of amazing strength.
In the Cards
Not surprisingly, Bryan has always been interested in building things. Growing up on a "big, old farm" in rural Iowa, he had plenty of room to play. "We were in the middle of nowhere," Bryan remembers, "with lots of space to do whatever we wanted. I was always making something, using things like sticks or bales of hay."
Bryan's grandfather taught him how to stack cards. Bryan's two interests -- building and card stacking -- soon combined. But stacking in his family's farmhouse was challenging. "Our old house had wood floors that weren't all level," he reports. "And they weren't very firm. When people walked around, it was like 'earthquake action.' It was a challenge to build something that wouldn't fall down immediately."
Bryan constructed tower after tower; he went through a lot of trial and error before he built anything taller than himself. When he placed a few decks of cards on top of his grid, he discovered how strong it was. Bryan's towers began to grow taller.
How Tall Is Too Tall?
Bryan's first Guinness World Record for the world's tallest card tower came in the spring of 1992, when he was in high school. Learning that the world record was 12 feet 10 inches, Bryan built a slim tower that topped out at 14 feet 6 inches. Done as a project for his geometry class, it took him 40 hours and 208 decks of cards. Since then he's gone on to win world records for even taller buildings. His latest winner measured 25 feet 3.5 inches and used about 2,400 decks of cards. _
Why don't these towers fall down? The key is in a good solid base, a repeating pattern of stories, and a tapering top. Bryan likes to point out how card buildings resemble real ones. They are built cell by cell, story by story. The separate parts make one strong whole. The heavier the building, the stronger and more stable it is. But the weight can't all be at the top.
After spending so much time building something so cool, Bryan admits it's sometimes painful to see his structures destroyed. But he compares his work to the building of a sandcastle or an ice sculpture.
"They wouldn't be as special if they were permanent," he points out. "My buildings are like snowdrifts, or clouds in the sky. They can't last forever. | high6425.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "93 years old."
},
"options": [
"86 years old.",
"93 years old.",
"98 years old.",
"88 years old."
],
"question": "How old was Lena Horne when she died?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | During her sixty-year career performing, Lena Horne entertained people with her beauty and rich, emotional voice. She used her fame to fight social injustices toward African-Americans.
Lena Horne was born in New York in 1917. At sixteen, Lena became a dancer at the famous Club in New York City. After taking voice lessons, she soon became a singer. In 1940, Lena Horne became the first African-American to perform with an all-white jazz band. After performing at a club in Hollywood, California, she caught the attention of filmmakers. She soon began making movies. Her films became very popular. In the 1940's, Lena Horne was the first African-American in Hollywood to sign a long-term contract with a major movie studio. Her deal with MGM stated that she would never play the role of a servant. She refused to play roles that represented African-Americans disrespectfully . But this refusal also limited her movie career.
Lena Horne once said that World War Two helped make her a star. She was popular with both black and white soldiers. She sang on army radio programs and traveled to perform for the troops. Once, she noted that German prisoners of war were permitted to sit closer to the stage than black soldiers. She was very angry. These experiences led to Lena Horne's work in the civil rights movement.
Lena Horne sang at civil rights gatherings. She took part in the March on Washington protest in 1963. It was during this event that Martin Luther King Junior gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. She protested racial separation at the hotels where she performed. She took action so that she and her musicians would be allowed to stay in those hotels. Black musicians at the time generally stayed in black neighborhoods.
Lena Horne died in New York in 2010. | high14162.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It attracts people to do more handwashing."
},
"options": [
"It gives people a longer handwashing time.",
"It helps to remove a lot of germs from hands.",
"It attracts people to do more handwashing.",
"It gets all peopl... | October 15th is Global Handwashing Day. Activities are planned in more than twenty countries to get millions of people in the developing world to wash their hands with soap.
Experts say people around the world wash their hands but very few use soap at so-called extremely moments. These include after using the toilet,after cleaning a baby and before touching food.
Global Handwashing Day is the idea of the Public Private Partnership for handwashing with soap. The goal,they say,is to create a culture of handwashing with soap. The organizers say all soaps are equally effective at removing disease-causing germs .They say the correct way to wash is to wet your hands with a small amount of water and cover them with soap. Rub it into all areas,including under the fingernails. Then,wash well under running water. Finally,dry your hands with a clean cloth.
The Partnership says soap is important because it increases the time that people spend washing. Soap also helps to break up the dirt that holds most of the germs. And it usually leaves a pleasant smell,which increases the chances that people will wash again.
It also says that washing hands with soap before eating and after using the toilet could save more lives than any medicine. It could help reduce cases of diarrhea ,which is the second leading cause of child deaths,killing more than one and a half million children a year,by almost half. | high9716.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He seemed to have suffered a lot."
},
"options": [
"He seemed to be poor and greedy.",
"He seemed to have suffered a lot.",
"He seemed younger than his age.",
"He seemed good at bargaining."
],
"question": "What... | The young boy saw me, or rather, he saw the car and quickly ran up to me, eager to sell his bunches of bananas and bags of peanuts. Though he appeared to be about twelve, he seemed to have already known the bitterness of life. "Bananas 300 naira. Peanuts 200 naira." He said in a low voice. I bargained him down to 200 totals for the fruit and nuts. When he agreed, I handed him a 500 naira bill. He didn't have change, so I told him not to worry. He said thanks and smiled a row of perfect teeth.
When, two weeks later, I saw the boy again, I was more aware of my position in a society where it's not that uncommon to see a little boy who should be in school standing on the corner selling fruit in the burning sun. My parents had raised me to be aware of the advantage we had been afforded and the responsibility it brought to us.
I pulled over and rolled down my window. He had a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts ready. I waved them away. "What's up?" I asked him.
"I...I don't have money to buy books for school." I reached into my pocket and handed him two fresh 500 naira bills. "Will this help?" I asked. He looked around nervously before taking the money. One thousand naira was a lot of money to someone whose family probably made about 5,000 naira or less each year. "Thank you, sir." he said. "Thank you very much!"
When driving home, I wondered if my little friend actually used the money for schoolbooks. What if he's a cheat? And then I wondered why I did it. Did I do it to make myself feel better? Was I using him? Later, I realized that I didn't know his name or the least bit about him, nor did I think to ask.
Over the next six months, I was busy working in a news agency in northern Nigeria. Sometime after I returned, I went out for a drive. When I was about to pull over, the boy suddenly appeared by my window with a big smile ready on his face.
"Oh, gosh! Long time."
"Are you in school now?" I asked.
He nodded.
"That's good," I said. A silence fell as we looked at each other, and then I realized what he wanted. "Here," I held out a 500 naira bill. "Take this." He shook his head and stepped back as if hurt. "What's wrong?" I asked. "It's a gift."
He shook his head again and brought his hand from behind his back. His face shone with sweat. He dropped a bunch of bananas and a bag of peanuts in the front seat before he said, "I've been waiting to give these to you." | high806.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he worried too much"
},
"options": [
"he smoked too much",
"he worried too much",
"he stopped smoking",
"he ate too little"
],
"question": "When Joe became thin the first time it was because _ .",
"questio... | Joe Bloggs always had a cigarette on his lips. He smoked while he read, while he watched TV, and while he drank a cup of coffee. He smoked forty cigarettes a day, but he was happy.
Joe's friend, Fred Brown, said to him, "It is very bad to smoke". When Joe heard this , he started to worry and became so thin that he went to Fred for help.
Fred said , "You must eat more". O Joe did not smoke , but he ate chocolate , and he became very fat. Again he went to Fred for help.
Fred said , " You must not eat chocolate". So Joe stopped eating chocolate , but he went back to smoking cigarettes. He became thin again but he was not happy, because he still smoked.
Sometimes Joe Bloggs wished Fred Brown was not his friend! | high8408.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he had a great sense of humor"
},
"options": [
"he loved to debate",
"he was good at explaining things",
"he had a great sense of humor",
"lawyers don't have to depend on writing"
],
"question": "The boy wanted ... | Dear God,
This is Charles. I'm twelve. I'm typing this letter. Sometimes it's hard for me to write. It's a disease called dysgraphia. I also have learning disabilities, but my IQ was tested at 140.
I could never hold a pencil in the right way. My brain doesn't sense what my hand is doing. I can feel the pencil, but the message doesn't get through right. I have to hold the pencil tighter so that my brain knows I have it in my hand.
It's much easier for me to explain things by talking than writing. There are so many things I can picture in my mind, but my hands just can't draw it the way I see it.
It's OK. I'm not complaining. I'm really doing fine. You see, you gave me a wonderful mind and a great sense of humor. I'm great at figuring things out, and I love to debate. We have some great discussions in class, and that's where I really shine.
I want to be a lawyer when I grow up. I know I'd be good at it. You have told me that you made me special. You make me believe that you will see me through, and that you have plans for me to give me a future and hope. My parents want to help me, so they buy me a laptop. My teacher is the best this year! I am allowed to do a lot of my work on the computer.
Life's hard sometimes, but I accept the challenge. Thanks for loving me. Thanks for everything.
Charles | high12513.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Some art dealers were awaiting better chances to come."
},
"options": [
".Sales of contemporary art fell dramatically from 2003 to 2008.",
"The art market didn't match many other industries in momentum.",
"The market generall... | The longest bull run in a century of art-market history ended on a dramatic note with a sale of 56 works by Damien Hirst, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, at Sotheby's in London on September 15th 2008. All but two pieces sold, fetching more than PS70m, a record for a sale by a single artist. It was a last victory. As the auctioneer called out bids, in New York one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Lehman Brothers, filed for bankruptcy, starting the most severe financial crisis since the 1920s.
The world art market had already been losing momentum for a while after rising confusingly since 2003. At its peak in 2007 it was worth some $65 billion, thinks Clare McAndrew, founder of Arts Economics, a research firm -- double the figure five years earlier. Since then it may have come down to $50 billion. But the market generates interest far beyond its size because it brings together great wealth, enormous egos , greed, passion and controversy in a way matched by few other industries.
In the weeks and months that followed Mr. Hirst's sale, spending of any sort became deeply unfashionable. In the art world that meant collectors stayed away from galleries and salerooms. Sales of contemporary art fell by two-thirds, and in the most overheated sector, they were down by nearly 90% in the year to November 2008. Within weeks the world's two biggest auction houses, Sotheby's and Christie's, had to pay out nearly $200m in guarantees to clients who had placed works for sale with them.
The current downturn in the art market is the worst since the Japanese stopped buying Impressionists at the end of 1989. This time experts suppose that prices are about 40% down on their peak on average, though some have been far more volatile . But Edward Dolman, Christie's chief executive, says, "I'm pretty confident we're at the bottom."
What makes this fall different from the last, he says, is that there are still buyers in the market, while in the early 1990s, when interest rates were high, there was no demand even though many collectors wanted to sell. Christie's earnings in the first half of 2009 were still higher than in the first half of 2006. Almost everyone who was interviewed for this special report said that the biggest problem at the moment is not a lack of demand but a lack of good work to sell. The three Ds -- death, debt and divorce -- still deliver works of art to the market. But anyone who does not have to sell is keeping away, waiting for confidence to return. | high23916.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She had expected much of Aryan."
},
"options": [
"She had expected much of Aryan.",
"She got her eyes injured in the accident.",
"She was hit by one bottle on the arm.",
"She had everything ready for Aryan's future."
... | A mother is _ , crying, yelling all she can in that dark corner. There was nobody tohear her yell and not a soul to calm her, because outside her house is a long winding lonely road.The wind was at rest and the leaves didn't rustle, silence filling the air. Loneliness was alreadykilling her, but no one knows what made her cry?
Losing something you love with all your heart isn't really the pain you can ever overcome.Radha lost her baby, her only means to live. She saw her child getting killed and the accidentwas terrible. One lonely night, she was walking down the street to get a breath of fresh air withher child hugged tight in her arms.
The whole time she walked with her child in her arms, the only thing that worried her wasAryan's future. She was imagining and feeling every day of the child's growthand figuringwhat she would have in store for him. But who knows what's in store for us tomorrow, life canchange in a second.
On that deserted road, were a few streetlights barely enough? It was this one light that couldbe seen from a distance,but as it came closer it got brighter and brighter. That light changedRadha's life into darkness forever. A speeding car came down that road. The driver came with a full speed throwing beer bottles out of his half open window. He was definitely drunk,and the speed took, everything in its path. Just then, there was a loud cry, and silence set in again.
But the mother wasn't hurt. She opened her eyes, unable to focus her eyes, and didn't seeAryan. After a few minutes when her sight cleared up she looked all over in a panic for her baby,but alas! ... The child hadn't even seen life.
Simple, don't drink and drive. _ life, _ | high4232.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It only needs little water to grow."
},
"options": [
"It tastes good.",
"It is easy to cook.",
"It only needs little water to grow.",
"It is welcomed by many American people."
],
"question": "Why do scientists s... | As the population grows and temperatures rise, it will become more difficult to grow enough food for everyone. So, scientists are exploring the planet for plants that do not need as much water as today's crops. The Mojave Desert in the US state of California is home to some of these plants.
Scientist Heather Rose Kates of the University of Florida is in that desert. She is searching along roads for a plant called coyote melon which is a kind of squash .Coyote melon may not taste good, but it can be grown in places that have little rainfall. The desert where it grows gets just 15 to 20 centimeters of rain per year, or less. Other kinds of squash need at least two and a half centimeters per week to grow.
Scientists are considering combining wild coyote melon with regular squash to see if they can make a tasty vegetable that doesn't need as much water to grow. That could be useful on a planet growing warmer and more crowded every day.
Andy Jarvis works at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture. He says farmers will need to produce 50 to 70 percent more food by 2050 to feed the world. So, he says, researchers are studying the wild versions of farm-grown crops.
But he says there is a problem. He says many wild versions of farmed plants are disappearing. He says they are threatened and scientists have not collected their seeds for future use. Scientist Kates is part of an international effort to gather these plants and save their seeds while it is still possible. Workers are collecting wild potatoes in Argentina and wild peppers in Para-guav. The plants and seeds will be sent for storage to the Global Seed Vault in Norwav and at Kew gardens in Britain. Ms Kates spends most of her time in a laboratory. She says gathering plants has helped her understand more about them. | high19446.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "what's going on inside him"
},
"options": [
"what he wears",
"what he does or has",
"our first feelings and thoughts",
"what's going on inside him"
],
"question": "When we judge a person, we should pay more atte... | Give people a chance before you judge them because you really never know what's going on beneath the surface. I am always reminded that judging a person by what others say or my first impression is usually wrong.
It's so easy to make assumptions and expectations about someone, just to find out they were completely false. The shy girl turns out to be one of the funniest girls I've ever met; the mean girl is actually very sensitive and loving; the _ guy is unsure of himself, etc.
I hope there is a world where we stop judging a person by what they wear, their hairstyle, their job, their car; we simply love and accept them for who they are. Someone may have untidy hair because they over slept, or their clothes don't match because their house burned down and lost everything. All I'm saying is, "can we focus more on what's going on inside a person rather than the outside?"
There are so many people who seem like everything is just fine on the outside, but the inside is angry or hurting. They don't know how to just be themselves or they're afraid to because they may be seen as the "crazy" or "strange" persons.
I truly believe everything begins with ourselves. Before we can really stop judging others by the outside, we must stop judging ourselves. We must know how to treat ourselves first. Let's stop getting in our own way and accept ourselves and others as we are. | high10304.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Why People Believe in Magic?"
},
"options": [
"Magic And Hunting.",
"Magic And Farming.",
"Why Magic Works?",
"Why People Believe in Magic?"
],
"question": "Which of the following can best serve as the title of ... | People turn to magic chiefly as a form of insurance--that is, they use it along with actions that actually bring results. For example, hunters may use a hunting charm . But they also use their hunting skills and knowledge of animals. The charm may give hunters the extra confidence they need to hunt even more successfully than they would without it. If they shoot a lot of game , they credit the charm for their success. Many events happen naturally without magic. Crops grow without it, and sick people get well without it.But if people use magic to bring a good harvest or to cure a patient, they may believe the magic was responsible.
People also tend to forget magic's failures and to be impressed by its surface successes. They may consider magic successful if it appears to work only 10 percent of the time. Even when magic fails, people often explain the failure without doubting the power of the magic. They may say that the magician made a mistake in reciting the spell or that another magician cast a more powerful spell against the magician.
Many anthropologists believe that people have faith in magic because they feel a need to believe in it. People may turn to magic to reduce their fear and uncertainty if they feel they have no control over the outcome of a situation. For example, farmers use knowledge and skill when they plant their fields. But they know that weather, insects, or diseases might ruin the crops. So farmers in some societies may also plant a charm or perform a magic rite to ensure a good harvest. | high21867.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "unreal drugs"
},
"options": [
"online medicines",
"unreal drugs",
"acetaminophen",
"unclean water"
],
"question": "Last year twenty children in Bangladesh died because of _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_que... | Counterfeit ( ) medicines are a widespread problem in developing countries. Like other counterfeits, they look like real products. But counterfeit drugs may contain too little or none of the active ingredients of the real thing.
People do not get the medicine they need. And in some cases counterfeits cause death. Twenty children in Bangladesh died last year after being given acetaminophen . The medications contained ingredients that looked, smelled and tasted like the real thing. The medicine was produced by a local drug company that used a dangerous substitute to save money.
The problem of counterfeit medicines is especially serious in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The W.H.O. estimates that up to thirty percent of medicines on sale in many of those countries are counterfeit. The problem is less widespread among industrialized countries. The W.H.O. says counterfeits make up less than one percent of the illegal drug market in countries like the United States, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand.
But the agency also says as much as fifty percent of the medicine sold on the Internet is counterfeit.
Much is being done to fight counterfeit drugs. Several companies are developing ways to make counterfeits easier to identify. And there are existing methods, like a machine that can quickly identify chemicals in pills to confirm if the pills are real. Other ideas include things like special tracking codes for drug packages. People could send a text message with the code and get a message back, which proves that what they bought is listed in a database. Some drug makers and other companies put three-dimensional images called holograms on their products as a security device. | high2125.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "was still calm and cool-headed"
},
"options": [
"was flying a Jian-10 at 4,500 meters",
"saw a warning appeared on the plane's computer screen",
"was still calm and cool-headed",
"was asked to stay in, but he ejected"
... | If you were a pilot flying a plane, and suddenly the engine failed, would you eject , or stay in? For a pilot, the choice is very difficult. If he ejects, he is wise, but the plane crashes. If he stays in the plane, he risks his life.
Recently, Chinese Air Force pilot Li Feng, 38, faced this choice during a training exercise. It was March 7 and he was flying a Jian-10 (Flghter-10) at 4,500 meters. A warning appeared on the plane's computer screen. He realized the plane might fail at any moment.
Li Feng did a quick check of the engine and asked the base if he could return. When the fighter was 7km away from the airport, however, the engine stopped working. The plane began to fall at a speed of 25 meters a second from an altitude of 1,160 meters.
Under Air Force rules fighter pilots may eject if their aircraft loses engine power below 2,000 meters and can't be restarted. Before Li lost contact with the control tower, the commander in the air base asked him to eject. But Li Feng insisted on having another try.
"I knew where the deadline (to abandon the aircraft) was and was prepared for the ejection, but I decided not to give up unless the fighter was totally out of control," Li recalled during a recent television interview.
After 104 seconds, Li was able to bring the fighter to a safe landing. The plane only suffered slight damage.
"You are a hero! Congratulations!" Li's teacher, Xu yongling wrote in a text message to him after the landing. He said Li was a cool-headed pilot and very professional.
Li's brave and calm act not only saved the 200 million yuan aircraft but also gave him invaluable first-hand experience of dealing with an engine emergency.
For his outstanding performance, the Air Force recently awarded him a gold medal. | high10462.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the windows were broken and the roof leaked"
},
"options": [
"there were no beds in it",
"the windows were broken and the roof leaked",
"it was too old for him to live in",
"it was very rainy in the area"
],
"qu... | A Narrow Escape
Shortly after the war, my brother and I were invited to spend a few days' holiday with an uncle who had just returned from abroad. He had rented a cottage in the country, although he hardly spent much time there. We understood the reason for this after our arrival: the cottage had no comfortable furniture in it. Many of the windows were broken and the roof leaked , making the whole house wet.
On our first evening, we sat around the fire after supper listening to the stories our uncle told of his many adventures in distant countries. I was so tired after the long train journey that I would have preferred to go to bed; but I could not bear to miss any of my uncle's exciting stories, He was just in the middle of describing a rather terrifying experience he had once had when there was a loud crash from the bedroom above, the one where my brother and I were going to sleep.
When we got to the top of the stairs and opened the bedroom door, a strange sight met our eyes. A large part of the ceiling had fallen right on to the pillow of my bed. | high16013.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A survey of nicknames for places."
},
"options": [
"Some stories about nicknames for places.",
"Activities launched by two British organizations.",
"A survey of nicknames for places.",
"The attractiveness of place nickn... | Does your local town have a nickname? If so, what does it say about the area and the people who live there? Many cities are recognized across the world by their unofficial names. New York is the Big Apple, London is the Big Smoke, and Los Angeles is famously called La La Land.
Now, as part of English Language Day on Wednesd ay, two British organizations, the English Project and Ordnance Survey, are launching an interactive project which aims to identify the nicknames which people use in their daily lives for the places which they like or dislike.
"The name that people create for a place forms a connection with feelings," explains Winchester University's Professor Bill Lucas, a patron of the English Project.
"So Basingstoke becomes Amazingstoke; Swindon is known as Swindump and Padstow, hometown of chef Rick Stein, is nicknamed Padstein."
Basingstoke is a town in central England. The local nickname, Amazingstoke, shows the love that locals seem to have for the area. Swindon, on the other hand, is sometimes called Swindump, showing that some people think it's a dump ( ). Stanford Le Hope in Essex is called Stanford No Hope by locals.
And Padstow in Cornwall is so closely connected with the local famous person Rick Stein that it's become known as Padstein.
Since launching the online survey last week, the creators have already received 3,000 alternative titles for places and landmarks.
As well as creating what promises to be a fascinating resource of nicknames, there is a practical side to the project. "With the huge variety of place nicknames that exist, we could never hope to collect them all ourselves," says Glen Hart, Ordnance Survey's head of research. "But the information from the project could prove vital. Organizations like the emergency services rely on our information when responding to 999 calls, so by having the most complete set of nicknames we could help the emergency services quickly locate the right place, and maybe even save lives." | high19320.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished."
},
"options": [
"If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first.",
"If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy.",
"If you always lose your temper... | "The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful," says Plato. Selfcontrol is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral freedom.
A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. _ "Keep cool", says George Herbert, "for fierceness makes error a fault."
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. "Anger," says Pythagoras, "brings with folly and ends with regret." You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Selfcontrol is man's last greatest victory.
If a man lacks selfcontrol he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no selfconfidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks selfcontrol, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also. | high5892.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "due to the terrible natural environment."
},
"options": [
"because of their secret identities",
"because it is warmer underground",
"so that they can save some money",
"due to the terrible natural environment."
],
... | You may think that an underground town of 3,500 people is something out of a science-fiction film. You may not believe that such a town has shops car parks, hotels, restaurants, cafes and much more. Well, Coober Pedy in Australia is just such a place.
Miners and their families choose to live like this, hoping to get rich looking for the precious stones that Australia is famous for --- opals . Living underground is the only way to be away from the sandstorms and the high temperatures above ground. Deep down in the town far below the desert surface, the temperature is between 19degC and 20degC and life is cool.
Mary Deane and her husband Jim are among the lucky ones. They live in a home, built with money from the opals Jim has found. "Whenever people hear we live underground, they always imagine a dusty cave," says Mary, "but they are amazed at my clean kitchen, our furniture and electrical appliances in here."
However, not everything is perfect in Coober Pedy. Mary has a tiny garden that she is very proud of, but the grass is not real. Plant life is rare. Water is five times more expensive underground than it is overground. Recycling is a way of life, so Jim usually washes his car with bath water and they have a special system to reuse the water from the dishwasher and washing machine.
Even so, most families enjoy life in Coober Pedy. The children can make as much noise as they want and there are no complaints from the neighbors because the thick walls stop sounds from traveling. Adults enjoy the peace and quiet away from the world above. | high12275.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a traditional Chinese medical principle"
},
"options": [
"the latest development of smart phones",
"a traditional Chinese medical principle",
"the changes in one's flow and energy",
"symptoms related with the state of t... | Taking a picture of your tongue with a mobile phone could soon instantly tell you how healthy you are. Researchers believe the images can reveal important information about a patient's health and even give them early warning of serious illness.
A team at the University of Missouri is developing a system that can analyze pictures using a 5,000-year-old Chinese principle, which is based on the flow and balance of positive and negative energies in the body, and uses the tongue as a key to learning about a person's physical health, or "zheng" according to Chinese medicine.
"Within a year, our goal is to create an application for smart phones that will allow anyone to take a photo of their tongue and learn the status of their zheng," said Dong Xu, chair of MU's Computer Science Department in the College of Engineering and the co-author of the latest study.
The software analyzes images based on the tongue's color and coating to distinguish between tongues showing signs of "hot" or "cold" zheng. Shades of red and yellow are associated with hot zheng, whereas a white coating on the tongue is a sign of cold zheng.
"Hot and cold zheng doesn't refer directly to body temperature," said Xu, "Rather, it refers to a series of symptoms associated with the state of the body as a whole."
For the study, 263 gastritis patients and 48 healthy volunteers had their tongues analyzed. The gastritis patients were classified by whether they showed infection by a certain bacteria as well as the intensity of their gastritis symptoms. In addition, most of the gastritis patients had been previously classified with either hot or cold zheng. This allowed the researchers to test the accuracy of the software's analysis.
"Our software is able to classify people based on their zheng status. And as we continue to work on the software we hope to improve its ability," said another co-author Ye Duan, "Eventually everyone will be able to use this tool at home using webcams or smart phone applications, which will allow them to monitor their zheng and get an early warning about possible _ ." | high6343.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "November 3, 2014."
},
"options": [
"September 11, 2001.",
"September 11, 2011.",
"November 3, 2006.",
"November 3, 2014."
],
"question": "When did the One World Trade Center open?",
"question_type": "factiod... | The tallest building in the United States, the One World Trade Center, opened on November 3, 2014 in New York. The building is 1,776 feet tall, making it the 3rd tallest building in the world. It has 104 floors. The building stands in the area where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. On September 11, 2001, a group of terrorists destroyed these twin towers and killed nearly 3,000 people. It took 8 years to build the new One World Trade Center. Does the height of the building in feet reminds you of something in history? _ is the year when the United States declared its independence from Great Britain.
One problem with such a tall building is how to clean the windows. Well, a platform hangs from ropes, and workers on the platform clean windows. On November 12, while two men were busy cleaning windows, a rope of the platform broke near the 68th floor. The two men were saved by cutting a hole in the glass window.
The two tallest buildings in the world are the BurjKhalifa in Dubai, UAE and the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. | high14604.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Special offers at a shopping center."
},
"options": [
"Food you can order for delivery.",
"Places to go on vacation.",
"Special offers at a shopping center.",
"Things on sale in a big store."
],
"question": "Wha... | Bayfield Shopping Coupons
1. Six Hours Free Parking
If you spend $ 100 or more in our stores you will receive six hours of free parking. When you have spent $ 100 or more, just take this coupon and your receipts to the customer service desk on level 4. They will stamp your parking ticket to allow 6 hours of free parking.
Offer until November 14.
2. Win a $ 1,000 CD Collection
Win your choice of $1,000 worth of CDs from JB Music Store. Just buy any two CDs and your name will go into the competition. Select your own prize from our wide variety of rock, pop, jazz, and classical music.
Competition ends November 14. Prize drawn on November 21.
Check store for more information.
3. Buy One, Get One Free
Buy one shirt or tie at Daniel's Men's Wear, and get another shirt or tie of the same value free.
Choose from any of our dress shirts and we will give you another one at no cost.
Hurry! Offer ends November 14. Offer limited to one per customer.
4. 10% Off
Present this coupon at The Book Store to get a 10% discount on any books you buy.
We have lots of books to choose from, including children's books, novels, travel guides, and science works. You are sure to find something that you will enjoy. Shop now for Christmas. We have plenty of toys as gifts for you and avoid the rush.
Offer here until November 14.
5. Half-price Movie Tickets
Buy a full-price movie ticket on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, and you can buy a second ticket for a friend for only half price. The latest movies are here, shown in one of our five theaters at Bayfield Shopping Center.
Offer good through December 1. Limit one per customer.
6. Free Soft Drink
Buy any meal for at least $ 6 at Mike's Cafe, and receive a free soft drink. We serve the best fast food in the Shopping Center. Come in and try our delicious meals and our excellent service.
You won't be disappointed! Free soft drink offer ends November 14. | high5662.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Bicycling to work in Washington,DC grows in popularity"
},
"options": [
"Traffic problems are an everyday concern in many cities",
"Bicycling to work in Washington,DC grows in popularity",
"Bikes result in new problems in Was... | Traffic problems are an everyday concern in many cities,including Washington,DC.A growing number of Washingtonians are turning to bicycles to get to and from work.In fact,the number of commuters who use bicycles has doubled in the city since 2007.
Ralph Buehler teaches urban planning at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,popularly known as Virginia Tech.He has written a book about urban biking,called "City Cycling". He says there is a reason why urban bike tiding is now becoming more popular.
"Over the last 60 to 70 years.cities in the U.S.have been adapted to the automobile."
"Most cities took advantage of the money coming for the interstate highway system,from the federal government,starting in 1956.There was a 90 percent federal match so the cities only had to put up 10%.It was very tempting."
In the years after World War Two,many Americans moved to suburban communities,just outside major cities,They decided to travel great distances to and from work in exchange for a home in the suburbs.Their cars became a symbol of freedom.
But today,many people believe they can save money by living in the city.
Greg Billing is with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association."When a person makes a change from 04 using a car to using a bike,they are saving anywhere between 8 or$9,000 a year."
Ralph Buehler says governments save money when people use bicycles."Building bicycling facilities is much cheaper than building and maintaining road facilities or public transport."
Washington,DC has also taken steps to protect bike riders.It approved a safe passing law and created areas on the road between cars and bikes.
The United States Census Bureau says 4%of the city's workers ride to work by bike.The only city on the East Coast with more bike commuters is New York. | high18016.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "select a good time during the best sales"
},
"options": [
"go shopping together with lots of friends",
"select a good time during the best sales",
"buy things with inferior quality",
"make a detailed plan"
],
"q... | Are you a working professional with a continuing need for a stockpile of suits? Regardless of what specific wardrobe needs you have or where you like to shop,you really can avoid paying top dollars for clothing.These tips can help you experience the excitement of beating the system.
Figure out precisely when to hunt for bargains.
Your favorite stores will have several big sales throughout the course of the year.With a simple plan, you can time things so you shop only during the best, sales.If you don't feel like reading the ads in your local newspaper, call the stores directly and ask for details.
Be a wise Internet shopper.
Visit the Web sites of your favorite stores and clothing lists and look for online-only, sales.It's not at all uncommon to notice dresses or suits that used to cost $100 in final clearance sections for $19.99 or even $9.99.You can try clothes on at your nearest retail store first to make sure they fit and then buy them online for less.
Really go thrift .
Shopping at thrift stores takes patience and time,so you shouldn't go when you're in a big hurry.Many thrift stores offer regular weekly deals that provide true shopping thrills for you.For example,all clothes labeled stickers of a certain color1 may cost 99 cents on a certain day of the week.Call up the thrift stores in your area and ask about special sales.
Don't give up clothes you have too easily.
Many ignored items in your closet could enjoy a new life with a little bit of TLC.Coats call be relined ,shoes can be resoled and small imperfections can be repaired. | high17325.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "offer some ways to experience extreme sports"
},
"options": [
"offer some ways to experience extreme sports",
"help readers have different excitement during their holidays",
"introduce the most exciting sports around the worl... | Ice climb in London
The huge ice skating area at Somerset House has been drawing crowds each winter for years, but last November an ice wall was added for the first time, bringing even more danger and excitement. Standing more than 26 feet high is a long line of pure ice, featuring three climbing faces of varying difficulty using crampons , ice picks and ropes. Using it costs about PS40 (020 78454600; www.somersethouseicednk.org.uk). It is open from late November to the end of January.
Hang-gliding in Rio De Janeiro
According to the hang-gliders of Rio, once you've swooped over the city's streets, gazing at the Sugar Loaf, and the city of Niteroion, the other side of Guanabara Bay, you will understand why birds are peaceful animals. Accept the romantic idea on a 30-minute cycling flight from the 525-meter Pedra Bonita in the Sao Conrado mountain down to the Sao Conrado beach. It costs around PS55.
Contact Air Adventures (00 21 9843 9006; www.riohanggliding. com).
Skywalk in Sydney
This experience takes having a look at a nice view to the whole other level, as you are suspended more than 850 feet (260 m) above street level, controlled to a glass viewing platform of Sydney Tower. It's the city's highest building. After a thorough briefing and being fitted with protective skysuits, skywalkers make their way along two-purpose-built walkways and platforms, which have transparent floor, while a guide points out landmarks. Night time skywalks are also available. It costs PS46.
Mountain boarding in Leeds
Riders roll down hills and fly off jumps, doing tricks. A number of special mountainboard parks have opened around the country (see www. ridethehill.com). But the Leeds body of the Boarding Society practice at least twice a week in the city in locations that include Roundhay Park. Those with their own boards are welcomed to join them. Contact the society at www.scuz.info. Alternatively, beginners can get lessons in Halifax at the Another World (01422 245196; www. Mountain boarding.co.uk) mountainboard center for PS8 an hour, with equipment. | high20589.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "whether people can make an instant impression by voice"
},
"options": [
"how to change some aspects of voice",
"whether people can make an instant impression by voice",
"what role \"hello\" plays in communication",
"the... | You had me at "Hello"! It turns out our opening words speak volumes--people take less than a second to form an impression of someone's personality based on their voice alone.
We know that our voices can convey information about our sex, age, even body strength and certain personality characteristics, but Phil McAleer at the University of Glasgow and his colleagues wondered whether we make an instant impression. To find out, they recorded 64 volunteers as they read a passage. They then picked the word "hello" and asked 320 listeners to mark the voices for personality characteristics--including trust, dominance and attractiveness.
Although it's not clear how accurate such immediate judgements are, what is obvious is that we all make them, and very quickly. "We were surprised by just how similar people's marks were," says McAleer.
It makes sense that decisions about personality should happen really fast, says McAleer.
The impression that our voices convey appears to be related to several factors, such as sex differences and age groups, especially the pitch of voice on the top. For example, the pitch of a person's voice influenced how reliable they seemed. "A guy who raises his pitch becomes more trustworthy," says McAleer. "Whereas a girl who changes from a high to a low pitch is seen as more trustworthy than a girl whose voice goes up at the end of the word."
It is possible to change some of these aspects of your voice, he says. "It has been said that Margaret Thatcher and the Queen were both trained to make their voices appear more dominant." Some aspects, though, can't be changeable.
"The methods used in this paper are familiar, but the conclusions are new and very interesting," says Jody Kreiman, a researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles. The way the study links personality to attractiveness and reproductive fitness makes sense biologically, she says.
The team hope that their work can be used to help create artificial voices for people who have lost their own due to a medical condition, as well as creating lovely and charming voices for satnavs , and other robotics. "You might also use this kind of work to find the right person to front a team," says McAleer, "you don't want a really unreliable voice running your call centre." | high19308.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "communication with the trapped miners was cut off"
},
"options": [
"all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive",
"communication with the trapped miners was cut off",
"the two rescue teams entered the mine at... | BUKHANNON, West Virginia--Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident.
Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates on the rescuers' progress.
The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren't informed of the accident until about 10 a.m-more than three hours after it happened."It's very upsetting, but you've got to be patient, I guess," said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine.
The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine's entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group.
At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4, 800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p.m.Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later.
He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years.The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each.The company has not released the names of the miners.
The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect (remove) the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that." We don't want to be energizing anything if it's in an atmosphere with burnable gases," Kips said.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.High levels of carbon monoxide were discovered shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided , authorities said. | high11754.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "to celebrate both their wedding and birthdays"
},
"options": [
"to celebrate both their wedding and birthdays",
"to make their wedding different from others",
"to satisfy the curiosity of their fans",
"to please their p... | They only got engaged on Saturday, but it seems that Rochelle Wiseman and Marvin Humes are planning on marrying in March. The pop stars are eager to tie the knot in just ten weeks in order for their big day to coincide with their birthdays. are both keen to turn the events into one big celebration. According to the Daily Star, the couple think it is the perfect excuse to have one huge party.
"After getting engaged this Christmas, Rochelle and Marvin didn't waste any time in thinking about dates," a source told the newspaper. The couple apparently came to a mutual agreement that they would like to be married by the summer, and then the subject of their birthdays came up."Rochelle has been telling her pals how excited she is and that she loves the birthday idea," the source continued, "she thinks combining the events will make it the most amazing three--way celebration ever."
JLS star Marvin proposed to Rochelle during a festive break in Antigua,and The Saturdays singer was keen to announce the news as soon as possible." _ " she tweeted on December 31. She also posted a photo of her and her husband-to-be in which she flashes her PS45,000 heart-shaped diamond engagement ring. | high3213.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "In a small park."
},
"options": [
"In a restaurant.",
"In a small park.",
"In the centre of town.",
"In his office."
],
"question": "Where did the writer last meet Rogers?",
"question_type": "factiod_questio... | Keving Rogers used to be my boss.At that time he always told us to sell more.As soon as I could,I left his shop and got a new job in another place.The last time I saw Rogers was more than ten years ago.At least that's what I thought.But now I am not so sure.
I was on my way to my office in the centre of town.There is a small park nearby,which I sometimes walk through after lunch.The park was almost empty except for a shabby-looking man on one of those benches .The man looked about fifty years old and was wearing an old gray coat.It was cold and windy,and he was trembling .
"It's a long time since I had a meal.Can you help me?"he said.There was something about his voice that sounded familiar.I gave him a few pennies.As he went past me I looked at his face closely.I wondered where I had seen him before.Then it suddenly came to me.Could it possibly be...? No!Impossible,I thought.I watched him walking away.He was the same height as Rogers but looked a lot thinner than I remembered.
Yesterday I ran into someone who had worked for Rogers at the same time as I did,and had stayed on longer.I started telling him about the man I had seen in the park."For a moment I thought it was our old boss.But it couldn't have been.Rogers must be the head of a company now."I said.
My ex-workmate shook his head,"I thought you knew." "Knew?Knew what?What are you talking about?"
"Rogers was sent to prison six years ago.He's probably been out by now.For all I know he is sleeping on park benches and begging money from passers-by." | high15532.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It's a broadcast-news company."
},
"options": [
"It's a broadcast-news company.",
"It's a basketball team agency.",
"It's a charity organization.",
"It's a publishing house."
],
"question": "What is CNN accordin... | Ted Turner, achieved high goals and great success by the time he was 43. Best known for his CNN, Ted Turner launched a second nationwide all-news network, Headline News, purchased the Atlanta Braves baseball team, and became the world's best yachtsman at the America's Cup in 1977. In 1982 Ted Turner was named by Forbes one of the 400 richest people in the US. He was named Time magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1992. How did Ted Turner accomplish all of this at such a young age?
Ted Turner's father, Ed, was a self-made millionaire who demanded that his only son try to achieve similar success. He instilled in the boy a strong belief that hard work was good. Besides reading a new book every two days, Ted Turner was also charged rent at home during summer vacations from boarding school. Ed Turner was a strong influence in his son's life.
As a child, Ted Turner lived a very lonely life, often separated from his family. During World War II, his father served in the Navy. Ed Turner took his wife and daughter with him so they could live nearby but left his 6yearold son behind in a boarding school in Cincinnati, Ohio. When Ted Turner was in the fifth grade, his father enrolled him in a military academy. Even though Turner had friends at school, it didn't make up for the absence of his parents and sister. Eventually Ted Turner enrolled at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended college off and on, became involved in sailboat racing, and became a member of the U.S. Coast Guard for a while. In his early twenties, he became general manager of one of his father's branch offices -- the Turner Advertising Company in Macon, Georgia.
Two years later after his father's suicide, Ted Turner took over the company. He soon discovered that he was more skilled than his father in managing the business. During the next twenty years, Ted Turner worked hard to accumulate enough power and money to fulfill his father's dream.
Reflecting on his father's death, however, Ted Turner realized that it was dangerous to put too much emphasis on material possessions. He decided to use his hard-earned influence to serve the public. Concerned about the environment, Ted Turner established the Better World Society in 1985. The purpose of this organization was to produce documentaries to educate people about pollution, hunger, and the danger of building weapons of mass destruction. In 1986 Turner began sponsoring the Goodwill Games to promote world peace. The Turner Tomorrow Awards were created to encourage writers and thinkers to focus their attention on solving world problems. The Turner Family Foundation was established in 1992. | high8346.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "their social roles are rigidly determined"
},
"options": [
"boys like to play with their fathers while girl with their mothers",
"they like challenging activities",
"most boys would like to follow their fathers' professions",... | There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They probably came about just to give children something to do.
In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another. In societies where social roles are rigidly determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world.
What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same. The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology. It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing. In Egypt, America, China, Japan and among the Arctic people, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Differences depended on local customs and way of life because toys imitate their surrounding. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles.
Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize(...) inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the cart to the automobile is a direct line of ways up. The progress from a rattle used by a baby in 3,000 BC to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the time and subject to the limitations of available materials. | high7075.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "have an experience of an astronaut"
},
"options": [
"learn more knowledge about history",
"have an experience of an astronaut",
"live a meaningful and interesting life",
"learn how to take care of themselves"
],
... | Attending the Space Camp organized by NASA at prefix = st1 /Huntsville,Alabamais every kid's dream. It gives them the real life experience of what it is like to be an astronaut. It enriches their life with the most meaningful and interesting experiences. Most of these one-week programs are combined with other community programs.
As expected, there is an age limit at the Space Camp in Alabamawith the full camp program being offered only to kids of twelve and above. Many of the activities organized at the camp are likely to be difficult for younger kids, and kids need to be old enough to stay for the week away from home. However, some special programs are offered at the center even for younger kids.
The programs and activities at Space Camp are to awaken creativity. There are exercises in classes and discussions about the history of the space program. These classes include the Russian space program as well as the United Statesprogram. Trips to the museum are also provided for an educational experience.
All those who attend the Space Camp go through a sort of training. They wear space suits to get the feeling of being an astronaut. They are taken into simulators to learn how to fly spacecrafts like the shuttle. And they experience the feeling of weightlessness in the zero gravity simulations. What's more, they even have equipment designed to give them the experience of walking on the moon.
Space Camp is an effective and fun way to bring an interest in space and science. Kids will go through a practical program in a learning atmosphere that transports them far away from their location in Huntsville.Alabama. | high23080.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It will attract the present \"feature\" phone users."
},
"options": [
"It has all the functions of an iPhone.",
"It is specially designed for the developed world.",
"It will attract the present \"feature\" phone users.",
... | Mozilla has shown off a prototype for a $25 (PS15) smart phone that is aimed at the developing world.
The company, which is famed mostly for its Firefox browser , has partnered with the Chinese low-cost chip maker Spreadtrum.
While not as powerful as more expensive models, the phone will run apps and make use of mobile internet.
It would appeal to the sorts of people who currently buy cheap "feature" phones, analysts said.
Feature phones are highly popular in the developing world as a halfway point between "dumb" phones --- just voice calls and other basic functions --- and fully-developed smart phones.
Mozilla hopes that it will take an early lead in a market that is now being targeted by mobile phone producers who see the developing world as the remaining area for massive growth.
It will face fierce competition from bigger, more popular brands, however --- with more announcements of this kind expected over the course of the next couple of days at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
"These solutions expand the global accessibility of open web smart phones to first-time and entry-level smart phone buyers by reducing the time and cost required for handset makers to bring these phones to market," said Spreadtrum in a press statement.
Mozilla said the phone "redefines" the entry-level phone market.
The concept of a cheap smart phone may seem likely to appeal to consumers in developed countries, particularly those who locked into long contracts in order to pay part of the cost of the likes of the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy range.
But analyst Carolina Milanesi, from Kantar World panel, said it should not be seen as a competitor. | high9058.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "gave himself up\\"
},
"options": [
"went gambling",
"talked in class",
"didn't answer",
"gave himself up\\"
],
"question": "Peter always failed in the exams at first because he _ .",
"question_type": "cloz... | Peter was a boy of 14. His parents went to gambling day and night. Nobody cared about him. He always failed in his exams. So his teachers didn't like him, and nor did his classmates play with him.
Peter often slept in class because his heart was not in school. He almost gave himself up.
One day, Miss Jerry, a new teacher, came to Peter's class. She was a smiling, beautiful woman. Peter was in love! For the first time in his young life, he couldn't take his eyes off his teachers; yet, still he failed.
It was Miss Jerry's class. She was asking a question. "I'd like the smartest boy to answer my question." Then she said loudly, "Peter, please!"
Peter was surprised. And he stood up without a word.
"Just try it! I believe you can!"
After school, Miss Jerry had a long talk with Peter. She told him that she cared about him and believed in him.
Peter thought a lot that evening. From then on he arrived at school on time every day. Miss Jerry helped him with his homework in the afternoon. She even cooked delicious food for him. She told Peter, "Nothing is impossible if you put your heart in it."
Later, Miss Jerry gave another exam. Peter did it with all his heart. He was very excited to find that he had passed the exam. Now Peter discovered that not only could he learn well, but he could do it well. A change took place in Peter's heart. | high190.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Buy a cat house and some cat furniture."
},
"options": [
"Find a proper place for the cat to sleep.",
"Buy a cat house and some cat furniture.",
"Learn how to take care of the cat.",
"Know how to buy cat furniture onlin... | Suppose you want to bring home a new cat and are looking for a way to really make it feel at home. Actually, all you need to do is buy some nice cat furniture and have it in place by the time you bring it into your home.
The first thing that you should prepare is a cat house. Two to three feet off the ground is the best height. If you don't have enough room for a cat house, a cat bed is also a nice choice.
Once you have a nice spot where your cat can go to feel safe, then it's time to get cat furniture that offers your pet a nice place to play. One nice choice is cat trees. Scratching posts are another great idea if you are short in space, but still want to give your cat a nice place where it can claw at instead of your own furniture.
If you're looking for a great way to shop for cat furniture, simply turn on your computer and do some online shopping. In no time will you be able to skim all the offerings from many online stores. What's great is that you can easily compare products and their prices, so you can get what you want at the best possible price. And, probably the nicest thing about online shopping is that your purchases may be shipped right to you, so you don't have to waste time making a trip to the store.
So, if you have brought a new cat into your home, make sure that home is an inviting one by buying some new cat furniture. Without it, your cat might feel lost and unsafe, which you definitely do not want to happen. | high1404.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Shakespeare was good at observing and learning from the daily life."
},
"options": [
"Shakespeare got inspiration to write from his hometown, London.",
"Shakespeare was eager to make friends with the noblemen in London.",
"Sh... | When Shakespeare was twenty-one, he went to London to try his fortune in that great city, and a very interesting place was the London of his day.
There was the famous London Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral, and palaces and markets and long streets full of shops.
Then, too, there were the daily crowds where people from all over the world could be seen. Knights,scholars and the highwayman or thief,who had been infamous for his clever robberies, passed by each other. Here, also, were noblemen dressed in gold, from Italy and Spain and France; slaves from Spanish America, sea captains and ministers, soldiers and servants--all held by chance or interest within the gray walls which circled London, and whose gates gave welcome to as strange a crowd as could be found in the world.
Into this curious crowd came Shakespeare, quick to see and eager to learn. And before long all these strange sights were as familiar to him as the faces of his own town's residents. Each _ told its story to him so plainly that, as before he had learned the secrets of the fields and woods, so now he learned men and men's interests that make up the great world.
And he learned these lessons so well that when he came to write his plays, he made such use of them as no writer ever made before or since; for it is the use of this knowledge of the world, combined with his own genius, that makes Shakespeare the greatest dramatist that has ever lived. | high13625.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They will pay for the meal separately."
},
"options": [
"They will pay for the meal separately.",
"Either part will pay for the meal.",
"They will go to Dutch for a meal.",
"They can enjoy a meal free of charge."
],... | A friend asks me "Why don't Chinese go Dutch?" So I want to regard this question as the topic and write an article.As everyone knows,westerners will go Dutch while having a meal in the restaurant.But Chinese don't go Dutch.Chinese will pay the bill and check out generously.Westerners don't often entertain guests;but Chinese often invite friends to dinner.A lot of westerners feel puzzled to this question.
Why does there exist such a difference? First of all,food systems between China and West are different.Chinese put into practice Gather Dining System;westerners put into practice Individual Dining System.Everybody can share the delicious food of all over the table when eating Chinese food.Please note it is sharing,but westerners just eat the food in one's own plate.If you eat beef and he eats chicken,it is impossible that you taste the flavor of his chicken.The result of the Individual Dining System is that you can only eat the food in your plate.
So to eat Chinese food is happier than to eat Western-style food.And I want to ask you a question.Do you like the free thing? I think nobody doesn't like the free thing.Ok! Suppose I invite you to eat the delicious Chinese food,then I pay the bill.This is equivalent to that you have enjoyed a delicious Chinese food free.So you will be very glad.It will strengthen the relation between us in the happy atmosphere.
Secondly,westerners eat for the health;Chinese eat for the friendship.Westerners advocate individualism and independence is strong.So westerners express that respect for each other's independence through the way go Dutch.Chinese like making friends and solidarity.Chinese value the interpersonal relationships and the friendship very much.
Third,it is only simple "Have a meal!" for westerners to entertain guests.Unlike the purpose and the _ that Chinese entertain guests,in Americans' idea,"Have a meal" definition is to add fuel to the body for keeping health and normal life activity.That is to say,there is not any additional value.In the Chinese idea,"Have a meal" not only is a kind of life enjoyment,but also is the means to promote friendship between the friends.After enjoying the sumptuous delicious food,you are glad,and I am glad too.The friendship between the friends has been strengthened in this kind of atmosphere. | high24089.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "British art and illustrated books."
},
"options": [
"Near and Far Eastern art.",
"Pre-Columbian and African art",
"British art and illustrated books.",
"Works of European and American masters."
],
"question": "W... | Teaching and research are supported by the University's extensive collections--the Yale University Art Gallery, the Yale Center for British Art, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Collection of Musical Instruments. All the collections are open to the public.
Yale University Art Gallery
The Yale University Art Gallery, founded in 1832, today houses a collection that has grown to rank with those of the major public art museums in the United States. Its two connected buildings house ancient, medieval, and Renaissance art, Near and Far Eastern art, archaeological material from the University's excavations , Pre-Columbian and African art, works of European and American masters from actually every period, and a rich collection of modern art. Across the street, the Yale Center for British Art, which was opened in 1977, holds the largest collection of British art and illustrated books anywhere outside the United Kingdom.
Peabody Museum of Natural History
Yale's Peabody Museum of Natural History, founded in 1866, contains one of the great scientific collections in North America. Among its holdings are the University's comprehensive mineralogical and ornithological collections, the second-largest repository of dinosaur artifacts in the United States, and the largest undamaged Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus ) in the world. The Peabody is truly a working museum, where public exhibition, research, conservation, teaching, and learning intersect .
Yale Center for British Art
Institutions like the Art Gallery, the Center for British Art, and the Peabody Museum hold only a portion of the treasures in the University's collections. From paintings by Picasso, to pterodactyl remains, to a 1689 tenor viol in the Collection of Musical Instruments, Yale's possessions are meant to be accessible to the communities they enrich.
Collection of Musical Instruments
Exhibitions are also frequently mounted at the following venues on campus: Art + Architecture Gallery (School of Architecture), Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Green Hall Gallery (School of Art), and Sterling Memorial Library, including the Arts of the Book Collection. | high15254.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they consider time as a valuable resource."
},
"options": [
"Because they can't control time.",
"Because they is the same all over the world.",
"Because they consider time as a thing like money.",
"Because they ... | What is time? Is it a thing to be saved or spent or wasted, like money? Or is it something we have no control over, like the weather? Is time the same all over the world? That's an easy question, you say. Wherever you go, a minute is 60 seconds, an hour is 60 minutes, a day is 24 hours, and so forth. Well, maybe. But in America, time is more than that. Americans see time as a valuable resource. Maybe that's why they are fond of the expression, "Time is money."
To Americans, punctuality is a way of showing respect for other people's time. Being more than 10 minutes late to an appointment usually calls for an apology, and maybe an explanation. People who are running late often call ahead to let others know of the delay. Of course, the less formal the situation, the less important it is to be exactly on time. At informal get-togethers, for example, people often arrive as much as 30 minutes past the appointed time. But they usually don't try that at work.
American lifestyles show how much people respect the time of others. When people plan an event, they often set the time days or weeks in advance. Once the time is fixed, it takes almost an emergency to change it. If people want to come to your house for a friendly visit, they will usually call first to make sure it is suitable. Only very close friends will just "drop by" unannounced. Also, people hesitate to call others late at night for fear they might be in bed. The time may vary, but most folks think twice about calling after 10:00 p.m. | high8420.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Decoding the blueprint of life"
},
"options": [
"Decoding the blueprint of life",
"Super Science High School",
"More students hoping to become biologists",
"Hi-tech experimental laboratory"
],
"question": "Which... | A high school in Hiroshima City has been the first to do something with DNA in the world. Its students have won praise not only for doing this research but also for presenting their findings to groups of expert scientists. The school is one of the Super Science High Schools allowed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, where students are given an opportunity to study science at an advanced level. Here, students use the same type of hitech experimental laboratories as those found at universities. In these labs, they conduct experiments and research in new fields of study not found in textbooks. As part of this science course, the students, with the help of Hiroshima University, used a machine called sequencer , and over the course of a year and a half they succeeded in decoding the DNA. They then presented their results to academic groups. Achieving a world first might sound very wonderful, but the process of decoding the DNA involved very hard work. The students were also responsible for maintaining the equipment, and they had to read difficult research papers and put in extra study beyond their regular schoolwork.
"Researchers need to work hard. The work was tiring, but the students worked toward their ambitious goal of achieving a world first. They have a great sense of achievement, and the number of students who hope to become biologists has increased," said Taruma Akinori, who is in charge of the science course.
In addition to the results being added to the scientific community, the students' research paper will be translated into English and made available overseas. Moreover, the students have decided to take on a new challenge in DNA decoding. | high7713.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Improvement in intelligence."
},
"options": [
"Full control by the user.",
"Improvement in intelligence.",
"Larger size of the robots.",
"Help for the experienced users."
],
"question": "What is the new concept ... | What if handheld tools know what needs to be done and were even able to guide and help inexperienced users to complete jobs that require skill? Researchers at the University of Bristol have developed and started studying a novel concept in robotics--intelligent handheld robots. Historically, handheld tools have been straight, unintelligent instruments that are _ of the context they operate in, are fully directed by the user, and therefore, lack any understanding about the task they are performing.
Dr. Walterio Mayol-Cuevas and PhD student, Austin Gregg-Smith, from the University's Department of Computer Science, have been working in the design of the robot as well as in understanding how best to be with a tool that "knows and acts".
Compared to other tools such as power tools that have a motor and perhaps some basic sensors , the handheld robots developed at Bristol are designed to have more degrees of freedom to allow greater independence from the instructions of the user, and importantly, understand the steps being carried out. This allows for a new level of co-operation between user and tool, such as the user providing directions and the tool performing the detailed task.
Handheld robots, aim to share physical similarity with users but are neither fully independent as is a humanoid robot nor are part of the user's body. The aim with handheld robots is to develop the intuitiveness of using traditional handheld tools while adding planted intelligence and action to allow for new abilities.
Dr. Mayol-Cuevas, Reader in Robotics Computer Vision and Mobile Systems, said, "There are three basic levels of autonomy we are considering: no autonomy, semi-autonomous when the robot advises the user but does not act, and fully autonomous when the robot advises and acts even by correcting or refusing to perform incorrect user actions." | high11032.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Mice, frogs, pests, some animals, other snakes."
},
"options": [
"Mice, crops, birds' eggs.",
"Pests, frogs, some animals, plants.",
"Birds' eggs, frogs, all animals, other snakes.",
"Mice, frogs, pests, some animals, o... | Some snakes eat other snakes, even poisonous ones. The poison does not do them any harm . Snakes can swallow things that are bigger around than they themselves are. This is possible because the jawbones are loosely joined, and the mouth can stretch to make room for a fat animal. The snake's slim body stretches to make space for the animal when it is inside.
Many snakes eat birds' eggs or frogs . Others eat pests , mice and other animals that harm crops on farms. Because snakes do this valuable work, you should never kill one. It is too dangerous for you to kill a poisonous one. Leave that job to experts. | high5104.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they first thought reaching the second floor had no connection with the worry."
},
"options": [
"Because they were too tired to understand what Mr.Iyer said.",
"Because they felt surprised at such an unbelievable problem.",... | When I was a high school student , mathematics looked like a big hurdle for me and several of my classmates.When we reached the ninth class, we got Mr. Iyer, a strict maths teacher who was also our class teacher.He always stuck to his discipline.We had to arrive on time, pay undivided attention to his lectures, and dared not neglect any of h is homework.
Even so, as our class teacher, we got to know him better.Noticing some of us fidgeting one day as the mid -term exams approached, he stopped solving a mathematical problem to ask us why." There' s too much to do," we sighed."We're afraid we'll never manage to finish our revision before the exams."
"Nothing is impossible," Mr. Iyer told us. "This classroom is on the second floor. Do you have a problem reaching here ?"
We reacted with blank stares.
"No, you don' t !"he said , answering his own question."You have a staircase to help you climb up to this level.No one expects you to make it in two giant leaps.You simply take one step at a time.Any task can be solved if you focus on the immediate action to be taken.The rest w ill take care of itself, if you keep at it.One step at a time.That' s the secret."
Then he wrote down an o ld motto on the blackboard --the longest journey starts with a single step.Having heard his staircase analogy , w e understood why he asked us the question and we saw him in a new light.
Most of my classmates scored distinctions in maths.And I went on to become an English teacher.To this day , whenever I pass on Mr.Iyer's invaluable advice to my own students , they brighten up at the prospect of a lighter academic burden. | high18770.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because he wanted to find out the truth."
},
"options": [
"Because he was asked to investigate the hospital.",
"Because he wanted to find out the truth.",
"Because he wanted to prove it was a good hospital.",
"Because h... | The new university hospital in Trenton, which the Health Minister Victoria Culley has described as a "shining example" to hospitals all over the country, has been open now for over six months. Having heard several complimentary comments about the organization and efficiency of the place, I decided to see for myself.
In spite of arriving early, I found that there were already long queues at the reception desks. While I was waiting, I looked around and had to admit that it is an impressive building: large and light with marble everywhere. Eventually my turn came and I presented my doctor's letters to the receptionist, who informed me that I was in the X-ray queue and I'd have to go to another queue and start again! I couldn't believe it and asked her if it might be possible to give me an appointment card anyway without making me queue up again. She informed me it was no good arguing with her and I should have read the sign, an almost invisible piece of card saying "X-rays" just in front of her where very few people can have seen it. No matter how hard I tried to persuade her, she wouldn't give me an appointment card for a blood test, so I started queuing again and finally got the card at 8: 30! I then set off for the blood test room, following the nice new signs until they suddenly stopped and I realized that I was in a part of the hospital that hasn't been finished yet! When I got to the door I saw a notice saying "Back in 10 minutes". I sat down and waited for 30 minutes before a doctor appeared and told me to come in without, of course, apologizing for keeping me waiting. I asked him why I'd had to wait and he explained he'd had to help out in another ward which was understaffed as a result of a flu epidemic among the doctors!
I got out of the hospital at 9:45 a.m. and breathed a sigh of relief. I'm now waiting for the results.
So, Mrs. Culley, a far from rosy picture. Certainly the public should be under no illusions that things have changed for the better. Perhaps you should visit the hospital as an anonymous outpatient rather than a government minister if you really want to know what it's like unless, as I suspect, you don't actually care about much. | high17443.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "parents and teachers"
},
"options": [
"children",
"parents and teachers",
"professors",
"parents and children"
],
"question": "The passage is written mainly for",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer":... | If your child does well on a test,of course,you're going to praise or her-but if you focus too often on achievements, children may not get the right message.Why?
An experiment by psychologist Carol Dweck at Columbia University in New York shows what happens when kids are praised for their efforts,and what happens when they're praised for their intelligence.
Dweck got a group of ten--yearolds to do a series of puzzles easy enough so that all could do them well.Then they were told either,"You must be smart at this,"or,"You must have worked really hard."
In the following tests,the kids praised for their efforts chose to do a harder set of puzzles.when give a task two years beyond their grade levels ,they worked hard and enjoyed the challenge , even when they didn't succeed. And in a final test at the same level as the first ,their scores improved by 25 percent. And the "smart" kids? They refused to try the harder puzzles, choosing the one that guaranteed them good scores. When they did work in the "too hard" tests , they became discouraged and upset. And when retested with the original puzzles, their scores declined by 20 percent.
Dweck's conclusion:"When we praise kids for their intelligence,we tell them: 'Look smart,don't risk making mistakes.'"By contrast,"emphasizing effort gives children an inspiring factor that they can control." | high16985.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a container with attractive picture"
},
"options": [
"the size of a container",
"a container with attractive picture",
"a well-designed container",
"a plain container with low cost"
],
"question": "From the pass... | Packaging is an important form of advertising.A package can sometimes _ someone to buy a product.For example, a small child might ask for a breakfast food that comes in a box with a picture of a TV character.The child is more interested in the picture than in breakfast food.Pictures for children to color or cut out, games printed on a package, or a small gift inside a box also motivate many children to buy products or to ask their parents to buy for them.
Some packages suggest that a buyer will get something for nothing.Food products sold in reusable containers are examples of this.Although a similar product in a plain container might cost less, people often prefer to buy the product in a reusable glass or dish, because they believe the container is free.However, the cost of the container is added to the cost of the product.The size of a package also motivates a buyer.Maybe the package had "Economy Size" or "Family Size" printed on it.This suggests that the larger size has the most product for the least money.But that is not always true.To find it out, a buyer has to know how the product is sold and the price of the basic unit.
The information on the package should provide some answers.But the important thing for any buyer to remember is that a package is often an advertisement.The words and pictures do not tell the whole story.Only the product inside can do that. | high11026.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "in the factories, shops and restaurants in the USA"
},
"options": [
"in the cinemas and theatres in the USA",
"in the offices and hospitals in the USA",
"in the schools and churches in the USA",
"in the factories, shops... | Background music may seem harmless, but it can have a powerful effect on those who hear it. Recorded background music first found its way into factories, shops and restaurants in the USA. Very soon it spread to other parts of the world. Now it is becoming difficult to go shopping or eat a meal without listening to background music.
To begin with, background music was intended simply to create a soothing atmosphere. Recently, however, it's becoming a big business. An American marketing expert has shown that music can boost sales or increase factory production by as much as a third.
But it has to be the light music. Lively music has no effect at all on sales. Slow music can increase receipts by 34%. This is probably because shoppers slow down and have more opportunity to spot items they would like to buy. Yet, slow music isn't always the answer. The expert found that in restaurants slow music meant customers took longer to eat their meals, which reduced overall sales. So restaurant owners might be well advised to play faster music to keep the customers moving-unless, of course, the resulting indigestion leads to complaints. | high3561.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Smoking is really dangerous. It may even cause death."
},
"options": [
"It's only a joke to put a cigarette into a skeleton's mouth.",
"He would persuade the skeleton to give up smoking.",
"Smoking is really dangerous. It may... | George and Carol were medical students at the same college and, like many other college students, they enjoyed playing jokes on people. Both of them smoked, but they knew that their professor was strongly against it, because smoking was dangerous to one's health. One day they decided to play a joke on their professor.
At one of their medical lectures there was always a skeleton in the room so that the professor could show the students the different bones in the human body.
That afternoon, Carol and George put a cigarette in the mouth of the skeleton that was to be used for their next lecture.
When the professor came in, he began talking and then noticed the cigarette. He went up to the skeleton, took the cigarette out of its mouth and said," You really should give them up, old boy. Look what they're doing to you!" | high16749.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "not a real person"
},
"options": [
"a woman working on the Internet",
"his brother's girlfriend",
"not a real person",
"the picture of his pen friend"
],
"question": "The pretty woman that appeared on the writer... | When I opened my e-mail the other day,a pretty woman named Rachel appeared on my computer screen.She greeted me by name and started talking with great enthusiasm.Every now and then she stopped to smile at me or blow a kiss.She was reading to me an e-mail from my brother,and a lot of it was about his getting the phone company to give him a highspeed Internet connection.It was pretty cool.
Rachel was there thanks to a new technology called Facemail.Facemail lets you send an email that gets ready to the receiver by an attractive male or female form or by a clown .The software,which is free,can be downloaded at www.Facemail.com.
Facemail faces are lifelike,and they simulate emotions based on emotions that you put in your text.For example,type in X,and Rachel will blow a kiss.
LifeFX,the company that develops the Facemail,is sure there are broad business uses.The reason ebusiness is not popular,the company says,is that buying over the Internet lacks the human touch.But what if you went to the Nike website and Michael Jordan greeted you by name,waited for you and personally closed the sale?And it is talking with Whirlpool about using the technology in a computer screen on a fridge.Then if Mom can't be home when the kids get back from school,she can leave a note with voice and image telling them what there is to eat.
Facemail could get hot fast.Personally,I'm a fan.But Facemail should be used with care.The clown looks lively and funny at first.But if you select the clown,put a few rude words in an email and add some angry emotions,you've got a Psychomail . | high18764.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "warn people of the danger from air pollution"
},
"options": [
"warn people of the danger from air pollution",
"introduce London's Great Smog of l952",
"blame the government for the smog",
"explain the reasons for air po... | Way back in 1662,John Evelyn,a brilliant Englishman known for his detailed diaries,wrote
About disastrous effects of coal-burning on the city of London .In it,he described an infernal scene of
smog.air filled with "Columns and Clouds of Smoke''given out by small industries and residences
that burned coal for fuel.
I found the description in the 2003 book When Smoke Ran like Water,by epidemiologist and environmental advocator Devra Davis.In it,Davis looks back at several historic pollution events and their disastrous effect on human human health-and at how these phenomena were often Ignored or even actively covered up by then people in charge at that time.
As Davis points out,John Evelyn was ahead of his time when writing about how London's
polluted air affected the well-being of its residents.It wasn't until nearly 300 years later,after what
became well-known as the Great Smog of 1952,that the government began to address the problem in a systematic way.
For four days.Between December 5th"and 9th",due to all accident of the weather pattern,the city
was buried in a heavy fog .People were still burning coal for fuel,and low-grade coal at that time,
because 0f wartime condition.A temperature inversion trapped the smoke from the city's fires,
creating a black cloud in which people could barely find their way down the most familiar streets
Some tried to protect themselves,but most people simply went about their business
But l952's fog was far worse than any other in memory.In the same week of the previous year,
1852 people had died in London;inl952,that number was 4703 And the deaths didn't stop when
the weather changed and the fog lifted.Davis and her colleagues analyzed data from the next several
months and found that about 13000 more people died between December and March than one would
have predicted from historical averages Many of them died of pneumonia .The government,
she writes.Tried to blame a bad flu season.Her detailed analysis found that explanation simply did
not pan out.
Davis writes that even today in this country ,we still have not completely absorbed the lessons
0f similar events.Sixty years the killer fog lifted in London,people are dying preventable
deaths and suffering life.changing illnesses,simply because they must breathe the air of the cities
where they live | high17457.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "people are getting dependent on attraction online"
},
"options": [
"distrust has already been everywhere among people",
"the friendship between people is becoming fragile",
"people are getting dependent on attraction online",... | Not many things in life can be more irritating: you are having a conversation with friends, but they check their phones and begin replying to texts or checking their emails. The Guardian described the scene of a friend's face buried in a screen as "a distinct 21st-century problem". A new word has been created to describe this --- phubbing. It is the act of looking at your mobile phone instead of paying attention to others during a social interaction. Like pointing at one's nose, phubbing is widely considered rude behavior. People everywhere are beginning to lose patience with the phenomenon.
A "Stop Phubbing" campaign group has been started in Australia and at least five others have sprung up in its wake as anger about the lack of manners grows. The campaign's creator, Alex Haigh, 23, from Melbourne, said, "A group of friends and I were chatting when someone raised how annoying being ignored by people on mobiles was." He has created a website where companies can download posters to discourage phubbing.
Phubbing is just one symptom of our increasing dependence on mobile phones and the Internet, which is replacing normal social interaction. A survey found that one out of three Britons would answer the phone in a restaurant and 19% said they would while being served in a shop. The survey came after a supermarket assistant in south London refused to serve a woman until she stopped using her phone. A poll, for a Sunday paper, also found that 54 percent of people checked Facebook, Twitter or other social media every day, with 16 per cent checking more than ten times a day. An unsurprising 63 per cent of people carry their phone with them "almost all, or all of the time", it found.
Phil Reed, a professor of psychology at Swansea University who has studied the Internet addiction disorder, said many phubbers show symptoms of addiction to their mobile phones.
Time magazine once pointed out, "Phubbing has a much greater potential harm to real-life connections by making people around us feel like we care more about posts than their presence."
In the UK, Glamour magazine even imagined how novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817) would have written about people with bad mobile phone manners: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man or woman in possession of a good mobile phone must be in want of manners." | high10338.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She spent some time keeping her balance in making simple turns without fallings."
},
"options": [
"The 1ady lost some of her left arm because of an accident",
"The guy used to coach a dancing school before accident.",
"The la... | An ly amazing performance!
Candy,Please read the story first and chick on the link at the bottom and enjoy!
The lady in her 30s was a dancer and was trained since she was a little girl. Later she got into some kind of audient and lost her entire left arm. She was depressed for a few years.Then someone asked her to coach a children's dancing group. From that point on, she realized she could not forget dancing.
She still loved to dance.She wanted to dance again.So she started to do some of her old routines. But by her losing an arm,She also lost her balance.
It took a while before she could even make simple turns without falling.
Eventually she got it.
Then she heard some guy in his 20s had lost a 1eg in an accident.This guy also fell into depression and anger. She looked him up and persuaded him to dance with her. He had never danced! "And to dance with one leg ? Are you joking with me?
"No way," he replied.
But she didn't give up. He reluctantly agreed, "I have nothing else to do anyway."She started to teach him dancing.The two fell down a few times because the guy had no concept of using muscle, controlling his body,and a few other basic things about dancing.When she became frustrated and lost patience with him,he would walk out.
Later they got back together again and started training. They hired a choreographer to design routines for them.She would fly high,held by him with both arms, flying in the air. He could bend,supported by one leg and she was leaning on him,etc.They danced beautifully and they beat other students in the competition.
I would like to share with you the most magnificent an touching performance I have ever seen! It is a living proof that strong spirit can conquer physical limitations! | high16991.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Millions of people still live in the area where the explosion happened."
},
"options": [
"Children suffering from cancer have doubled since the accident.",
"More than 200 people died in the accident.",
"The influence of the e... | In the year 1986 there was a terrible explosion . The explosion was at a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The radiation caused a lot of damage. It polluted the soil and other things. People were living in the area when the explosion happened. More than twenty years later those people are still suffering. The _ of the explosion will go on for a long time.
Over two million people still live in that area. Only 56 people died from the explosion but many other problems have been caused because of it. Some types of cancer are more than 200 times above the world average . Many children have cancer now and children born with problems have doubled since the accident.
Some people in the United States are worried about the children living in the explosion area. One group has been trying to raise money. They are called the Chenobyl Children's Project. They want to bring children from Ukraine to the U.S. each summer.
A spokesperson for the group says that radiation is the highest in the summertime so it is a good time to get the children out of the country. They want to help the children get away for a little while. The Project wants them to be safe from radiation.
It costs $1,500 to bring each child to the United States for six weeks. The group raised enough money to bring 28 children to the United States last year. The children were able to do lots of fun things. They enjoyed clean air, healthy food, and plenty of outdoor fun. One little nine-year-old girl who got to come to the United States said that she likes America.
The spokesperson says that the children that come to America during the summer miss less school when they return home because they have a long summer vacation. | high1376.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "available wherever you are"
},
"options": [
"popular with all the ages",
"available wherever you are",
"better than others on the market",
"necessary whatever you do"
],
"question": "Different activities are men... | What's the weather like today? Harmful rays are dangerous even on cold, cloudy days. Sunscreen is important year-round protection no matter where you are.
Remember, you're being struck by the sun's powerful rays when you are
*walking on the street *playing on the ground
*relaxing on the beach or pool *taking part in outdoor activities
Sun Veil Sunscreen can reduce the harmful effects of the sun.
Sun Veil Sunscreen is guaranteed 100% effective or you will get a full refund. Sun Veil Sunscreen provides long-lasting waterproof protection from the sun's burning rays that will last for a full 6 hours in or out of water.
Instructions:
Apply Sun Veil's disappearing blue-colored sunscreen to all exposed skin. The blue color disappears as you rub Sun Veil Sunscreen onto the skin. The coloring is safe and easily washes from most clothing. For best results, allow Sun Veil Sunscreen to dry for 15-30 minutes before exposure to the sun.
Warning:
Discontinue use immediately, if the skin becomes painful or there are some red spots.
Sun Veil Sunscreen is not recommended for pregnant women and babies under the age of six months.
If you're interested in our product, just order now! $20.00 for one bottle. There will be a 10% discount if you buy two at a time, and a 15% discount for three or more! | high13631.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a history of the Guinness Book"
},
"options": [
"the McWhirter twins",
"the director Sir Hugh Beaver",
"unusual records in the Guinness Book",
"a history of the Guinness Book"
],
"question": "The passage is most... | Where do you find out about the world's longest walk? The world's tallest man? The world's oldest woman? You know the answer, of course. It is the Guinness Book of World Records. How would people find such unusual facts without this book?
Guinness Book did not exist until 1951. Here is what happened. The managing director of Guinness Brewery was a curious man. He wanted answers to some questions about records. For example, he wanted to know what was the fastest flying game bird in Europe. But he was frustrated. There was no book to answer questions like this.
The director, Sir Hugh Beaver, contacted the McWhirter twins. They were brothers who owned a research agency. He asked them to put together a new reference book. It would include all kinds of unusual records. The brothers quickly accepted. The first edition of their book was published in 1955. Soon the Guinness Book of World Records was a best seller. It has sold more copies than any book except the Bible. A new edition is published every year.
Where do all the book's records come from? They are a combination of things like natural wonders, sports records, and stunts (How many people would push an egg with their noses if they weren't trying to get to the book?). But the editors try to keep things honest. All records must be _ by an investigator. Only then are they printed.
The Guinness Book is a big business. It is published in dozens of languages. There are TV shows and museums. It is proof of how interested people are in strange pieces of information. | high6419.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "challenge the previous record of living alone on Rockall"
},
"options": [
"protest at oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic",
"show his ability to adapt himself to bad conditions",
"prove broadcasting from distant islands c... | Nick Hancock hopes to set a new record by living alone for 60 days on a small island in the Atlantic.
Tom McClean, an SAS soldier who holds the solo record for occupying Rockall for 40 days in 1985, told Hancock that being alone for two months was the greatest challenge Hancock would have to face.
"I'm fully expecting it to be tough," Nick Hancock said. "I'm hoping that by doing my daily tasks fairly slowly, I'm going to be able to keep most of my time busy. I think the worst times will come if I'm boxed up for several days by bad weather."
Hancock hopes to land on Rockall in early June and will carry out the last tests of his boat next week. He has a small wind turbine and a solar panel for power, more than two months' food, a satellite phone and a laptop loaded with e-books to keep him going. Hancock will update an adventure blog, texting messages out on Twitter and emailing his wife Pam and friends every day.
Rockall has been occupied before, most famously by McClean but also by three Greenpeace campaigners, who set the long-stay record of 42 days in 1997 by occupying the rock in protest at oil and gas exploration in the area.
The last human inhabitants Hancock knows of are a small group of Belgian amateur radio enthusiasts, who are interested in broadcasting from distant islands; they were on Rockall overnight in late 2010.
Hancock has no large support team behind him. Except for the coastguard , his only lifeline will be the Orca III, the passenger boat which will take him to Rockall. | high8434.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Europe"
},
"options": [
"Britain",
"Italy",
"Denmark",
"Europe"
],
"question": "The survey was carried out in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
... | How many men do housework? Recently a European commission tried to find out people's ideas and reactions to the women's movement. As part of their survey , they asked many men and women the question, "Who does the housework?" The men answered very differently from the women!
The housework they asked people about was: preparing meals, washing dishes, cleaning the house and babysitting. 48% of British husbands said they did these things. 37% of Danish men helped in the house. But only 15% of Italian men said they did the housework; many of them said they never helped at all!
But there was an interesting point of view from the wives. According to British wives, only 38% of their husbands helped in the house. And Italian wives said that their husbands hardly ever helped. The Italian and British men did not tell the truth! The Commission found that Danish men were the most truthful husbands; their answers were the same as their wives' answers.
Do the men you know help in the house? Do you think the survey gives a true picture in your experience? Write and tell us what you think. | high7707.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "In a newspaper."
},
"options": [
"In a telephone book.",
"In a newspaper.",
"In a travel guide.",
"In a textbook."
],
"question": "Where can you most probably read the text?",
"question_type": "factiod_quest... | It is not easy to reach Panjiayu, a village in the countryside around Thangshan, Hebei province. To get to the isolated village, visitors first have to take a bus ride of about an hour to the Fengrun district before taking a long-distance bus, which usually runs five times a day.
Surrounded by mountains and bathed in plentiful sunlight, Panjiayu is nicknamed "Turpan", after the city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region that is famous for its sweet grapes.
The fruit is the Panjiayuy's main money spinner ------ the courtyard of almost every home boasts at least one grape trellis , and the main road is enlaced by vines.
Last year, about 200,000 tourists from nearby cities visited Panjiayu. Even so, the place has retained its traditional feel. When night falls, except for a few road lamps that send out a dim light, the village is shrouded in darkness, the silence only broken by the occasional bark of a dog.
So why does this village of just 1,500 residents attract so many visitors? Grapes are only part of the reason; most of the tourists visit to commemorate a massacre that happened 73 years ago. The modern building that seems so _ with the traditional feel of the place is a memorial to the events of Jan 25, 1941, two days before Lunar New Year, when the Japanese army carried out a frenzied slaughter of unarmed villagers.
"About 1,298 of the 1,700 villagers were murdered. Of the survivors, 273 were not in the village that day, and although nearly 200 others survived, 98 of them were badly injured," said Pan Ruishen, the leader of the Panjiayu compensation Team for Japanese Atrocities .
Panjiayu was just one of many massacres committed by the Japanese during the occupation of China before and during World War II, however, it is now a patriotism-education base because the village is full of sites of historical interest, such as the big lotus tree, whose hollow trunk was used to hide secret files of the Eighth Route Army, and the metal doors at the village entrance, which are scarred with countless white marks left by Japanese bayonets . | high8352.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "hopes kids can feel proud of their neighborhood"
},
"options": [
"has a history of more than 20 years",
"offers kids activities organized by parents",
"aims to protect the environment by the power of art",
"hopes kids c... | "I Love My Neighborhood" Poster Contest
The "I Love My Neighborhood" Poster Contest was developed in l993.It aims to educate your students and their families about neighborhood pride and duty.Lessons and activities are provided in a teacher's guide.Students can learn about the sources of litter and pollution prevention.
RULES
All children in primary schools are invited to submit one piece of work. The Winning posters will be reproduced and handed out throughout the neighborhood.
*Students are encouraged to bravely use different colors and to be as creative as possible! It is up to the student and you to decide which art tool to use such as crayons. Color pencils are not advised because they do not reproduce well.
*The topic, "I am part of my neighborhood!" must be included in the design of each poster. The Committee requires that students include their
mascot in each poster.
*All work must be on normal-sized paper for winning posters reproduction purposes. Over-sized posters will have no chance of taking part in the final competition.
*All work submitted must be the child's own work.Your students can be guided by you or their parents; we simply want to avoid poster not drawn by themselves.
*Please review each poster before submitting.
Each work to be submitted must include the student's name, grade level,your name and school name on the BACK of each poster.
For more information or questions about the 2012 "I Love My Neighborhood" Poster Contest, contact Jaixen Webb at (818) 551-6933 or
' | high15526.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a longer time"
},
"options": [
"a limited time",
"a longer time",
"a shorter time",
"a wonderful time"
],
"question": "In summer, visitors will have _ to visit Ellis Island.",
"question_type": "cloze_que... | Ellis Island is located in New York Harbor. Ellis Island is open daily year round from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours during summer. It is closed on December 25. There is no admission charge to Ellis Island; but donations are gratefully accepted.
At Your Fingertips
Park information (212) 363-7620
Emergencies (212) 363-3260
Ferryboat information (212) 269-5755
Lost and found (212)363-7620
Dining, gifts & audio tour 344-0996
Transportation
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferry; boats leave from Battery Park, Manhattan, and from Liberty State Park, New Jersey. They run about every 30 to 45 minutes beginning at 9:15 a.m.(The time for ferry is changeable)
Hours: May vary; call the number above
Closed: December 25
Ferry fees (includes Liberty and Islands) adults, $7; senior citizens, $6; children (age 3~17), $5. (Group rates are available for 25 or more adults.) | high7061.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Germany."
},
"options": [
"The Netherlands.",
"France.",
"Germany.",
"Australia."
],
"question": "In which country can you find the \"Call A Bike\" system?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | Get ready to cycle your heart out at these local and overseas destinations perfect for cycling.
1. Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
With more bikes than people, the city has a large number of cyclists. Low speed limits in the centre control the impact of cars, while bike racks( ) on public transport make it easy to travel long distances. You can also find rental shops everywhere.
2. Berlin, Germany.
With over 1000 km of bike paths, the vast majority of which are protected lanes, it's no wonder Berliners love to get around by bike. For the traveller, the major sights are within easy reach on a bicycle. The "Call A Bike" share system allows you to simply lock the bike to any fixed object and call in a code to return it.
3. Paris, France.
Home to the Velib' public bike sharing system that has over 20, 000 bikes, and with 500km of bike paths, Paris cyclists can enjoy the city safe from motorists. A Velib' station is almost always within sight, or just around the next corner.
4. Tokyo, Japan.
Despite being home to one of the most developed public transportation networks on the planet, Tokyo residents still cycle in large numbers. Though the extent of bike lanes is limited, safe drivers ease the tension between car and cyclist. Unique automatic underground bike parking garages are provided when you need to store your bicycle.
5. Perth, Australia.
A large part of Perth's intelligent basic facilities are made up of bike paths, which allow commuters to get into and around their city with ease. There are free bike lockers and racks across the city. For the visitor, numerous scenic routes line the coastline and the local Swan River. | high14638.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "new ways can recover the Tsaatan community"
},
"options": [
"tourism is not the key to local economy",
"new ways can recover the Tsaatan community",
"wildlife conservation is a major concern",
"international cooperation... | In far northern prefix = st1 /Mongolia, the living of the smallest ethnic group in the country--the Tsaatan community depends on a kind of animal reindeer.
An American named Morgan Keay visited the Tsaatan community when she was studying in Mongoliain 2002. Local leaders told her that the animals were not healthy and the number of reindeer was. getting too small to support the community.
Back in the United States, Morgan Keay and a friend who had also studied inMongoliastarted an organization. They named it Itgel the Mongolian word for "hope".
The Itgel Foundation has helped bring foreign scientists to Mongoliato research and treat reindeer diseases. They also helped Tsaatan workers build a community and visitor center. The building includes guest rooms for tourists. The Tsaatan not only work as guides, they now provide services for travelers. The community works in partnership with international tour operators, who had formerly been in control of the services.
People in the community designed the center, which they also own and manage. Before the visitor center was built, families earned an average of 100 dollars a year. Now Morgan Keay says the average is 3 to 4 times that. Money also goes into a community account.
Four years ago the Tsaatan had fewer than 500 reindeer. Now the herd has already reached 900.
Morgan Keay says the Tsaatan are becoming economically independent for the first time.
The Mongolian government is now considering a development plan written by the community that deals with education, health, the environment and economics. | high23094.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Extreme rain events can be expected at regional levels in dry areas."
},
"options": [
"Global warming is causingdry areas to become drierand wet areas wetter.",
"Extreme rain events can be expected at regional levels in dry areas."... | Whether you live in Seattle or the Sahara desert, the time has come to invest in a good raincoat or umbrella, a new study suggests.
As global temperatures continue to rise, more "extreme rain" events--intense, cats-and-dogs downpours--can be expected, said thestudy, published Monday in the journalNature Climate Change. And that, scientists said, means an increased flood risk, particularly for the world's driest areas. The study challenges the idea that global warming is causingdry areas to become drierand wet areas wetter.
"In both wet and dry regions, we see these great increases in heavy precipitation ," lead author Markus Donat, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales, told Nature.
Donat and his team collected data from 1951 to 2010 on extreme precipitation events from 11, 000 weather stations around the world, Nature reported.
In that time, the number of days with "extreme precipitation" increased 1 percent to 2 percent per decade.
"We found a strong relationship between global warming and an increase in rainfall, particularly in areas outside of the tropics," Donatsaid in a statement.
"Importantly, this research suggests we will see these extreme rainfall events increases at regional levels in dry areas, not just as an average across the globe," Donat added.
Peter Stott, a senior climate scientist at Met Office, told Climate Central that the study's findings are important, because more violent rainfall and flooding will "challenge our capability to adaptto a rapidly changing climate."
As Nature reported, the research aligns witha 2015 study that found global warming has led to a sharp increase in record-breaking precipitation events. Donat told Nature that his study should come as a warning to world governments. | high13157.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "how to get physical"
},
"options": [
"the ways to do exercises",
"how to get physical",
"what to do with workout",
"the reasons to work out"
],
"question": "The passage is mainly about _ .",
"question_typ... | It's human nature to lead a sedentary lifestyle and most of us are so involved in our busy schedules that we don't even notice our bad habits.
Many worry about the right time or "right age" to start working out. But it's never too late to start exercising and all you need is enough determination. Here're some practical tips to help you get fit.
Master your mind--most people argue that they're too tired or old to start exercising. Doing so is much easier than trying to change the busy lifestyle. Change your mindset and be more confident in improving your health. Tell your body to be more active and say, "I can do it."
Easy does it--once you have chosen a fitness program, start slowly and increase it in stages. Begin with just a few minutes of gentle exercises and stretches. Go next to some mild activity such as walking, jogging or cycling. About 30 minutes should be devoted to your workout. As your body starts to respond and your muscles get used to the exercises, you can gradually increase the length of your workout.
Don't overload your body--there's no quick access to getting fit. It's a common mistake to do too much too soon. If you don't know how to balance your needs and your expectations, you might seriously injure your muscles or just create stress.
_ -- always remember to warm up your muscles before exercising. Gentle warm-ups will reduce your risk of injury, aches and pains, and increase blood circulation and flexibility.
Cool down--when you finish your routine, you need to cool your muscles and let your heart rate slow gradually. Cooling down will help your body to return to its pre-exercise level. | high18002.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Unsatisfying"
},
"options": [
"Unsatisfying",
"Favorable",
"Pleasant",
"Practical"
],
"question": "What did the writer think of the living style of the older people when she was 50?",
"question_type": null
... | Twelve years ago, when I was 50,I wondered what 60 or 70 would be like? I looked around and saw only one style of living. It's not fair, I thought. Young people have so many styles to choose from, but older people have just one choice. So I decide to do something about it , something practical.
I worked on my fitness by joining exercise classes in town. A few years later, my husband and I moved to a retirement community, and I wanted to teach aerobic classes. The community center wouldn't give me a room to teach in, so I had to walk around and find any available empty room.
One day, the community center staff came to me and asked if I would help with the entertainment for a Hawaiian luau they were putting on. I said yes. Then I talked five other ladies into dancing with me. We performed the hula and a war chant and brought the house down. Someone had a camera and took pictures, and then sent them to our local paper. We got requests for more engagements, which in turn led to more publicity and yet more engagements. Soon we had invitations from all over the country. The Dancing Grannies were born!
I think the real secret of the Dancing Grannies is out attitude. I was raised extremely poor ---no-food poor. If we wanted toys we had to make things up to play with ,so I learned early to be very creative. And you know,I think being poor was one of the best things that ever happened to me because I learned to look for treasures.
That's what I'm still doing today--looking for the treasure in growing old. I'm getting better and better.
It's true that _ have to be treated a bit differently, with a little care, but they still have a beauty of their own. | high5676.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the suggested food by the vet"
},
"options": [
"its favorite food",
"the suggested food by the vet",
"some meat and water",
"food rich in vitamin B"
],
"question": "When your dog catches cold, you should feed it... | Like human beings, dogs may catch cold because of cold weather, wet conditions or can also get it from other sick dogs. If a dog has a running nose and watery eyes, coughs or sneezes , then it is quite probable that the dog has caught cold.
A dog's cold can get over after a few days without treatment but it totally depends upon the owner to treat it with medications or improve its immune power to get rid of the cold naturally. Following are some of the things you can do if your dog gets a cold.
You can improve its immune power by giving it proper nutrient diet. Healthy food can really do wonders. Try to give it food which is either suggested by the vet or is healthy for your pet. Increase the intake of food which is rich in vitamins A, C and E.
Keep your dog warm. The best place for your dog in winter is inside your house. Do not keep your dog outside when it is cold and wet. At home you can also keep the dog warm with the help of carpets. This will make him comfortable and help him to recover fast.
Increase the fluid intake as it helps a lot. Water can be the best choice but you can also add broth in water which will give your dog strength. Warm water will make your dog more comfortable and will also keep the dog away from the respiratory infections .
Steam treatment is considered to be effective in getting rid of cold. It makes the nasal passage wet, which helps proper breathing. Just fill your bathroom with steam and leave your dog inside the bathroom for 15 minutes. Do it nearly 2 to 3 times a day and you will see your dog recovering.
These are some of the things you can do to help your dog recover from cold. However, if you are not able to find any improvement in its health, then turn to the vet for help immediately. Take your dog for regular checkups so as to avoid complications . | high11998.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "in her early twenties"
},
"options": [
"in her early twenties",
"in her early teens",
"in her late twenties",
"in her late teens"
],
"question": "Jane Austen paid two long visits to Bath _ .",
"question_ty... | Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was bom at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775, and died on July 18, 1817. She began writing early in life, although the prejudices of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously .
But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of prefix = st1 /Bath's many famous local people and visitors. She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806,Bathwas her home. Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set inBath. The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels. Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen's Bath can be enhanced by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street. Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen's time and the importance of Bathin her life and work.
The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society. After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts. Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy.
You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen'sBath, which is a great way to find out more
about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath. The tour lasts about one and a half hours. The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and
shopped. | high21683.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "may be doubled"
},
"options": [
"may be doubled",
"may rise to 50%",
"will reach 250 million",
"will go up by a second"
],
"question": "According to experts, by 2012 the number of visitors _ .",
"question... | Americans like to visit the national parks. In 1996, over 250,000,000 people visited areas which are managed by the National Park Service. Experts say that by 2012, 500,000,000 people per year will visit the parks. As a result, people are trying to think of ways to protect the parks from the crowds.
The crowding of the parks has caused several problems. One is that there is not enough space for all of the people who want to use the parks. To deal with this problem, you may have to book your tickets a few months ahead of time. The Park Service may also raise entrance fees .
Another problem caused by increased park use is pollution. Some garbage and waste can be cleaned up, and the cleanup can be paid for by increased entrance fees. To cut down on noise
pollution and air pollution, the number of cars allowed in parks may be limited. If this happens, people may use buses to travel around the parks. Officials may also limit the use of jet-skis, snow-mobiles, motor-boats, and sightseeing helicopters and planes.
The parks may also be in danger because of development that is going on around them. For example, around Yellow Stone Park, many hotels, golf courses, resorts, and other tourist attractions have been built. Some of these developments have effect on areas that are used by animals. People will have to learn to agree about ways to protect the parks. If they do not, there will soon be no reason to visit these national treasures. | high11740.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "18"
},
"options": [
"9",
"14",
"17",
"18"
],
"question": "In the story, there were _ schoolboys playing basketball marathon.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_in... | Once a group of 17-year-old schoolboys decided to break the world basketball marathon record . They wanted to play for ninety hours and that is to add six hours to the record. Each team had nine players, with five at a time. The boys decided each person would play 21. 5 hours and then rest for 2 hours. Then they started at 6 o'clock in the evening.
The first night was very hard for the players. When it was their turn to rest, they were too excited to fall asleep at once.
After sleeping for a short time, they had to play again. On the second night, they fell asleep as soon as they stopped. Some of them had trouble with their feet and hands, but the only serious problem was a psychological one. Each boy was thinking:why am I doing this?How can I play any longer?After the third night, the players knew they could finish the ninety hours. The basketball on the fourth night was very slow. But in the final hours, the players got better. For the last few minutes, the players looked as fresh as when they started. How happy everyone was! | high3207.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He's gaining weight and feeling bad."
},
"options": [
"He wants to take better care of others.",
"He's gaining weight and feeling bad.",
"He did not take any exercise in the past.",
"He got the idea from his son."
]... | Every year Chris Brogan posts his three words for a new year. I and many others have followed his lead for the past three or four years. They helped me a lot.My words for last year were"passion","focus"and"delegate"and I stayed true to them.This year,2012,my goals are more personal and less professional.
FOCUS
Focus is making a repeat appearance on my list this year because I'm too much of a multitasker. The problem is that I have trouble finishing one thing with so many things calling me. When I was working as a writer,all my
projects were handled via a schedule,which kept me organized.This year I'm going to have each task scheduled.I'm putting a fitness and housekeeping routine into my schedule.
HEALTH
I get so busy taking care of everyone else,I forget to take care of myself and this has to change. My health suffers and my weight suffers.I have to get my 1}ealth in check,not only for me-but because I promised my 9 year-old son.I'11 make sure to take time to exercise every day and make good food and lifestyle choices. I miss beingthin,and it's time to get it back.
CELEBRATE
What good is having it all if I'm not taking time to enjoy it?I have a wonderful job,a happy family,and so much to be thankful for. So how come I spend all my time working? Last summer my family took our first vacation in four years,the best thing I've done for myself and my family in a long time.This year,I'm making sure to take time to enjoy life and celebrate its many blessings.
Do you have any words for 2012? | high21668.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "be copies of the earliest printing"
},
"options": [
"be copies of the earliest printing",
"be on sale for the first time",
"never be worth very much",
"never be rare"
],
"question": "Books found in second-hand b... | In every British town, large and small, you will find shops that sell second-hand goods. Sometimes such shops deal mostly in furniture, sometimes in books, sometimes in ornaments and household goods, sometimes even in clothes.
The furniture may often be " _ ", and it may well have changed hands many times. It may also be very valuable, although the most valuable piece will usually go to the London salerooms, where one piece might well be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. As you look around these shops and see the polished wood of chests and tables, you cannot help thinking of those long-dead hands which polished that wood, of those now-closed eyes which once looked at these pieces with love.
The books, too, may be antique and very precious; some may be rare first printings. Often when someone dies or has to move house, his books may all be sold, so that sometimes you may find whole libraries in one shop. On the border between England and Wales, there is a town which has become a huge bookshop as well.Even the cinema and castle have been taken over, and now books have replaced sheep as the town's main trsde.
There are also much more humble shops, sometimes simply called "junk shops", where you can buy small household pieces very cheaply. Sometimes the profits from these shops go to charity. Even these pieces, though, can make you feel sad; you think of those people who once treasured them, but who have moved on, to another country or to death.
Although the British do not worship their ancestors, they do treasure the past and the things of the past. This is true of houses as well. These days no one knocks them down; they are restored until they are often better than new. In Britain, people do not buy something just because it is new. Old things are treasured for their proven worth; new things have to prove themselves before they are accepted. | high4583.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "will be strongly opposed to by the Republicans"
},
"options": [
"will be strongly opposed to by the Republicans",
"will cause fewer economic problems in America",
"will be cancelled sooner or later by the government",
"... | After a week-long vacation, U.S. President Barack Obama will focus on proposals to strengthen the still-recovering American economy. The agenda includes the reform of the nation's health care system.
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare as some call it, expands federal health care programs for the needy and encourages Americans of all income groups to purchase private health care insurance.
"If you do not have insurance, beginning on October 1st, private plans will actually compete for your business. You can comparison--shop in an online marketplace, just like you would for cell phone plans or plane tickets. You may be eligible for new tax credits to help you afford the plan that's right for you. And if you are in the up to half of all Americans who have been sick or have a preexisting condition, this law means that beginning January 1st, insurance companies have to cover you," Obama said.
Health-care spending accounts for one-seventh of U.S. economic activity, and is projected to increase to one-fifth in coming years. The cost has a direct bearing on America's economic and financial well--being. Drawn up in 2010, the Affordable Care Act aims to control costs and expand access to health care. The effort is a big failure, according to Republican law makers like Tim Griffin and Todd Young.
"Republicans will continue to do everything we can to protect all Americans from the president's top-down, one-size-fits-all, Washington-knows-best approach to health care that is driving up costs and hurting our economy," said Griffin. "The sooner we can delay, oppose and cancel the president's health-care law, the sooner we can get people back to work and focus on expanding opportunity for everyone."
The president accuses Republicans of putting partisanship ahead of Americans' health-care needs. "A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they will somehow be sticking it to me. But they would just be sticking it to you. Your health insurance is not something to play politics with. Our economy is not something to play politics with," he said.
As a matter of fact,the success or failure of Obamacare could shape the president's legacy long after he leaves office. | high5845.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a positive example"
},
"options": [
"under aimless development",
"a positive example",
"a rival to the West",
"on the decline"
],
"question": "In the Westerners eyes, the postwar Japan was _ .",
"question... | Aimlessness has hardly been typical of the postwar Japan whose productivity and social harmony are the envy of the United States and Europe. But increasingly the Japanese are seeing a decline of the traditional work-moral values. Ten years ago young people were hardworking and saw their jobs as their primary reason for being, but now Japan has largely fulfilled its economic needs, and young people don't know where they should go next.
The coming of age of the postwar baby boom and an entry of women into the male-dominated job market have limited the opportunities of teenagers who are already questioning the heavy personal sacrifices involved in climbing Japans rigid social ladder to good schools and jobs. In a recent survey, it was found that only 24.5 percent of Japanese students were fully satisfied with school life, compared with 67.2 percent of students in the United States. In addition, far more Japanese workers expressed dissatisfaction with their jobs than their counterparts did in the ten other countries surveyed.
While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self-expression." Those things that do not show up in the test scores, personality, ability, courage or humanity are completely ignored," says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee." Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild." Last year Japan experienced 2,125 incidents of school violence, including 929 assaults on teachers. Amid the outcry, many conservative leaders are seeking a return to the prewar emphasis on moral education. Last year Mitsuo Setoyama, who was then education minister, raised eyebrows when he argued that liberal reforms introduced by the American occupation authorities after World WarII had weakened the "Japanese morality of respect for parents."
But that may have more to do with Japanese life-styles." In Japan," says educator Yoko Muro, "it's never a question of whether you enjoy your job and your life, but only how much you can endure." With economic growth becoming centralization, fully 76 percent of Japans, 119 million citizens live in cities where community and the extended family have been abandoned in favor of isolated, two generation households. Urban Japanese have long endured lengthy commutes (travels to and from work) and crowded living conditions, but as the old group and family values weaken, the discomfort is beginning to tell. In the past decade, the Japanese divorce rate, while still well below that of the United States, has increased by more than 50 percent, and suicides have increased by nearly one-quarter. | high20576.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "presents itself quite frequently sometimes"
},
"options": [
"appears at the beginning of a month",
"gains its modern meaning before 1937",
"presents itself quite frequently sometimes",
"can never be seen by people in Fe... | Concepts from science and nature are filled with our language's common phrases , idioms and spoken expressions. The unbelieving expression "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle" has its origin in bitter disbelief over Darwin's writings on evolution. These colourful expressions bring spice to our language.
Yet certain well-used phrases from science are just plain wrong! Some are obvious, yet we use them anyhow. For example, a person who acutely shakes her head and says " A watched pot never boils" while you are waiting second after tiring second for test results to arrive or job offers to come in knows that if she sat down and watched a pot containing water on a stove over high heat for long enough, the water will eventually boil.
However, a few phrases have less obvious scientific inaccuracies. Here are a few for you to consider.
Once in a blue moon: This poetic phrase refers to something that occurs extremely rarely. A blue moon is the term commonly used for a second full moon that occasionally appears in a single month of our solar-based calendars. The problem with the phrase, however, is that blue moons are not so rare. They happen every few years at least, and can even happen within months of each other when the 29.5-day lunar cycle puts the full moon at the beginning of any month but February. The usage of "blue moon" as the second full moon in a month dates back to a 1937 Marine Farmer's Almanac . But before that, blue moons meant something slightly different. Typically, 12 full moons occur from winter solstice to the next winter solstice, but occasionally a fourth full moon in a season could be observed . In such a case, one of the four full moons in that season was known as "blue"
Where there's smoke, there's fire: The phrase means that if something looks wrong, it likely is wrong. But let's step back. Do you always have to have fire if you see smoke? Answering that first requires defining 'fire" , Merriam--Webster's first definition of fire is " the phenomenon of combustion manifested in light, flame and heat". Combustion is the chemical reaction that occurs when fuel is burned in the presence of oxygen---denying a fire any of these three things will stop the fire; attempting to start a fire without any one of the three things will be impossible. In complete combustion---what occurs when you light a gas stove--- the fire produces no smoke. However, when most materials are burned, they have incomplete combustion, which means that the fire isn't able to completely burn all of the fuel . Smoke, then, can be considered to be a product of pyrolysis rather than of fire itself. You're probably thinking---so what? To get the smoke, a fire needed to be present at some point, right? Not always.
Diamonds are forever: Thanks to the DeBeers slogan , decorating your honey's neck, wrists and fingers with diamonds means true and timeless love. Of course, no object that you can hold in your hand can last forever. But diamonds have a special reason for being incapable of timelessness. Without the extreme pressures of the deep Earth where they formed, a diamond will slowly turn back into graphite , which is why the older a diamond is, the more inclusions it's likely to have.
What common phrases _ when viewed under the microscope of science? Are you curious about the hidden knowledge of some " big" phrases ? Or perhaps you have the ability to uncover the secret of some unscientific phrases? Let us know! | high11973.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The water supply was polluted."
},
"options": [
"The pork was poisoned.",
"Someone was poisoning the people on purpose.",
"People didn't care about politics.",
"The water supply was polluted."
],
"question": "Wh... | When the population of the port town began to suffer from poisoning, the police came to find the cause of poisoning. They thought someone was poisoning the people on purpose, but no one knew how _ was possible. Soon people held the view that the pork was poisoned. It was a popular food everyone ate and it could have possibly made everyone sick. Anyone who had possession of pork would throw it out. Even the poorest of the poor wouldn't eat pork. Signs were posted on poles and letters were sent to everyone to warn people of the pork. Shortly afterwards, even policemen in high positions were also getting sick.
Soon it became political and popular. Politicians rushed to the town to talk about politics and promised how they would find the solution if they were elected. Everyone was so sick that they didn't care about politics. Everyone was in a position where he or she didn't know what to do anymore. They went to the post office to mail posts out asking for help. The poor town didn't know how to deal with the situation.
One day, a well-known scientist from New York came to the town with a huge box containing many instruments and his possessions. He went to pools and the port and made measurements. He was quiet and polite. Then one day he made a speech at a newspaper meeting-room to announce his findings.
"I am sorry to say your water supply is so heavily polluted; it is poisoned. I know who has been poisoning you all for such a long time. It is you who have been poisoning yourselves with pollution. A great deal of rubbish has been thrown into the water day after day. No one here has taken good care of the environment. It is no wonder all of you have been sick." Shocked at the news, the people present were lost in thought. | high22361.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the author's loud voice"
},
"options": [
"her private phone call",
"the author's loud voice",
"the views out of the window",
"the restaurant staff's mistake"
],
"question": "The old lady changed her seat mainly ... | A few days ago, I was sitting in a Thai restaurant enjoying a meal when I got on a phone call from a friend I hadn't spoken to in a long time. In my enthusiasm and excitement, I talked quite louder than usual voice and in Spanish, my mother tongue.
A few minutes into the call, an old lady sitting at the table beside mine got up, seemingly offended, and asked the restaurant staff to relocate a table as far away as possible from this man who seemed to be impolite.
I sank in my seat out of embarrassment. I ended the call soon afterwards and felt the urge to apologize. Before getting up, I looked around to see where she was and she was at the table farthest away from me. I noticed that the lady was alone and staring out the window. I found a tinge of sadness or anxiety and perhaps a desire for aloneness and peace. But I had obviously destroyed it minutes earlier.
Right then I abandoned my plan for a conventional apologetic gesture. Seeing those funny smile cards in my wallet, I took one out and wrote some words to express my apology. On signing my restaurant bill, I asked a waiter to secretly charge the lady's meal to me and hand her the smile card instead of her bill.
Did she take it the wrong way, I wondered? Did she get confused? Did she refuse the anonymous offer? And so on. I just waited and felt nervous to learn the outcome. To my pleasant surprise, things turned out the best possible way.
The waiter approached me in a joy, telling me, "In the many times she had dined here before, I had never seen the old lady smile as she did when receiving the smile card and the $0 bill. She thanked me even though I explained that someone else did the job." | high13802.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "raise the topic"
},
"options": [
"show care for them",
"introduce their life",
"solve traffic problems",
"raise the topic"
],
"question": "Drivers in Los Angeles were mentioned in order to _ .",
"question_... | In Los Angeles, drivers spend sixty-one hours every year stuck in traffic.These drivers know all too well how bad the traffic can be."There're too many cars, and you can't move around a lot."
Professor Cyrus Shahabi also knows about traffic jams.He lives more than 65 kilometers from his office at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles.He is always late even with the help of a navigation system.
He decided to develop a program called ClearPath for that.He says his program uses historical data to predict traffic conditions even before the driver leaves the house. "What's unique is that we use a lot of data that's currently become available including traffic data, weather data, and we analyze that so that we can predict what's going to happen in front of you when you leave home."
Professor Shahabi says his system does more than just respond to current traffic conditions.With ClearPath, he says, a driver can decide what time he wants to leave, and ClearPath will give the fastest route.It looks at the entire road network, including surface streets as well as highways, before the driver hits the road.Professor Shahabi hopes to have ClearPath available nationwide and overseas once they can collect traffic data from other cities.
"I always thought thatLos Angeles had the worst traffic, but now I know that Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, believe it or not, Singapore, Hong Kong certainly are examples that can immediately use this."
Professor Shahabi hopes to share this new technology with companies that already have navigation systems, such as Google and Apple. | high9919.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "show how young Chinese are dealing with the economic situation"
},
"options": [
"advertise a website called www.Pinkewang.com",
"show how young Chinese are dealing with the economic situation",
"show the life conditions of wh... | Has the recent economic downturn affected your life? For many young Chinese, it has driven them to embrace a far more frugal (economical) lifestyle.
Wang Hao, 24, is a prefix = st1 /Beijingoffice worker. He made a resolution in June last year to limit his weekly living expenses to 100 yuan. That's the cost of eight Big Macs inChina.
"The financial crisis has taught a spending lesson to young people in China, including me," said Wang, who posted his resolution on his blog, which has drawn over 200,000 hits.
As the financial crisis affects the economy, white-collar workers speak of reducing salaries. Some are unemployed. And university students are facing the worst job prospects since China's economic reform began 30 years ago.
To save money, people have started to share dinners, houses, taxis and other activities with strangers they meet online. Web users post their activities on sites, such as www.Pinkewang.com and invite others to join them. Lin Xiongbo, the founder of Pinkewang, said his website saw a 100 percent increase of visitors last November after the global financial crisis broke out.
People are also using websites like Lin's to share other activity ideas such as training programs, sports, and entertainments.
"Sharing activities with others can save a lot of money without lowering one's quality of life," said 27-year-old Xu Li. He's a manager at a public relations firm and a long-time user of websites like Pinkewang.
It was on the Internet that Xu recently found another person to take part in an English training program with him. By joining the program with another person, he and his partner received a 10 percent discount for the course, saving them more than 1,000 yuan.
Young Chinese born in the 80s used to be accused of being materialistic. They favored designer clothes and the latest electronic products, and many of them spent their monthly salaries rather than saving them. They became known as the "Yueguang group".
However, since the economy slowed down, this lifestyle has lost much of its charm. Now, more and more young Chinese consider saving money to be more fashionable than spending.
The frugal lifestyles these young Chinese are embracing seem to be accepted by the authorities too. In a commentary published in the People's Daily recently, the writer said frugality did not conflict with the government's demand-stimulating policies, as it called for reasonable rather than reckless spending.
"Frugal lifestyles should become a fashion, especially in the financial crisis," said the writer Wang Jinyou. | high24076.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "4 hours 30 minutes"
},
"options": [
"5 hours 35 minutes",
"5 hours 5 minutes",
"4 hours 30 minutes",
"4 hours 25 minutes"
],
"question": "What is the shortest time between Boston and New York by train?",
"qu... | Read the following time table and then answer the following question.
Train Time Table
lv. (Leave) Boston Ar. (Arrive) Midway Ar. New York
5:10 AM EX.(Except)Sun. 7:00 AM 10:45 AM
7:10 AM Daily 9:00 AM 12:45 PM
9:10 AM Ex. Sat. & Sun. 11:00 AM 2:45 PM
10:00 AM Ex. Hol.(Holiday) 11:45 AM 2:55 PM
1:15 PM Daily 3:15 PM 5:45 PM
3:40 PM Ex. Hol. 5:40 PM 8:15 PM
5:20 PM Daily 7:20 PM 9:55 PM | high7934.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "tell students of important schedule changes"
},
"options": [
"tell students of important schedule changes",
"show the excellent services for students",
"tell students of new bus and library services",
"ask students to r... | During the summer holidays there will be a revised schedule of services for the students. Changes for dining-room and library service hours and for bus schedules will be posted on the wall outside of the dining-hall. Weekly film and concert schedules, which are being arranged, will be posted each Wednesday outside of the student club.
In the summer holidays, buses going to the town center will leave the main hall every hour on the half hour during the day. The dining-room will serve three meals a day from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm during the week and two meals from noon to 7:00 pm on weekends. The library will continue its usual hours during the week, but have shorter hours on Saturdays and Sundays. The weekend hours are from noon to 5:00 pm.
All students who want to use the library borrowing services must have a new summer card. This announcement will also appear in the next week's student newspaper. | high609.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "have been formed little by little"
},
"options": [
"have been formed during a short time",
"have been formed little by little",
"have been quickly formed and changed",
"have never been changed"
],
"question": "I... | Customs are social habits. They have been handed down through generations among groups, social classes, etc. Customs can be described as ways of doing things. They are particularly strong in social practices on the occasions of births, marriages and deaths.
In China, these days, some people in cities are learning from Western customs. For example, some brides dress in the long white dress that is usual bridal wear in many Western countries.
Every people has special customs for New Year. The Han people have many interesting Spring Festival customs. And now, quite a number of people living in the cities have followed the Western customs of sending New Year greeting cards for January 1st.
One interesting custom in China is that mothers wrap up their babies tightly .This is not the custom in Western countries, where babies are usually dressed in loose garments. | high91.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It's harmful to people's health."
},
"options": [
"It still gives off energy",
"It's much more expensive than coal, gas and oil.",
"It's harmful to people's health.",
"It can burn easily."
],
"question": "Nuclea... | A few years after World II finished, Scientists spoke with great eagerness about the use of nuclear as source of energy. Within twenty years, they said, nuclear would take the place of coal, gas and oil as a source of power at home and in industry. This promise has never been carried out and there are serious doubts that it ever will be. Nuclear power plants are used to produce energy in some wealthier countries, but the cost is high.
Although safety measures have been taken, radiation leaks have taken place and workers have been killed or affected. The problem of getting rid of the nuclear waste has proved most difficult. There is a limit to the mount of waste materials which can be buried in the ground or poured in the seabed. These methods may also cause more problems. Waste materials polluted by radiation may remain dangerous for 200 years or more.
It has no surprise that scientists have turned to the sun and the sea as sources of power. The sun shines day after day almost wastefully, providing us with energy far beyond all our earth. | high23719.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Chinese literature has spread with the development of China."
},
"options": [
"Chinese literature has spread with the development of China.",
"The Nobel Prize for Literature has a history of hundreds of years.",
"In the p... | Chinese writer Mo Yan's Nobel Prize for Literature might _ an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles translated into English, European experts say.
"Hopefully, the award means more people will read Chinese literature and more works will get translated," says Michel Hockx, professor of the Languages and Cultures of China and Inner Asia from University of London. "Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already. Mo Yan is probably the most translated Chinese writer alive, with at least five of his novels made available in English over the past 20 years."
Jonathan Ruppin, web editor of bookseller Foyles, says Mo's win coincides with growing interest in Chinese literature and recognizes the talents of a distinctive and visionary writer. "We are very excited by the fact that English translations of more of his books should now become available," Ruppin says. He made the comment after Mo became the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in its century-long history.
As East-West cultural exchange has been booming, Chinese literature has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Hockx explains, "It's mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their works outside China and to interact with readers abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in the Chinese language and culture."
University of Oxford lecturer in modern Chinese literature Margaret Hillenbrand says, "The obvious reason for the growing global presence of Chinese literature is the growing global presence of China itself. People have come to realize that there is a serious knowledge deficit between China and its international counterparts -- in particular, _ -- and reading Chinese literature is an effective, simple means of solving that gap." | high2694.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "stealing things and threatening others"
},
"options": [
"memorizing sayings",
"complaining routine work",
"communicating with others",
"stealing things and threatening others"
],
"question": "When Alan studied a... | "Why do we have to learn this useless thing?" Of all the questions I have heard from my students during my years in the classroom, this was the one most frequently asked. I would answer it by telling them about an experience I once had.
It was an experience I had with a students, who I shall call Alan, early in my teaching career. When Alan was in the eighth grade, he majored in "trouble". He had studied how to be a bully and was getting his master's degree in "thievery".
Every day I had my students memorize a famous saying from a great thinker. No one complained about this daily routine more than Alan -- right up to the day he was dismissed. Then I lost touch with him for five years. Then one day, he called.
He told me that after being sent to juvenile prison , he hated himself so much that he had cut his wrists with a knife.
He said, "You know what? Mr. Schlatter, as I lay there with my life running out of my body, I suddenly remembered that useless saying you made me write twenty times one day. 'There is no failure except in no longer trying.' Then it suddenly made sense to me. As long as I was alive, I wasn't a failure, but if I allowed myself to die, I would most certainly die a failure. So with my remaining strength, I called for help and started a new life."
At the time he had heard the saying, it as a pebble which made no sense to him. But when he needed guidance in a moment of difficulty, it had become a diamond. And so it is to you. I say, gather all the pebbles you can, and you can count on a future filled with diamonds. | high18957.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "has improved reading ability helped by computers"
},
"options": [
"advises us to use computers at work.",
"persuades us to do some reading in the books",
"has improved reading ability helped by computers",
"dislikes rea... | Programs may already be installed on the computers at your school or university. If not, you can consider looking at catalogues to see what is available on CD-ROM.
Some people question whether computers can really help you to read, any better than picking up a book. There is some justification for this, but listen to the arguments from people who believe that computers have something to offer. The first argument relates to motivation. Anything that makes you spend more time reading will be helpful, so if you are someone who likes to turn on your computer as soon as you walk into your room, then you could find yourself motivated to spend more time on your foreign-language reading if it appears on your screen. There is more to computers than motivation, though. You need to make use of all the technical possibilities, because good programs allow things to happen which are not possible with a book.
This leads on to the idea of autonomy in language learning. We have already seen many times in this book that you, the language learner, will make a far bigger difference to your ultimate success than your teacher will. With a computer, you can decide how many repetitions to have and how to respond to the commands. In some programs you also shape the direction of the story you are reading by the selections you make. In other words, you don't have to move along at the pace of the rest of the class, which you may find too slow or too fast.
The flip side of learner autonomy is learner misuse of programs. Some programs allow short-cuts which give you a sense of having finished, but without actually having done much learning. _ At the end of a session using well-designed materials, you should learn more than some new vocabulary and sentence patterns; you should also learn more about the reading process. As with all aspects of your language learning, you can finish your session with a critical eye to what you have learned from the program. This will include thinking about whether to repeat it or move on to another level. | high19491.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Ways for Communication."
},
"options": [
"Ways for Communication.",
"The Best Way for Communication.",
"The Only Way for Communication.",
"Words Can Carry Messages."
],
"question": "Choose the best title for thi... | Everybody knows that words can carry messages. People communicate with words. Books, magazines, TV,radio and films all help us to know what is going on in the world and what people are thinking about.
Do you think you can communicate without words? A smile on your face shows you are happy or friendly. Tears in your eyes tell others that you are sad. When you put up your hand in class, the teacher knows that you want to say something or ask a question. You shake your head, and people know you are saying "No". You nod and people know you are saying "Yes".
Other things can also carry messages. For example, a sign at the bus stop helps you to know which bus to take. A sign on the wall of your school helps you to find the library. Signs on doors tell you where to go in or out. Have you ever noticed there are a lot of signs around you and you receive messages from them all the time? People can communicate in many ways without words. For example, an artist can use his drawings to tell about beautiful mountains, seas and many other things. | high20204.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "swimming the 325-mile length of the river"
},
"options": [
"swimming the 325-mile length of the river",
"answering the same question raised by people",
"running 3,300 miles cross-country",
"biking across the Mojave Dese... | When people hear that I'm the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, they all have the same question: How did a 22-year old woman row a 19-foot boat for 70 days through high winds and crashing waves? Well, the biggest difficulty for me wasn't physical. By the time I decided to do the ocean row, I had already biked 3,300 miles cross-country, run across the Mojave Desert, and swum the 325-mile length of the Allegheny River. No, the tough part would be mental: How would I handle the loneliness, the boredom of the vast sea?
I set off on January 3, 2010. I set my sights on getting past the quarter-way mark, which would take about 20 days.
Day 20, January 22, was gray and cloudy. _
I was suffering from terrible loneliness. I hadn't seen landing over two weeks. Every day was beginning to feel the same. Eating, rowing, sleeping, watch the sky, watch the ocean.
Then, around sunset, I saw something move on the horizon. They were dolphins! They circled my boat. Suddenly I felt so grateful. They had come to help me celebrate, just when I needed them. I rowed at full strength for the next 20 minutes with the dolphins around. By the time we went our separate ways, I was no longer lonely. Better yet, I knew I would be okay.
I did make it, all 2,817 miles. I hit the coast of Guyana, South America, on March 14, after 70 days and five hours at sea. My ocean row raised $70,000 for the Blue Planet Run Foundation, which funds drinking water programs around the world. I know some athletes spend the entire journey imagining the end, and that helps them get through. But for me, the secret is to focus on the moment, where you experience the personal growth -- those moments of awareness of being connected to the sun, the weather, and the waves. And, on the best day of my life, those dolphins, which freed myself from terrible loneliness. | high2680.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "in the late 1940s"
},
"options": [
"in the late 1940s",
"in the beginning of the 21st century",
"in 2014",
"long before the 1940s"
],
"question": "When was the cell phone probably invented?",
"question_type"... | Cell Phones Are the New Cigarettes
When you get on a bus, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you are waiting for dinner, you play with it.
Cigarette? No, it's another most addictive thing in the beginning of the 21st century, the cell phone (i.e. the mobile phone). Experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their wishing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
With its charming surface and its satisfying touch, the cell phone connects us even if we are only three feet away. In just the past few years, the cell phone has challenged individuals, employers, phone makers and counselors in ways that its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined.
The costs are becoming even more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill. Dr. Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has caused a social problem: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact.
This may sound extreme. But we've all witnessed the evidence: the person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone all the way, ignoring her husband; the teenager who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with other kids all around him.
How is this improving the quality of our life? Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell-phone addiction is a symptom in a widening gulf of personal separation. The study conducted in 2014 notes that one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, we young people don't have as many friends as our parents. "Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends," he says. (366 words) | high18943.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Alexis didn't believe in herself"
},
"options": [
"Alexis took a wrong path",
"Alexis was trapped in rocks",
"Alexis didn't believe in herself",
"Alexis' forearms were badly hurt"
],
"question": "Jason went down... | Alexis was _ and tired. With rage in her voice she shouted, "Pull me up!I give up, I hate this. This is stupid!" It was at that moment when Jason, the adviser on the trip, looked at me and said, "Ed, I'm going to go down and talk with her." I then shouted down to Alexis, "Hold on! You can do this. We know you can!"
Jason grasped another rope, put his climbing harness on and began to repel down the cliff. Within moments Jason was beside Alexis. She had her cheek directly against the face of the rock with her feet barely resting on a small piece of the cliff that jetted outward. Jason said to Alexis, "I know that you have been on this cliff now for what seems like a long time. Your feet and fingers are cramping up and your forearms feel as though they are on fire. But , Alexis, you are strong, look how far up you are already. You have taken one of the more difficult paths up the cliff. Look Alexis, look at the path you have taken."
At that moment, Alexis moved her cheek away from the rock face and looked down. The bright white chalk she used on her hands to give her a better hold, showed the path where her tired hands had moved her upward on the cliff. Jason was right. Alexis had taken the hardest way up the cliff. Jason then looked straight into Alexis' eyes and in a calm voice he said, "You are not alone out here, there are people who care about you, who want to help you and see you succeed. We are going to do this together. Are you ready?" Slowly she shook her head yes and took a deep breath. | high2858.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "discouragement (losing heart)"
},
"options": [
"freedom",
"nervousness",
"discouragement (losing heart)",
"hard work"
],
"question": "People may find life very hard after they retire because of _ .",
"que... | Retirement should be time of joy and freedom. However, for some people retirement comes with feelings of depression , which makes life difficult for them.
Retirement is a major life change. Even good changes usually involve some kinds of loss. When you retire, you find yourself lacking whatever working used to provide. That could include, for example, 1. knowing you're working for society, 2. getting admiration from your skills, 3. having "aha" moments when you solve problems, 4. having people to socialize with, and 5. simply having a place to go and a reason to get out of bed every day. For most people, there's a financial loss, too. Also, retirement age is a time when a lot of people have to deal with losing their parents or having serious health problems of their own.
Because of all these, retirees are more likely to get depressed.
Depression is very harmful. First, depression can make physical health problems worse. Second, _ because it can make people angry. Third, it's hard to get much done when you're depressed.
What can we do to overcome the feelings of depression? First, do all the things that help depression in general: drink enough water, exercise, talk to friends, have a hobby, laugh, and spend time in nature. If you feel depressed more often than not, it's probably time to talk to a doctor about your feelings. Second, it's important to keep busy and get out of the house when you can. Make specific plans with friends. Take a class Volunteer. Or just make sure you start each day with some kind of goal. Third, try to focus on what you've gained by retiring. Think about what you may have now that you wished you had before you were able to retire. For example, days that are less stressful, a chance to rest and take better care of your body, more time for your family and yourself. To write, to start a hobby and to learn something new are all new possibilities. Finally, tell your story. You've lived a long time and you become an oral historian each time you talk with someone about your experiences. You can also write in a journal or make a video recording of your memories. Telling your stories can help you look back on your life and career with a sense of wholeness and achievements. | high13816.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A buried city in the desert with great historical value."
},
"options": [
"A city as world famous as the Middle Kingdom's \"Pompeii\".",
"A buried city in the desert with great historical value.",
"A buried city to be unearth... | Loulan, an ancient city in the Lop Nur, was first "discovered" by Swedish explorer Sven Hedin in 1900. The finding of Loulan brought about new and unexpected fame for the ancient history of the Central Asia and thus began the exploration of the Taklamakan Desert.
The City of Loulan is known both in China and throughout the world as the Middle Kingdom's ' _ ' in the desert and one of the cradles of the civilization. It wasn't hard to imagine how excited Sven Hedin must have been when he was awarded the Victoria Medal by the Royal Geography Association. From that point forward, the mysterious covering of Loulan was gradually lowered and was no more a silent unknown hero but became an immediate worldwide sensation . Adventurers from America, Britain, Japan and Sweden, including Huntington, Stein, Otani Kozui and Bergman set foot here for several times. In the 1930s, Chinese archaeologist Huang Wenbi came here for the first time and made a survey of this area, which was found even then in terrible conditions due to uncontrolled digging with many wonderful cultural historic relics taken away to distant foreign lands.
In 1979, a group of tombs called Sun Tombs, known for their unique and attractive burial forms, were unearthed in the Gumugou Graveyard, the public graveyard of the Lop Nur citizens in the Bronze Age. In early 1980s, in the Tiebanhe River Delta area of the lower reaches of the Peafowl River in Lop Nur, a female mummy dating back some 3,800 years was unearthed and was considered by the Japanese as the "Loulan Beauty". This set off a wave of current exploration of the Silk Road.
The archaeological unearthing being currently conducted in the Xiaohe (Small River) Graveyard is now the focus of the world's most important academic event. The Xiaohe Graveyard, 175km west of the City of Loulan, is located in the lower reaches of the Peafowl River in the Lop Nur. When the Graveyard was found, it is said that there were some 1,000 coffins. It is large in scale with sand dunes as high as eight metres, on which about 140 wooden stakes in various shapes were closely arranged. These burial customs are, to say the least, unusual... with the unearthed relics dated back to China's most ancient days. | high7920.txt |
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