questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To offer new ways of language learning."
},
"options": [
"To offer new ways of language learning.",
"To make an advertisement for their company.",
"To share interests and make new friends.",
"To tell his inspiring story... | Nowadays,the Internet,with its ability to connect people throughout the world,is changing the way people learn languages.There is still no way to avoid the hard work through vocabulary lists and grammar rules,but the books,tapes and even CDs are being replaced by email, video chat and social networks.
Livemocha, a Seattle company, has created a website devoted to helping people learn more than 38 languages by exchanging messages over the Internet and then correcting each other's messages. The lessons,whether they are flashcards,quizzes,audio recordings or written and spoken essays,are delivered through the Intemet.
Michael Schutzler, Livemocha's chief executive , says the website's advantage is the ability to practicel with a real person. "The great irony is that even if you have learned a foreign language in the classroom for years,you don't have confidefice to go into a restaurant and have a conversation with a foreigner,"he said.The casual connection with real people throughout the world, however brief, are not just fun and surprising but show more about how the language is really used.
Livemocha is now experimenting with a variety of ways that resemble the games on other social websites to motivate people.The flashcard exercises,for instance,are scored, and the totals earned by studying and teaching appear on the users'front page.
Besides,each person can set up a profile which includes a short description of his age,location and what language he would like to learn.Therefore,if you want to study one language,you will easily find many people who are fluent in it.Andl an email or two is all it takes to find a study partner.
There are more and more companies like Livemocha offeritig online language learning to students throughout the world. And instead of merely helping people practice different languages,they also enable people to share interests and make new friends. | high7167.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "changing weight"
},
"options": [
"carrying the bags of sand",
"keeping drinking-water",
"carrying ropes of the basket",
"changing weight"
],
"question": "The metal box was used for _ .",
"question_type": ... | On Nov.18th, 1908, three men went up in a balloon. They started early in London. The headman was Augusta Gaudron, and the other two men were Tannar and Maitland. They had a big balloon and they were ready for a long way.
Soon they heard the sea. They were carrying the usual rope, and it was hanging down from the basket of the balloon. At the end of the rope they had tied a metal box. This could hold water, or it could be empty. So they were able to change its weight. It was for use over the sea. They were also carrying some bags of sand.
After the sun rose, the balloon went higher. It went up to 3,000 meters, and the air was very cold. The water in the balloon became ice. Snow fell past the men's basket, and they could see more snow on the ground. The men tried to throw out some more sand, but it was hard. They tried to break the icy sand with their knives, but it was not easy. The work was slow and they were still falling, so they had to drop some whole bags of sand. One of them fell on an icy lake and made a black hole in the ice.
At last they pulled the box into the basket. It was still snowing; so they climbed up to get away from the snow. They rose to 5,100 meters! Everything became icy. They were so cold that they decided to land. They came down in Poland heavily but safely. They had travelled 1,797 kilometers from London! | high8254.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Next Thursday"
},
"options": [
"Next Tuesday.",
"Next Wednesday.",
"Next Thursday",
"Next Friday"
],
"question": "When will the final exam be held?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer... | Now I would like to talk to you about your final exam. The exam will be held next Thursday, the last day of the exam week. Remember to bring two or three pens in case they run out of ink. Unlike the midterm exam, this test will not include multiple-choice questions, it will contain entirely of essays . You will have to answer three of the five essay questions. The exam will be comprehensive , which means you will have to go over all of the subject matters we learnt in class this term. I would suggest you review your midterm exam as well as textbooks and your class notes. The research project will count as 20% and the midterm exam 30%. I will be in my office almost all day next Tuesday. If you run into any problems, please drop in. Good luck to you and I will see you on Tuesday. | high16129.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "they did not have any human guidance"
},
"options": [
"they did not have any human guidance",
"the road was not familiar to the drivers",
"the distance was too long for the vehicles",
"the prize money was unattractive t... | Thirteen vehicles lined up last March to race across the Mojave Desert , seeking a million in prize money . To win , they had to finish the 142-mile race in less than 10 hours . Teams and watchers knew there might be no winner at all , because these vehicles were missinge a key part drivers .
DARPA , the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency , organized the race as part of a push to develop robotic vehicles for future battlefields . But the Grand Challenge , as it was called , just proved how difficult it is to get a car to speed across an unfamiliar desert without human guidance . One had its brake lock up in the starting area . Another began by throwing itself onto a wall . Another got tied up by bushes near the road after 1.9 miles .
One turned upside down . One took off in entirely the wrong direction and had to be disabled by remote control . One went a little more than a mile and rushed into a fence ; another managed to go for six miles but stuck on a rock . The "winner," if there was any , reached 7.8 miles before it ran into a long , narrow hole , and the front wheels caught on fire .
"You get a lot of respect for natural abilities of the living things," says Reinhold Behringer , who helped design two of the car-size vehicles for a company called Sci-Autonics . "Even ants can do all these tasks effortlessly . It's very hard for us to put these abilities into our machines ."
The robotic vehicles , though with necessary modern equipment such as advanced computers and GPS guidance , had trouble figuring out fast enough the blocks ahead that a two-year-old human recognizes immediately , Sure , that very young child, who has just only learned to walk , may not think to wipe apple juice off her face , but she already knows that when there's a cookie in the kitchen she has to climb up the table , and that when she gets to the cookie it will taste good . She is more advanced , even months old , than any machine humans have designed . | high21785.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because he had to refresh himself for the classes in the afternoon."
},
"options": [
"Because he needed to eat something as lunch.",
"Because he was very thirsty.",
"Because he had to refresh himself for the classes in the af... | As a substitute teacher, my daily routine involves driving to a new school almost every day so I'm usually unable to anticipate the day's events, good or bad!
On one particular day, I was teaching in a very difficult classroom. I was managing behavior all morning and by lunch time, I knew I needed coffee to even consider surviving the afternoon. So on my lunch break, I drove to a nearbyplaza to get a cup of coffee. Upon returning to the car I realized I had locked my keys and my phone inside! I had about 15 minutes to get back to the school which was a good 4 or 5-minute drive away. I contemplated sprinting back, but it being winter, I thought a nasty fall on ice would only make the situation much worse.
So I ran into a McDonald's which was in the same plaza and asked the man at the counter who happened to be the manager to please call me a cab. I briefly explained my situation to him, and I could tell by the look in his eyes, that he empathized. He hurried to the back to use the phone while I paced in the restaurant. I had less than 10 minutes to get back to my school at this point.
The manager returned only to tell me that the cab company had put him on hold and then the line got disconnected, and that he was now on hold again, but had not yet been able to request the cab yet. My expression, I assume, began to resemble some combination of hopelessness and fear.
Without a thought, he grabbed his coat and offered to drive me to the school. Without hesitation, I followed him into his car and made it back into my classroom with 2 minutes to spare before the bell!
Upon arriving at the school, I thanked this man endlessly. His calmdemeanor and kind nature made me think he was probably a wonderful manager to work for, and also a wonderful human being to have on this earth. This experience makes me realize that out of every seemingly hopeless situation, there is the opportunity for acts of kindness totranspire , which can have an unimaginable impact on those who receive them. | high3301.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To inform people of the bad effects of phubbing."
},
"options": [
"To inform people of the bad effects of phubbing.",
"To advertise the cartoon made by students.",
"To indicate the world will finally be destroyed by phubbers.... | Have you ever run into a careless cell phone user on the street? Perhaps they were busy talking, testing or checking updates on WeChat without looking at what was going on around them. As the number of this new "species" of human has kept rising, they have been given a new name -- phubbers .
Recently, a cartoon created by students from China Central Academy of Fine Arts put this group of people under the spotlight. In the short film, phubbers with various social identities bury themselves in their phones. A doctor plays with his cell phone while letting his patient die, a pretty woman takes selfie in front of a car accident siteand a father loses his child without knowing about it while using his mobile phone. A chain of similar events eventually leads to the destruction of the world.
Although the ending sounds overstated, the damage phubbing can bring is real. Your health is the first to bear the effect and result of it. "Constantly bending your head to check your cell phone could damage your neck," Guangming Daily quoted doctors as saying. "The neck is like a rope that breaks after long-term stretching." Also, staring at cell phones for long periods of time will damage your eyesight gradually, according to the report.
But that's not all. Being a phubber could also damage your social skills and drive you away from your friends and family. At reunions with family or friends, many people tend to stick to their cell phones while others are chatting happily with each other and this creates a strange atmosphere, Qilu Evening News reported.
It can also cost you your life. There have been lots of reports on phubbers who fell to their death, suffered accidents, and were robbed of their cell phones in broad daylight. | high11646.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "his arms touched the ground when he moved"
},
"options": [
"he didn't talk to them",
"he kept away from them",
"his arms touched the ground when he moved",
"he couldn't use his arms"
],
"question": "Children lau... | Hank Viscardi was born without legs.He had not legs but stumps that could he fitted with a kind of special boots,People stared at him with cruel interest.Children laughed at him and called him'Ape Man' because his arms practically dragged on the ground.
Hank went to school like other boys.His grades were good and he needed only eight years to finish his schooling instead of the usual twelve.After graduating from school,he worked his way through college. He swept floors,waited on table,or worked in one of the college offices.During all this busy life,he had been moving around on his stumps.But one day the doctor told him even the stumps were not going to last much longer.He would soon have to use a wheel chair.
Hank felt himself got cold all over.However, the doctor said there was a chance that he could be fitted with artificiallegs .Finally a leg maker was found and the day came when Hank stood up before the mirror, for the first time he saw himself as he has always wanted to be-a full five feet eight inches tall.By this time he was already 26 years old.
Hank had to learn to use his new legs.Again and again he marched the length of the room,and marched back again.There were times when he fell down on the floor, but he pulled himself up and went back to the endless marching.He went out on the street.He climbed stairs and learned to dance.He built a boat and learned to sail it.
When World War II came,he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job. He took the regular training.He marched and drilled along with the other soldiers.Few knew that he was legless.This was the true story of Hank Viscardi,a man without legs. | high17237.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A strict teacher."
},
"options": [
"A patient teacher.",
"An honest teacher.",
"A strict teacher.",
"A hard-working teacher."
],
"question": "Which of the following is considered a good teacher by the writer?",
... | A good teacher is many things to many people. In my own experience, the people I respect the most and think about the most are the teachers who demanded the most discipline from their students.
I miss one teacher in particular that I had in high school. I think she was a good teacher because she was a very strict person. I remember very vividly a sign over her classroom door. It was a simple sign that said, "Laboratory--in this room the first five letters of the word was emphasized , not the last seven." In other words, I guess, labor for her was more important than oratory, which means making speeches.
She prepared her work very carefully and demanded us to do the same. We got lots of homework from her. Once she had broken her arm, and everybody in the class thought that maybe the homework load would be reduced, but it continued just the same. She checked our work by stamping her name at the bottom of the papers to show that she had read them.
I think sometimes teachers who demand the most are liked the least. But as time goes by, this discipline really seems to benefit the students. | high5770.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "New technologies cause trouble for recyclers."
},
"options": [
"New technologies cause trouble for recyclers.",
"Experts are trying to solve the tech trash problem.",
"New technology has both advantages and disadvantages",
... | Picture a wasteland of computer monitors and TVs, stretching as far as the eye can see. Imagine towers of boxes, all of them filled with broken glass and old electronic devices. Technology graveyards like this can be found in communities across the country.
Experts say that landfills and warehouses will overflow unless a plan for the disposal and reuse of electronics is put into place. "We can't put electronics and glass aside and tell ourselves we'll deal with them later," Lauren Roman, managing director of Transparent Planet said. Roman's group works to improve the disposal of electronic waste. She says about 660 million pounds of tech trash is produced each year in the US.
What's behind the tech trash pile-up? About ten years ago, major advances were made in computer and television technology. Manufacturers began producing devices like flat-paneled LCDs and plasma screen monitors. These new products provide a clearer image and take up less space than older models. It goes without saying that consumers choose them rather than heavy, glass-based technologies.
The new electronics are built with materials that are difficult to recycle. In addition, the new products have decreased the demand for recycled parts from the older monitors and screens. Older, heavier computer monitors and TVs used glass-based components called CRTs.
CRTs have a high lead content and can be environmentally risky if not recycled properly. If crushed and put in landfills, the lead from CRTs could seep into groundwater and rivers, harming the water supply. For many years, plants and recycling programs safely processed CRTs. The recycled CRTs were reused in the construction of new monitors.
Monitors being made today do not use glass tubes. "People are returning old-style TVs with CRTs, but no new ones are being made," said Linnel. This is creating an imbalance in the amount of glass being disposed of and recycled properly. Many recycling companies have shut down. Others no longer have the resources or space to process these materials. This results in stockpiling.
However, experts say there are ways to safely and responsibly deal with the tech trash problem. | high18104.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The sight of a father with a child in his arms."
},
"options": [
"The sight of the desolate street lights.",
"The sight of the empty street.",
"The sight of a father with a child in his arms.",
"The sight of light in hi... | "BANG!" the door caused a reverberation .It was just standing there, with Father standing on one side, and I on the other side.
We were both in great anger."Never set foot in this house again!" stormed Father.With tears welling up in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.
The street lights were shining rather desolately .I wandered aimlessly.
A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me.I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and harmonious.
But now... I don't know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old.We differ in our ways of thinking.He always imposes his opinions and codes of behavior on me.Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it.We are just like two people coming from two different worlds.It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened.
I wandered the streets, without a destination in mind.My heart was frozen on this hot summer night.As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people on the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company.When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived, I saw that the light was still on.
In fact, it was nothing.Perhaps, dad was throwing away some of his old stamps.Perhaps he thought they were useless.I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps.I can't stand his outrageous words: " I can throw you away, let alone these old papers."
All the lights were off except father's.
Dad was always like this.Maybe he didn't know how to express himself.After shouting at me, he never showed any mercy or any moments of regret.After an argument he has the habit of creeping up in my sleep and then tucking me underneath the covers.
This was how he always was.He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature.
The light was still on."Am I wrong?" I whispered, maybe... With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been.At last, I decided to open the door.As soon as I opened the door, tears ran down my cheeks.I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all.Love - is second to none. | high5016.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Under the experimental conditions as those of the streets."
},
"options": [
"At crossroads.",
"At a police traffic station.",
"In a crowded street.",
"Under the experimental conditions as those of the streets."
],
... | Listening to music while you drive can improve your speed and ability to get away from accidents, according to Australian psychologists. But turning your car radio up to full volume could probably make you end up in an accident. The performance of difficult tasks can be influenced if people are subjected to loud noise. The experience of pulling up at traffic lights alongside cars with loud music made some psychologists in the University of Sydney look into whether loud music has something to do with driving.
The psychologists invited 60 men and women aged between 20 and 28 as subjects and tested them on almost the same driving tasks under three noise conditions: silence, rock music played at a gentle 55 decibels , and the same music at 85 decibels.
For 10 minutes the subjects sat in front of a screen operating a simple machine like a car. They had to track a moving disk on screen, respond to traffic signals changing color1, and brake in response to arrows that appeared without warning.
On the tracking task, there was no difference in performance under the three noise conditions. But under both the loud and quiet music conditions, the performers "braked" at a red light about 50 milliseconds sooner than they did when there was no rock music at all. That could mean a reduction in braking distance of a couple of meters actually, the difference between life and death for a pedestrian.
When it came to the arrows that appeared across the visual field, the psychologists found that when the music was quiet, people responded faster to objects in their central field of sight by about 50 milliseconds. For the people listening at 85 decibels, response times were dropped by a further 50 milliseconds -- a whole tenth of second faster than those "driving" with no music.
"But there's a trade-off," the psychologists told the European Congress of Psychology. "They lose the ability to look around the whole situation effectively." In responding to objects that suddenly appeared, people subjected to 85-decibel rock music were around 100 milliseconds slower than both the other groups. Since some accidents -- such as children running into the road -- take place without any notice, drivers listening to loud music must be less safe as a result. | high18662.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the students' poor command of English is English teacher's fault"
},
"options": [
"the college students' English is the worst of all",
"the high school students were not diligent at all",
"the students' poor command of Englis... | The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, "High school English teachers are not doing their jobs." He described the weaknesses of his students, all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been established.
What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.
My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is unavoidable. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies . But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.
The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they suppose the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults, the language of the young always seems inadequate .
Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not recognized as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and strange to today's young people, it naturally follows that today's English teachers cannot be doing their jobs. Otherwise, young people would not commit crimes against the language. | high16897.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "in a newspaper"
},
"options": [
"in a store window",
"in a school magazine",
"in a newspaper",
"on a company notice-board"
],
"question": "You many find the above advertisements _ .",
"question_type": "clo... | Read the advertisements carefully. Then answer the questions that follow.
INTERESTED IN CHILDCARE?
Qualified person or preschool teacher needed for busy childcare center, south of the river. Full-time work guaranteed. Immediate start necessary. The candidate must be able to work as a co-operative team member, Phone 6345 2345 for an interview and fax resume to 6345 2346.
WE NEED OFFICE CLEANERS!
Three people are required for professional cleaning in the CBD area. Working hours from 5:00 p. m. on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Approximately five hours per shift. A good record is necessary. Experience preferred. Phone 6345 7843 now.
WANT TO WORK AS A DENTAL NURSE?
This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified dental nurse with a confident and cheerful personality to work in the School Dental health Scheme. You must be able to get along well with children because work involves talking to groups about dental health practices. For further information, visit our website: _ And fax your resume to 6234 4567.
FLORIST WANTED!
Are you a creative and trained florist with at least two years of experience? Then this may be just what you are seeking. The city's leading Florist Artist Studio needs another part-time member on their wedding team. Please phone 6098 7888 now! | high2779.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It's a science fiction movie."
},
"options": [
"It's a science fiction movie.",
"It's about the alien spacecraft.",
"It's produced by Tom Chiver.",
"It's a jokey and humorous one."
],
"question": "Which of the f... | "NOW I just don't believe that. "Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It's simply badly researched,or the makers must think we're fools. Recently, The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on untrue tech moments from some top movies. Let's see what they are all about.
Tom Chiver, the writer of The Daily Telegraph uses his first example from the movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus which destroys Windows the computer system the alien spacecraft uses. "It's a good thing that they didn't have Norton Anti-virus," jokes Chivers.
It's just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from the movie Star Wars, where the glowing light beams traveling through space look very impressive. But the problem is that in space there are no air particles for the light to reflect off. In reality, they'd be invisible , which wouldn't look so cool on the big screen.
Most people think that the mind--bending Matrix films are made for great viewing. But for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little bit silly. He comments "...the film is based on the idea that humans are kept alive as electricity generators . This is not just unlikely --it's basically impossible. _ would need more energy to stay alive than they would produce. It's just like saying that you'll power the car with batteries, and keep the batteries charged by running a generator from the wheels. "
And finally, as Chivers points out, DNA is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die Another Day by. In the film the bad guy has "gene treatment" to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible in our real world. | high3467.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He wanted to steal some money."
},
"options": [
"He knew the President had lots of money.",
"He knew the President lived in the suite.",
"He wanted to be a rich businessman.",
"He wanted to steal some money."
],
... | A thief entered the bedroom of the 30th President of the United States, who met him and helped him escape punishment.
The event happened in the early morning hours in one of the first days when Calvin Coolidge came into power, late in August, 1923.He and his family were living in the same third-floor suite at the Willard Hotel in Washington that they had occupied several years before.The former President's wife was still living in the White House.
Coolidge awoke to see a stranger go through his clothes, remove a wallet and a watch chain.
Coolidge spoke, "I wish you wouldn't take that."
The thief, gaining his voice, said, "Why?"
"I don't mean the watch and chain, only the charm .Take it near the window and read what is impressed on its back, " the President said.
The thief read, "Presented to Calvin Coolidge."
"Are you President Coolidge ? " he asked.
The President answered, "Yes, and the House of Representatives gave me that watch charm.I'm fond of it.It would do you no good.You want money.Let's talk this over."
Holding up the wallet, the young man said in a low voice, "I'll take this and leave everything else."
Coolidge, knowing there was $80 in it, persuaded the young man to sit down and talk.He told the President he and his college roommate had overspent during their holiday and did not have enough money to pay their hotel bill.
Coolidge added up the roommate and two rail tickets back to the college.Then he counted out $32 said it was a loan .
He then told the young man, "There is a guard in the corridor." The young man nodded and left through the same window as he had entered. | high11120.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because his backpack had no room his clothes."
},
"options": [
"Because they were the uniforms for air couriers.",
"Because that made him easier to be recognized.",
"Because his backpack had no room his clothes.",
"Beca... | Brian arrived at the San Francisco airport two hours before the flight to Paris. He was wearing three shirts, a jacket, two pairs of socks, a pair of shorts, and two pairs of jeans. He was carrying one small backpack, which was very full, but he didn't have any other luggage. Brian needed to meet a man named Tony before he checked in for his flight. He found Tony near the Air France counter. Tony gave him a round-trip ticket and a small package.
"Give this package to Jean-Paul at the airport in Paris. He will have a sign with your name on it. I think you can find him easily," Tony said, "You don't have any luggage, right?"
"Only this backpack," Brian answered. "You said I could bring one carry-on bag."
"That's right. One carry-on bag is fine. Have a good trip."
"Thanks."
Is Brian a criminal ? Not at all. He is an air-courier. And he paid only $110 for the round-trip ticket to Paris. Air couriers get cheap airline tickets because they take important packages and papers to foreign countries. Businesses sometimes need to get packages and papers to people in foreign countries by the next day. Often, the only way they can do this is to use an air-courier company. It is not cheap for a business to send a package with an air courier, but it is quick.
Every year about 80,000 people worldwide travel as air couriers. The number of tickets for courier travel is growing by about 10 percent a year. However, air-courier travel isn't for everyone. But if you have very little money, can be flexible about your travel plans, and don't mind wearing the same clothes for a week, it can be a great way to take a vacation! | high7601.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "rules to obey"
},
"options": [
"things to do",
"prices for theme parks",
"rules to obey",
"special offers"
],
"question": "This passage mainly talks about all the following EXCEPT _ .",
"question_type": "c... | There are plenty of different parks to visit in the UK. All theme parks in Britain have cafes, restaurants, picnic areas and gift shops, so you'll still have plenty to see and do when you and the kids have been on enough rides. There are usually smaller "funfair" rides and games as well, so younger children won't get bored. Several theme parks also have other attractions next to them, e.g. water parks often open all year round, unlike the theme parks.
Wherever you are in Britain, there's likely to be a theme park within one or two hours' drive, bus ride or train journey. Several theme parks even have accommodation so you can stay for a day or two if you want to make a trip into a short holiday.
Prices for UK theme parks vary considerably; some have an entrance price which allows you to go on all the rides, while in others you have to pay for every ride individually. It can also make a difference whether you go during peak time or not. For example, tickets always cost more during school holidays and weekends than they do during the weekdays.
Theme parks always get very busy during the summer months, so if you don't like crowds, it's usually a good idea to go earlier or later in the year!
If you're thinking of visiting a UK theme park, it's worth having a look for special offers on tickets. Products such as chocolate bars and cereals sometimes have "buy one get one free" offers on theme park tickets, so keep a look out in shops and supermarkets. | high8532.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Handling Somalia's political problems."
},
"options": [
"Providing lots of money.",
"Ending Civil war.",
"Supplying enough food.",
"Handling Somalia's political problems."
],
"question": "According to the passag... | Kenya wants to organize a major international conference to discuss how to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia. The conference may also deal with ways to rescue Somalia from seventeen years of civil war. More than forty percent of its people depend on food aid.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula says the world cannot end piracy and civil war without dealing with Somalia's political problems.
Somali pirates operate in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean by way of the Suez Canal. The pirates have fast boats, modern weapons and equipment like satellite phones and global positioning systems.
Pirates hijacked the Sirius Star off the coast of Kenya and moved it to waters off Somalia.
The tanker Sirius Star, at three hundred thirty meters long, is the biggest ship ever known to have been captured by pirates. It also happened farther south than most attacks, and farther out at sea ---- more than eight hundred kilometers from land.
The ship was headed for the United States with two million karrels of oil, worth an estimated one hundred million dollars. A Saudi Arabian company owns the tanker. The pirates have reportedly demanded twenty-five million dollars in negotiations to release the ship and its crew of twenty-five.
Somali pirates generally do not steal goods or kill hostages. They are believed to be holding seventeen ships with about three hundred crew members. Among the ships is a Ukrainian vessel hijacked in September with a load of military weapons including tanks.
The increase in piracy is raising the cost of insuring ships. Also, oil from the Middle East and exports from East Asia could take longer to arrive.
Some of the world's heaviest shipping traffic passes the Somali coast. But major shipping companies have begun to consider new routes. One of the world's biggest shippers, A.P, Moeller Maersk, says it will avoid the Gulf of Aden. A move away from the Suez Canal could hurt Egypt's economy.
American and other foreign navy ships are now watching for pirates. This week the Indian Navy destroyed a heavily armed "mother ship" in the Gulf of Aden. But the area to protect covers more than one hundred sixty million square kilometers. | high12429.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Rich countries' gains are greater than their losses."
},
"options": [
"Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall.",
"Droughts become more harmful than floods.",
"Rich countries' gains are greater than their losses.",
... | El Nifio, a Spanish term for "the Christ child", was named by South American fisherman who noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American's economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino's harmful effects--and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority. | high13737.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "journalist who likes traveling, exploring, writing and studying"
},
"options": [
"doctor who likes carrying the small first-aid kit",
"journalist who likes traveling, exploring, writing and studying",
"writer who likes travel... | As an old-fashioned explorer, Paul Salopek sets out on foot to circle around the world. He is also a modern-day explorer. _ a few clothes, a small first-aid kit and notebooks, he is carrying a recorder, a video camera, a small computer and a satellite phone -- a telephone that connects to a satellite and can be used in many places where cell-phones don't work.
The journey is long: 21,000 miles! It will take seven years to complete it.
Salopek was born in California and spent his childhood in Mexico. He says he has always liked to travel and doesn't like to rush. At the age of fourteen, he climbed Mount Whitney in California and crossed the state's Sierra Nevada Mountains alone. When he was fifteen years old, he walked the length of Death Valley. He once rode a mule 2,000 miles through mountains in Mexico.
As a longtime reporter, Salopek has reported from Africa, Asia and Mexico. Now 51 years old, he plans to keep writing. As he travels around the world, he is writing stories about the people he meets and the way they live. He looks for how people find local solutions to big problems such as lack of food and water. He also records the sounds he hears and takes photos of the sky and the Earth's surface.
The long walk started in the Rife Valley in Ethiopia in East Africa. Many consider East Africa to be home to the first humans, who lived 160,000 years ago.
Salopek is retracing the paths our ancestors took as they left Africa and settled in parts of the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas. As Salopek is walking, he is learning more about himself and all of humankind. | high14058.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Diet."
},
"options": [
"Gender, age and socio-economic status.",
"Smoking and physical activity.",
"Diet.",
"BMI."
],
"question": "What was the difference between the four groups in the experiment?",
"questi... | A new University of Graz study concludes that vegetarians are more often ill and have a lower quality of living than meat-eaters. According to the German press release, vegetarians "have cancer and heart attacks more often". The release also says that they show more psychological disorders than meat eaters. Consequently, the report writes, they are a greater burden on the health care system.
According to the press release the scientists evaluated data from the Austrian Health Interview Survey (AT-HIS), which is also part of an important and valuable EU survey (European Health Interview Survey).
The scientists examined a total of 1320 persons who were divided up into 4 groups . All groups were comparable with respect to gender, age, and socio-economic status. The study also accounted for smoking and physical activity. Also the BMI was within the normal range for all four groups. The only thing that really was different among the four groups was the diet. The four groups were: vegetarians, meat-eaters with lots of fruit and veggies, little meat-eaters and big meat-eaters.
The press release states that the results contradict _ that meat-free diets are healthier. Vegetarians have twice as many allergies as big meat-eaters, and they showed 166% higher cancer rates . Moreover, the scientists found that vegans had a 150% higher rate of heart attacks. In total the scientists looked at 18 different chronic illnesses. Compared to the big meat-eaters, vegetarians were hit harder in 14 of the 18 illnesses.
In the analysis, the University of Graz found that vegetarians were also twice as likely to suffer for anxiety or depressions than big meat-eaters. That result was confirmed by the University of Hildesheim, which found that vegetarians suffered significantly more from depressions, anxiety, psychosomatic complaints and eating disorders. The University of Graz scientists also found that vegetarians are impacted more by ilnessses and visit the doctor more frequently.
Big meat-eaters were also found to have a "significantly better quality of life in all categories", the study found. The four categories examined were: physical and psychological health, social relationships and environment-related life quality. | high7615.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "people's feeling the unreal phone rings"
},
"options": [
"people's being addicted to mobile phones",
"people's feeling the unreal phone rings",
"mobile phones' going wrong frequently",
"mobile phones' disturbing people ... | "I usually put my mobile phone in my bag, and I often feel like it is ringing when there actually is no phone call. Now I always want to keep it in my hand, being afraid that I might miss important calls or messages," Miss Liu tells her doctor.
Miss Gu, a news worker, has to take her mobile phone with her all the time so as not to miss any calls from her office or readers. Gradually, she started to experience a great "panic" about her mobile phone. "Every night when I'm about to fall asleep, I often wake up with a start, feeling that my phone is ringing. Although I'm sure that I have turned it off, I still feel that it is ringing, clearly."
The above phenomenon is what we call "mobile-phone acouasm ". The mobile phone has now become a "new organ" in a white collar's daily life, and "mobile-phone acouasm" has become a common phenomenon among office workers.
According to a report of China Youth Daily, "mobile-phone acouasm " most likely results from people's dependency on hi-tech products. It is associated with certain professions, such as salesmen, consultants and journalists. They use mobile phones almost continuously.
Constantly being in the "stand-by" mode, the strong psychological tension gives them acouasm. Meanwhile, a large number of this year's graduates are joining the family of acouasm suffers due to the hard job-hunting experience.
"You know that the rings are not from your phone, but you always take it out and have a look. This is subconscious from your body sending you a signal, telling you that you must take a break to reduce your pressure," Professor Sun Li from Huadong Normal University explains.
There are many ways to solve the problem. The professor says that the key is to deal with pressure from work. "This is just a kind of self-protection"; the most important thing is to find out the source of your pressure. And then take part in some activities that are not related to your work. You can do anything that can relax your body and mind. | high15352.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "more educational programs will be started in national parks"
},
"options": [
"the National Park Service will celebrate its 100th anniversary",
"more educational programs will be started in national parks",
"NatureBridge plans... | The National Park Service in the United States will mark its one hundredth anniversary in 2016. As it nears its second century, the Park Service plans to increase its educational programs for students and teachers.
The plans include transportation support for one hundred thousand students each year to visit national parks to learn about nature and history. Yellowstone is believed to have been the world's first national park when it was established in 1872. Other students will get a chance to see parks in faraway places through Skype and other online programs.
The National Park Service also works with partners to provide education. One of its partners is a nonprofit organization called NatureBridge. NatureBridge is celebrating its fortieth anniversary and says one million young people have taken part in its programs. The organization works with students from kindergarten through twelfth grade and uses national parks as its classrooms. It provides field science programs at Yosemite National Park and four other locations in California and the northwestern state of Washington.
Now, NatureBridge is launching an East Coast center with a four-million-dollar grant from Google. The program will begin in April at the Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. Students stay for three to five days in NatureBridge programs. The activities are aimed at developing their science skills. For example, they learn about different soils and study water quality under a microscope. Jason Morris, executive vice president of NatureBridge says when they are not sleeping, eating or in a laboratory, the students spend their time outdoors.
Julia Washburn is associate director of education and interpretation for the National Park Service. She says in a time of budget cuts, the agency has to find ways to still meet its goals. And one of the most important services that the Park Service provides every day is nature interpretation. | high23838.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Disapproving"
},
"options": [
"Sympathetic",
"Disapproving",
"Supportive",
"Neutral"
],
"question": "What's the author's attitude toward continued parental guidance to college students?",
"question_type": nu... | Why College Is Not Home
The college years are supposed to be a time for important growth in autonomy and the development of adult identity. However, now they are becoming an extended period of adolescence, during which many of today's students and are not shouldered with adult responsibilities.
For previous generations, college was decisive break from parental control; guidance and support needed help from people of the same age and from within. In the past two decades, however, continued connection with and dependence on family, thanks to cellphones, email and social media, have increased significantly. Some parents go so far as to help with coursework. Instead of promoting the idea of college as a _ from the shelter of the family to autonomy and adult responsibility, universities have given in to the idea that they should provide the same environment as that of the home.
To prepare for increased autonomy and responsibility, college needs to be a time of exploration and experimentation. This process involves "trying on " new ways of thinking about oneself both intellectually and personally. While we should provide "safe spaces" within colleges, we must also make it safe to express opinions and challenge majority views. Intellectual growth and flexibility are fostered on debate and questioning.
Learning to deal with the social world is equally important. Because a college community differs from the family, many students will struggle to find a sense of belonging. If students rely on administrators to regulate their social behavior and thinking pattern, they are not facing the challenge of finding an identity within a larger and complex community.
Moreover, the tendency for universities to monitor and shape student behavior runs up against another characteristic of young adults: the response to being controlled by their elders. If acceptable social behavior is too strictly defined and controlled, the insensitive or aggressive behavior that administrators are seeking to minimize may actually be encouraged.
It is not surprising that young people are likely to burst out, particularly when there are reasons to do so. Our generation once joined hands and stood firm at times of national emergency. What is lacking today is the conflict between adolescent's desire for autonomy and their understanding of an unsafe world. Therefore, there is the desire for their dorms to be replacement homes and not places to experience intellectual growth.
Every college discussion about community values, social climate and behavior should include recognition of the developmental importance of student autonomy and self-regulation, of the necessary tension between safety and self-discovery. | high13723.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "to talk big"
},
"options": [
"to sing a nice song",
"to talk big",
"to go on better",
"to have a bath three times a day"
],
"question": "According to the passage, the meaning of the word \"boast\" is _ .",
... | Have you ever listened to young children talking in the playground? They are always boasting. They say things like, "My Dad's car is bigger than your Dad's," and "My Mom is smarter than yours." They particularly like to boast about their families.
There were three little boys, Harry, Ted and Gavin, who were always boasting. Gavin was the worst. Everything about his family was always the best or the biggest or the most expensive.
Whatever the others said, he could always go on better. One day when they were walking to
school, Harry said, "My father had a bath twice a week," Ted spoke next. "That's nothing," he said. "Having a bath twice a week is dirty. My father has a bath every day, sometimes twice a day." Ted looked at Gavin. Now it was his turn. But what could he say? "This time," Ted thought, "I'm going to win." Gavin didn't know what to say. He couldn't say that his father had a bath three times a day. That was silly. He walked on in silence. Ted smiled at Harry, and Harry smiled back. They were sure that for once they had beaten Gavin. They reached the school gates. Still Gavin said nothing. "We've won," Ted said to Harry, but he spoke too soon. On the way home, Gavin said, "My Dad is so clean that he doesn't have to bathe at all." | high1264.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Stand Up and Cheer"
},
"options": [
"That Hagen Girl",
"Little Miss Marker",
"Stand Up and Cheer",
"The Little Colonel"
],
"question": "For which movie did Shirley Temple win the Oscar?",
"question_type": "f... | Shirley Temple Black, who lifted America's spirit as a bright-eyed child movie star during the Great Depression, peacefully passed away at her California home on Monday evening at 85, surrounded by her family and caregivers.
Temple, born on April 23, 1928, started her entertainment career in the early 1930s and was famous by age 6. Temple was 3 when her mother put her in dance school, where a talent scout spotted her and got her in Baby Burlesks, a series of short movies with child actors playing in adult movies.
Movie studio directors took notice of her and in 1934 she appeared in the film Stand Up and Cheer! and her song and dance caught people's attention. Movies such as Little Miss Marker and Bright Eyes featured her signature song. In 1935, she received a special Oscar for her "outstanding contribution to screen entertainment" in the movie Stand Up and Cheer!
She made some 40 feature movies, including The Little Colonel, Poor Little Rich Girl, Heidi and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, in 10 years, starring with big-name actors like Randolph Scott, Lionel Barrymore and Jimmy Durante. Temple was a superstar before the term was invented. She said she was about 8 when crowds shouting their love for her made her realize she was famous. "I wondered why," she recalled. "I asked my mother and she said, 'Because your films make them happy.' "
Her child career came to an end at 12. She tried a few roles as a teenager--including opposite future president Ronald Reagan in That Hagen Girl - but retired from the screen in 1949 at 21.
Temple was only 17 when she married for the first time to John Agar, who would eventually appear with her in two movies. Their five-year marriage produced a daughter. In 1950 she wed Charles Black in a marriage that lasted until his death in 2005. She and Black had two children. Temple's interest in politics was sparked in the early 1950s when her husband was called back into the Navy to work in Washington. | high9638.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "One hour."
},
"options": [
"One hour.",
"One and a half hours.",
"Two hours.",
"Two and a half hours."
],
"question": "How long did it take the writer to go to school after getting up yesterday ?",
"question... | Yesterday was my first day of school. I had to wake up at 6 am and I had a bit of breakfast and got dressed in my school clothes. I got a service car to the Nile and crossed the Nile in a motor boat. Then it dropped me off at the Luxor museum and I walked to school which is at the back of the Luxor museum. By the time I got to school, it was 7 am. My mum came with me the first day. I got my school tie wrong. My tie was grey and everyone else's was red. The shop had sold me the wrong one. So I had to change it that evening. Everyone has mobile phones but theirs are better than mine.
In the morning we did a stupid dance and sang the Egyptian national song. We had to hold on to each other's bag as we marched to class. We had English class and boring literature and then we had math. After math the teacher gave out the books we would need for all our lessons, all 22 of them. My bag was so heavy. We had a break at 12 and we could buy food and drink. It lasted for half an hour. I enjoyed English and science. Yesterday we finished at 2:15 pm and my dad picked me up. I finished my homework soon after school and I felt happy about that.
Today, I had to go to school by myself. This morning I got there at 7:15 am. After school, I came back by myself in the motor boat again and got myself an ice cream while I was waiting for it. Today I had no homework to do. So, when I got home, I helped my mother with cooking. | high18676.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "there are a variety of enjoyable ways of spending time there"
},
"options": [
"their parents can live and play with them",
"they can buy what they want there",
"there are a variety of enjoyable ways of spending time there",
... | The island of Great Britain being small (compare the size of Australia), the natural place for holiday relaxation and enjoyment is extensive coastline, above all its southern and eastern coasts, and the favorite resort of the mass-population of industrial Lancashire, is on the north-west coast. Distant and little-inhabited area like Northern Scotland, are too remote for the development of large seaside resorts.
For most children, going to the seaside suggests a week or fortnight of freedom on the beach, ideally a sandy one providing enough opportunities for the construction of sandcastle, fishing in pool, paddling in shallow water or swimming in deep water. Their parents spend sunny days swimming in the sea and sunbathing on the beach. Not that the British sun can be relied on and the depressing sight of families wandering round the town in old -fashioned and under umbrellas is only too common. However, there are always shops with their tourist souvenirs, plenty of cafes and if the worst comes to the worst, the cinema to offer a refuge.
The average family is unlikely to seek accommodation in a hotel as they can stay more cheaply in a boarding-house. There are usually three or four-storeyed Victorian buildings, whose owners spend the summer season letting rooms to a number of couples or families and providing three cooked meals a day at what they describe as a reasonable price, with the hope that in this way they will add enough to their savings to see the winter through. Otherwise there are the camping sites for those who prefer self-catering.
Nowadays, even when an increasing number of people fly off to Mediterranean resorts where a well-developed suntan can be assured, or explore in comfort Swiss lakes and mountains or romantic Italian or Spanish cities, the British seaside is still the main attraction for families, especially those with younger children. As they queue for boats trips, cups of tea or ice-cream under gray skies and in dizzling rain, the parents are reliving their own childhood when time seemed endless, their own sandcastles the most splendid on the beach, the sea always blue and friendly and the sun always hot. | high5002.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "At 10:00 am on Wednesday."
},
"options": [
"At 9:00 am on Monday.",
"At 10:00 am on Wednesday.",
"At 1:00 pm on Friday.",
"At 11:00 am on Sunday."
],
"question": "When can people visit the White House?",
"qu... | Members of the public can visit the White House now. Requests must be made through one's Member of Congress . These self-guided tours are allowed from 7:30 am to 11:00 am Tuesday through Thursday, 7:30 am to 1:00 pm Saturdays (except for holidays). Requests can be made up to six months in advance and no less than 21 days in advance. All White House tours are free.
If you wish to visit the White House and are a citizen of a foreign country, please call your embassy for help in making a tour request.
All visitors 18 years of age or older will be asked to present a valid photo ID. All foreign visitors must present their passport. All other forms of foreign identification will not be accepted.
All visitors should call the 24-hour Visitors Office information line at 202-456-7041 to decide if any last minute changes have been made in the tour schedule . ks5u
Forbidden Items
*Cameras or video recorders
*Handbags, book bags, backpacks or purses
*Food, drinks, or cigarettes
*Any pointed objects
*Guns, or knives of any size
The U.S. Secret Service has the right to forbid any other personal items. Umbrellas, car keys, and cell phones (including those with cameras) are permitted. However, guests will not be allowed to use cell phones inside the White House.
Restrooms/ Public telephones
The nearest restrooms and public telephones to the White House are in the Ellipse Visitor Pavilion (the park area south of the White House). Restrooms or public telephones are not available at the White House.
The Disabled
Please contact your Member of Congress if you cannot hear or see clearly and need help during your White House tour. Guide animals are allowed in the White House. | high16883.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a full-time worker"
},
"options": [
"a housewife",
"a full-time worker",
"a clothes maker",
"a college student"
],
"question": "From the passage we can infer that the writer of the passage now is _ .",
"q... | I love it at night. It's peaceful. And when it cools down I sometimes do some ironing. I don't really care for it. I work full-time and am too busy for most housework. I remember the old woman who taught me to iron . I was about 15 and somehow got a live-in job taking care of a woman who had been an able-bodied, healthy woman until the accident that caused her to be paralyzed.
The woman had an electric wheelchair. She could move her head and arms but not her hands or fingers. She had this clamp attached to her arm and I'd have to open it and put a cup or a pencil in it and then she could move it. She would tell me how to do things. She would instruct me in great detail on the correct way to do things. Her home was perfect and beautiful. She would follow me around in her electric wheelchair to make sure I did everything exactly right. I'm sure she had been a perfect homemaker. She would have me fold everything, including socks and pillow cases. I would complain silently and wish terrible things on her. She taught me the right way to make the bed and tuck the corners. I know sometimes she'd get frustrated and impatient with me. I knew she wanted to grab it and do it herself. But she never yelled or scolded. Only she insisted I do it right. I didn't like it much, but I did it.
Today I can iron pretty well. I know where to start on a shirt, the right way to do the collar and sleeves. Now that I think about it, I don't think she is an old lady. I think she might have been about my age now. Anyway, when I iron, I think of her and silently thank her for all the things I learned. | high3473.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "mother"
},
"options": [
"teacher",
"doctor",
"father",
"mother"
],
"question": "According to the passage, the author probably is a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | I come to the United States ten year ago. I would always say that I was trying to study, but there were always things like work and my kids that would not allow me to start.
Now I realized that those were only excuses. What stopped me was that I was afraid to start studying again. I always believed I would learn by myself.
One day, however, my son told me that he was sad because his friends would come over and I didn't understand them because I didn't speak English. He was also sad because I could never help him with his homework. That same day, I told myself, "Rocio, you have to start believing in yourself and you will see you can make it."
The next day, I went downtown to look for a big banner in front of the school which said that they offered classes for adults. I came in to see if I could join, but the classes were closed already. That night I took the kids to the movies, and on the way back, I told them we would take a new route. I ended up getting lost. That's the way I found Chaffey College. The following Monday, I went to ask for information. They told me that summer school was starting that week.
That's how I started studying English last summer. It is difficult, but I have had great rewards. My daughter had to write a story for school. It was about the female they most admired and why . She wrote that I was the person she most admired because I had started going to College. I will never forget this. | high11134.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Boats come every fifteen minutes."
},
"options": [
"Boats come every fifteen minutes.",
"In the boat the tourists can enjoy drinking.",
"Tourists have to spend a day on the boat enjoying scenes.",
"Tourists can only see... | We all know that Paris is a popular travel destination, which has much more to offer than just seeing the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower that are well-known. Experience this amazing city through some of its secret places.
River Boats
Tour the heart of Paris by boat along the Seine River! Boats offer 8 must-see tourist stops along their boat tour route. The cost is 13 Euros for a whole day of river boating with stops for tourists to walk through the Parisian sites. There is a 15-minute interval between two boats. Boating along the Seine is a good way to drink in the unique atmosphere of Paris!
Children's Science Museum
If you are travelling to Paris with kids, the Children's Science Museum is the perfect place to visit. The Children's Science Museum has many exhibits for children. Some exhibits exercise a child's cognitive skills. The cost is low by European standards at only 8 Euros per adult and 4.50 Euros per child.
Medieval Tavern
In Paris , tourists can enjoy the night at Medieval Tavern every Thursday night from 8PM--2AM. This tavern opens its doors to the people of Paris and invites them to experience a life from long ago. The menu includes foods that were enjoyed in old days. The entire experience can be enjoyed for only 15 Euros per person!
Luxembourg Garden
The garden is the second largest public park in Paris. Whether you are interested in a walk through the flowers or a pleasant ride on the old carousel , this park is a good choice. Children like playing in the theater while adults enjoy free musical performances.
Welcome to Paris and enjoy these attractions. | high19568.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "inform those interested to audition for a musical"
},
"options": [
"tell the public about the story of Sweeney Todd",
"promote the love for watching a musical performance",
"inform those interested to audition for a musical",... | Upcoming Audition(,)
The Musical Sweeney Todd
Executive Director: Paul German Director: Calvin Remsberg
Artistic Director : Steven Glaudini Musical Director: JohnGlaudini
Opening: 1 January 2011 To 14 January 2011 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center,
Long Beach Road
Audition Location: Musical Theater West ----- Reiner Rehearsal Hall 4350 East 7thStreet
Long Beach Road 5(908046)
Audition Date and Time: Monday,9 November 2010
11:00 a.m---5:40 p.m
* by appointment only *
call (65)856-1999 to make an appointment.
Selected cast will be informed by 12 December 2010 upon the Director's confirmation.
Preparation for the Audition:
Sing the most promising and melodious song. Opera in English is acceptable. The score will be provided.
Characters:
Nellie Lovett: She is a comical and humorous lady in her forties with a strong high voice.
Anthony Hope: He is an earnest young man in his mid-twenties with a medium voice range.
Tobias Ragg: He is a teenager with a sweet and protective soul. He has high powerful singing voice.
Johanna: She is an elegant beautiful young lady with a youthful sweet high voice.
We are also selecting male and female supporting roles with powerful high or low singing voices, from the age of 18 and above.
Note: The character Sweeney Todd has been selected. | high21791.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "All the sailors gather on deck"
},
"options": [
"All the sailors gather on deck",
"Give your hands to me",
"Put your right hand and left hand on deck",
"Shake your hands with me"
],
"question": "\"All hands on d... | First Frenchman: I once heard someone shout, "Look out," I put my head out of a window and a basin of water fell on me. It seems that "Look out" may mean "don't look out."
Second Frenchman: Once I was on a ship and heard the captain shout, "All hands on deck," I put my hands on the deck and someone walked on them.
Third Frenchman: I once visited an English friend early in the morning and the maid who came to the door and said, "He's not up yet. Come back in half an hour," When I went again for him, she said, "He's not down yet."
"If he's not up and he's not down, where is he?" I asked.
She said, "He's still in bed. When I say 'He's not up ' I mean 'he has not yet got up'. When I say 'He's not down ' I mean 'he has not yet come downstairs,'" | high11652.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "At some crossroads, drivers needn't stop or go slow."
},
"options": [
"Stop signs can be found at every crossroads.",
"At crossroads with a \"Slow\" sign, drivers never have to stop.",
"At crossroads with a \"Slow\" sign, dri... | As one approaches some crossroads, one comes to a sign which says that drivers have to stop when they come to the main road ahead. At other crossroads, drivers have to go slow, but they do not actually have to stop (unless, of course, there is something coming along the main road); and at still others, they do not have either to stop or to go slow, because they are themselves on the main road.
Mr. Williams, who was always a very careful driver, was driving home from work one evening when he came to a crossroads. It had a "Slow" sign, so he slowed down when he came to the main road, looked both ways to see that nothing was coming, and then drove across without stopping completely.
At once he heard a police whistle, so he pulled in to the side of the road and stopped. A policeman walked over to him with a notebook and pencil in his hand and said, "You didn't stop at the crossing." "But the sign there doesn't say "Stop"," answered Mr. Williams. "It just says "Slow", and I did go slow." The policeman looked around him, and a look of surprise came over his face. Then he put his notebook and pencil away, scratched his head and said, "Well, I'll be scolded. I am in the wrong street!" | high21949.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "On the early morning of Saturday."
},
"options": [
"On the night of Friday.",
"On the late night of Saturday.",
"On the early morning of Saturday.",
"On Sunday evening."
],
"question": "When did the story take p... | prefix = st1 /Pennsylvania--When Connie Beck and her husband awoke to strange noises last weekend, they thought high winds were rattling their home. What they found was even more unexpected: A deer was taking a bubble bath in their bathtub.
" _ ," Mrs. Beck said. "We were just waking up."
The deer burst through the front door early on Saturday, ran past the couple's bedroom and into the bathroom. Somehow he managed to turn on the water in the bathtub and knock over a bottle of bubble bath into the bathtub. He then got himself into the bubbly water.
"You could hear the water running over the kicking," Beck said.
The Becks called State Game Commission officials, who arrived with tranquilizers and a lot of laughter.
"A guy said, 'There's nothing wrong... he's just in there taking a bubble bath,'" Mrs. Beck said.
The animal was soon brought under control, removed from the house and released.
"He was unharmed except for a little cut above the eye," said Mrs. Beck. "We were also fortunate. There wasn't much damage, except for the front door, some marks on the tub, and a few hoof prints on the floor." | high17223.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "more efforts should be made to improve the quality of our material life"
},
"options": [
"our natural surroundings are in danger of being destroyed by industry",
"the fixed supply of natural resources marks a point beyond which eco... | There is much discussion today about whether economic growth is desirable. At an earlier period, our desire for material wealth may have been justified. Now, however, this desire for more than we need is causing serious problems. Even though we have good intentions, we may be producing too much, too fast.
Those who criticize economic growth argue that we must slow down. They believe that society is approaching certain limits on growth. These include the fixed supply of natural resources, the possible negative effects of industry on the natural environment, and the continuing increase in the world's population. As society reaches these limits, economic growth can no longer continue, and the quality of life will decrease.
People who want more economic growth, on the other hand, argue that even at the present growth rate there are still many poor people in the world. These proponents of economic growth believe that only more growth can create the capital needed to improve the quality of life in the world. Furthermore, they argue that only continued growth can provide the financial resources required to protect our natural surroundings from industrialization.
This debate over the desirability of continued economic growth is of vital importance to business and industry. If those who argue against economic growth are correct, the problems they mention cannot be ignored. To find a solution, economists and business community must pay attention to these problems and discuss them with one another. | high18110.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it has a pleasant atmosphere"
},
"options": [
"it is held on a 253.3 meters long official track",
"many competitors take part in it",
"it has a pleasant atmosphere",
"the winner will be awarded a lot of money"
],
... | The Wife-carrying World Championship has been celebrated in a small town in central Finland since 1992. In 1992, the people of the town decided to restart some long-forgotten traditions. Back in the late 1800s, there was a robber called Rosvo-Ronkainen in that area. He was said to only accept men as members of his gang who proved their worth in challenges. At that time, it was also a common practice to steal women from neighboring villages.
This event is becoming increasingly popular. A large number of competitors, people, and journalists from Finland to Canada attend the Wife-carrying World Championship every year.
The event is famous for its warm and humorous atmosphere. The Wife-carrying World Championship is held on a 253.3 meters long official track. The track has two dry obstacles and a water obstacle, about a meter deep.
There are a few basic rules and the winner is the couple who complete the course in the shortest time. The wife to be carried may be your own, or your neighbor's. The minimum weight of the wife to be carried is 49 kg. If she is less than 49kg, the wife will be given a heavy bag to carry. Each time a competitor drops his wife, that couple will be fined 15 seconds.
Alongside with the Wife-carrying World Championship, there is also a team competition. The distance is the same but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink official "wife-carrying drink". Then he may continue the race. A special prize is awarded to the team with the best costumes.
While the Wife-carrying World Championship is being held, there are bands playing music, a wife-carrying dance and other forms of entertainment. | high5764.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She wanted to be herself."
},
"options": [
"She wanted to be herself.",
"It would be inconvenient.",
"The name Suzie was too ordinary.",
"She was fond of her own name."
],
"question": "Why did Oprah refuse to ch... | Does it feel right?
This is an excerpt from Oprah Winfrey's 2008 Stanford Commencement Address:
A year after I left college, I was given the opportunity to co-anchor the 6 o'clock news in Baltimore...Yet, it didn't feel right. The first sign, as President Hennessy was saying, was when they tried to change my name. The news director said to me at the time: "Nobody's going to remember Oprah. So, we want to change your name. We've come up with a name we think that people will remember and people will like. It's a friendly name: Suzie."... I grew up not loving the name, but once I was asked to change it, I thought, well, it is my name and do I look like a Suzie to you? So, I thought, no, it doesn't feel right. I'm not going to change my name. And if people remember it or not, that's OK.
And then they said they didn't like the way I looked... So, they sent me to a salon where they gave me a perm , and after a few days all my hair fell out and I had to shave my head. And then they really didn't like the way I looked, because now I am black and bald and sitting on TV. Not a pretty picture.
But even worse than being bald, I really hated, hated, hated being sent to report on other people's tragedies as a part of my daily duty, knowing that I was just expected to observe, when everything in my instinct told me that I should be doing something, (and that) I should be lending a hand...
It felt right. And that's where everything that followed for me began. And after eight months, I lost that job. They said I was too emotional. I was too much. But since they didn't want to pay out the contract, they put me on a talk show in Baltimore. And the moment I sat down on that show, the moment I did, I felt like I'd come home. I realized that TV could be more than just a playground, but a platform for service, for helping other people's lives improve. And the moment I sat down, doing that talk show, it felt like breathing.
And I got that lesson. When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus , regardless of what you're getting paid. | high23186.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To search for the meaning of life"
},
"options": [
"To search for the meaning of life",
"To keep memories of his mother",
"To help people who are suffering",
"To pursuer his love of photography"
],
"question": "... | "A Long Walk Home"-----life as Eli Reed saw it
American photographer and photojournalist Eli Reed has been documenting "life as I saw it" for more than 40 years. His career retrospective , "Eli Reed: A Long Walk Home", is an extraordinary search of beauty while recording hardship. With a heart of love, Reed uses a style that uncovers humanity at every turn. According to Reed, "A Long Walk Home" is about what it means to be a human being. It all began with a photo he took of his mother and his memory of her smile.
Raised in New Jersey, reed was originally a painter. Primarily self-taught in photography, he became a freelance photographer in 1970. after producing some impressive photos that drew much attention, he joined the famous company Magnum Photos---the first black photographer invited to do so.
His photos are remarkable in their lack of judgment of the people or the situations he comes across. In Beirut, Lebanon, a man removes a tree branch from a car in a recently bombed parking lot. An old man wrapped in a sheet plays a drum in front of a sign reading "God Is the Way" while National Guardsmen lift their guns during a war in Miami. A young boy upside down with his legs in the air in a Kenyan refugee camp, his determined look faces the camera. In Harlem, New York, a group of laughing children take over an abandoned car, using it as a jungle gym.
Where another photographer might have focused on the _ of these situations. Reed's camera smiles. His images show how humans cope, rise above, and carry on. This is what gives " A Long Walk Home" its power. Considering the places Reed has been to, there are very few photos of guns or obvious violence. Instead, Reed focuses on the varied human responses to hardship.
We smile along with Reed in a gesture of compassion and solidarity. We recognize our fellow human beings. | high13045.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "hunt animals"
},
"options": [
"treat diseases",
"avoid being bitten",
"hunt animals",
"eat their meat"
],
"question": "We can infer that the Indians may kill poison frogs in order to _ .",
"question_type":... | You may have seen a lot of frogs, but if you haven't, you must have heard about frogs. However, have you heard about a frog that can kill a person?
These small brightly colored amphibians live in the tropical rain forests of Central and South America. They are best known for their ability to kill persons even though they are no more than 2 inches long. If we touch their poisonous skin without proper protection (such as gloves), we may die! For animals of this size that can be so deadly, they are certainly one of the world's most poisonous animals! Who are they? They are poison arrow frogs or, simply, poison frogs.
Poison frogs acquired their name from the Indians. The Indians catch and kill many of these frogs before hanging them upside down over a campfire. As the frogs get hot, the poison drips out of their skin. The Indians collect the poisonous liquid in a bottle and dip the tips of their arrows into the bottle. Once the tips are dried, they are ready to be used for their arrows for hunting.
There are about 170 different types of poison arrow frogs in the world. Though most species have bright markings, either in stripes or patches, on their black bodies, some just wear noticeable single-colored coats. Their shocking skin colors-usually in yellow, red, green, blue or orange-serve as a warning sign to other animals. The sign simply says," Stay away or pay with your life!" They certainly do not bluff. | high7173.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "China"
},
"options": [
"China",
"Egypt",
"Greece",
"Rome"
],
"question": "According to this passage, the umbrella was probably first invented in ancient _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | To us it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains, But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against the rain, Its first use was as a shade against the sun! Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the first to use it were the Chinese in the eleventh century BC.
We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor. In the Far East in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by those in high office.
In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in commonly used in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans.
During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared. Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again it was considered as a symbol of power. By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France and later in England.
By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe. Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It wasn't until the twentieth century that women's umbrellas began to be made, in a whole variety of colors. | high8240.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "how to spend less when traveling by air"
},
"options": [
"how to keep yourself safe during your flight",
"how to choose a better and more comfortable airline",
"how to spend less when traveling by air",
"how to book you... | More often than not, the person sitting next to you on a plane or sleeping in the next hotel room has paid more or less than you did for the same services. Each day, airlines give more than several hundred fares for flights between the same two cities and hotels charge different rates for the same room. So how do you find the best rates? Here are some tips:
^ Sign up for fare special e-mails. When airlines get into a fare war, the cost of a plane ticket can fall overnight and the discounted fare may be sold out by noon the next day. Get on the mailing list of airlines and other travel Web sites so you can be told immediately if fares drop.
^ Buy your tickets at least 21 days in advance. There are usually four different timetables for advance tickets: 21-day, 14-day, 7-day, and 3-day. The further in advance you book your flight, the lower the fare you will find.
^ Consider another airport. Find out about all the airports that are near your destination city. You might be able to fly into a smaller airport or neighboring city at a much lower rate.
^ Stay over a Saturday night. Airlines give the highest fares to business travelers, who fly during the week and spend their weekends at home. If you plan to leave for your trip on a Wednesday and return on Saturday, your fare would be a lot higher than you stay until Sunday morning.
^ Fly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Some airlines offer cheaper fares on different days of the week. Generally, it's the cheapest to fly on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Remember, though, that a Saturday stay is necessary to receive the lowest rate.
^ Pick a flight with plenty of open seats. Seats in a flight are divided into "classes", and each class has its own price. Since the cheapest classes sell first, the fewer seats that are left on a plane, the more expensive they are. | high22298.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "fishermen"
},
"options": [
"sailors",
"King Charles and his family",
"fishermen",
"The families of kings and queens"
],
"question": "The first English people living in the \"green village\" were _ .",
"qu... | Greenwich is on the River, five miles from the middle of London, and its history is two thousand years old. The first English people were fishermen there, and they named the place Greenwich, meaning "green village". Later the English kings and queens lived at Greenwich in their beautiful places.
The name of the earliest palace was Placentia. Henry VIII lived there. He knew that England must be strong at sea. So he started two big ship-yards at Greenwich. But trouble was coming to Greenwich. In 1649, a war started in England and for eleven years there was no king. The men who had worked for him at Placentia decided to live the place themselves. They sold all its beautiful things. Finally, the war ended and King Charles II came back. But Placentia was falling down. So King Charles built a new and bigger palace, which is now open to the public.
At this time, Charles was worried about losing so many of its ships at sea: their sailors did not know how to tell exactly where they were. So in 1675, Charles made John Flamsteed, the first astronomer in England, try to find the answer. Flamsteed worked in a new building on the high ground in Greenwich Park. From it with a telescope which he made himself, Flamsteed could look all round the sky. And he did, night after night, for twenty years. Carrying on Flamsteed's work a hundred years later, an astronomer called Harrison finally made a clock which told the time at sea, and helped sailors to know where they were. You can see Harrison's clock, still working, in Greenwich's museum of the sea. Because of Flamsteed's work, every country in the world now tells its time by Greenwich Time. | high19226.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Low-tech cooking produces better-tasting meals."
},
"options": [
"The writer likes high-tech cooking.",
"Low-tech cooking produces better-tasting meals.",
"High-tech news programs always keep you reading what is important to ... | High-tech machines have made life easier for millions around the world. However, some people still prefer low-tech ways of doing things. Here's an example of why this is happening. You can microwave a frozen hamburger in 60 seconds. However, it won't taste as good as one you cook on the stove. And if you're in that much of a hurry, you probably won't take time to toast the bun. High-tech cooking saves time, but it doesn't make for better-tasting meals.
Most people get their news from high-tech sources like television or the Internet. This has many advantages. For example, electronic news is more up to date than newspapers or magazines. It's also more exciting to see live and videotaped news events than photographs. However, newspapers and magazines have some important advantages. They give more background and details. They also let you read the parts that are important to you and skip the rest.
Other high-tech timesavers have similar disadvantages. For examples, most people use the phone or e-mail to stay in touch with friends and family members who live in other places. But when you use the Internet or the phone, you don't always think carefully about what you are saying, and sometimes you forget the important things you want to communicate. Similarly, when you word-process a homework assignment instead of handwriting it, you can check your spelling electronically and put in fancy headings. However, some students are so busy with the computer that they don't pay enough attention to the actual words they are writing. | high4452.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "different times have different themes of the American dream"
},
"options": [
"America' s golden dream could never be realized",
"America's golden dream had bought great fortune to Chinese immigrants",
"different times have di... | You may have heard the term "the American Dream".In 1848, James W.Marshall found gold in California and people began having golden dreams.That 19th century "American Dream" motivated the Gold Rush and gave California its nickname of the "Golden State".
The American Dream drove not only 1800s gold-rush prospectors but also waves of immigrants throughout that century and the next.People from Europe, and a large number of Chinese, arrived in the US in the 19th century hoping that in America they would find gold in the streets.But most.instead, worked as railroad laborers.They created the oldest Chinatown, in San Francisco, and gave the city a Chinese name "the old gold hill".
In the 20th century, some critics said that it was no longer possible to become prosperous through determination and hard work. Unfair education for students from poor families and racial discrimination almost made the American Dream a nightmare .
Then, in the 1990s, California saw a new wave of dreamers in Silicon Valley.People poured their energy into the Internet. This new chapter of the American Dream attracted many business people and young talents from China and India to form start-ups and seek fortune in America.
Better pay, a nice house, and a rising standard of living will always be attractive.However, the new American Dream .is no longer just about money.It encourages Americans to consume wisely to protect the environment, improve the quality of life, and promote social justice(,).
The Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has become the model of the new American Dream.After years of hard work, he grew from a poor young man from Austria into a super movie star and then a governor. Many people
and give California a brighter future. | high16115.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "There should be a distance even between friends."
},
"options": [
"Friends should open their hearts to each other.",
"Friends should always be faithful to each other.",
"There should be a distance even between friends.",
... | Someday a stranger will read your email without your permission or scan the website you have visited. Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it is likely that some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without permission? It might be a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen----- _ stcentury is the equal of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy and that it is important to reveal yourself to friends, families and lovers at appropriate time and places. But now few boundaries remain. The information you leave everywhere makes it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. Believe it or not, we live in a world where you simply can't keep a secret. The key question is: does that matter?
When you ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it.
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny part of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few refuse to offer personal information like Social Security numbers to get supermarket loyalty cards.
But privacy does matter--at least sometimes. It is like health: when you have it, you don't notice it. Only when it is gone do you wish you had done more to protect it. | high5994.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To make Tanaka Business School a leading research--led business school."
},
"options": [
"To teach some new subjects.",
"To guide students in reading.",
"To make Tanaka Business School a leading research--led business school.... | Imperial College
London
Tanaka Business School
10 New Professors, Readers, Senior Lecturers or Lecturers
Imperial College is among the top ten universities of the world, according to the 2008 Times Higher Education.
Having doubled its size in the last 4 years and hired world--class scholars during that period, Imperial's Tanaka Business School wishes to make a further 10 academic appointments in its drive to become a leading research--led business school.Only applicants who have published in top international magazines will be considered.Excellent ones from any field of management are welcome, but the school particularly wishes to appoint in the fields of marketing, technology management and healthcare.
International salaries will be offered.
An application form and further details may be downloaded from www.imperial.ac.uk/tanaka (About Us, job opportunities).
An application form, 2 of your best papers should be sent to tbs.applications@imperial.ac.uk.
First review of application will be on 2 April 2009. | high21961.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They learn from their own ancestors."
},
"options": [
"They learn from their own ancestors.",
"There are too many resources in America.",
"They never think of the future.",
"They do not know the value of resources."
... | We Americans are wasteful people, not used to saving. The frontiersmen began this pattern, for natural resources were so plentiful that no one ever imagined a shortage, within a few years of the first Virginia settlement, for example, pioneers burned down their houses when they were ready to move west. They wanted to have the nails for future use. No one ever gave a thought to the priceless hardwoods that went up in smoke.
As a people,we destroy many things that other people save. I noticed a letter from one of England's largest banks. It was enclosed in a used envelope that had been readdressed to me. Such a practice would be unthinkable in the United States. American banks, even the smallest, always use expensive stationery with the names of all twenty-eight vice-presidents listed on one side of the page. | high18138.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "find no supportive listeners around them"
},
"options": [
"actually have nothing to worry about",
"are too shy to expose themselves to others",
"suffer from serious mental health problems",
"find no supportive listeners... | Herbie Ricketts,52,lives in Thornton Heath,south London,and works as an electrician.He has been a listening volunteer with the Samaritans for 16 years.
Each caller is as individual as their circumstances and I didn't realize so many people take their own lives until I became a Samaritan. _
I'll always remember my first day on duty.The caller, stressed and depressed,told me he was suicidal .He'd been too frightened to talk to the people around him,which is common.People are told they've got nothing to be upset about.Or, if they are already classified as having mental health issues,so they tell no one.How do you make sense of your feelings if you can't tell someone? Just allowing people to say what they honestly feel helps them find a different perspective.I couldn't offer him practical advice but I could support him emotionally.I helped him come to terms with his situation and make sense of some of the terrible emotions he was experiencing.Offering anonymity and being nonjudgmental allows people easily hurt to explore their thoughts without fear or worry.I left him in an emotionally safe place,ensuring he knew 1 wasn't rejecting or abandoning him.I let him know we were still there if he needed us,explaining that it might not be me on the other end of the phone but another Samaritan who could also support.
Suicidal people will ring with issues like drug use or loneliness.If you look at it from the perspective of, "How can I solve this? "you can become,like them,at a loss.Every cell in your body wants to offer solutions,but as a Samaritan I'm not there to sort their problems out.I listen and will support them when they can't see any further than tomorrow.When the phone goes silent,we stay with that caller as long as we possibly can,which could be two or three hours.
The shifts are up to four hours long.When it doesn't go so well,I offload to my colleague,so I don't carry home a heavy heart.Being a Samaritan has greatly improved my life.I'm calmer and become a supportive listener, which has also improved my relationships.But being a wonderful Samaritan doesn't make you a wonderful parent or wonderful partner--I wish it did. | high9176.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "God contributed to the present form of human beings"
},
"options": [
"human beings have developed from less advanced forms of life",
"God contributed to the present form of human beings",
"God created human beings in the pres... | Why don't so many Americans accept the theory of evolution? A 2001 Gallup Poll found that 45 percent of Americans agree with the statement "God created the human being pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so ", while 37 percent preferred a mixed belief that "Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process", and only 12percent accepted the standard scientific theory that "Human being have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process".
There are at least four reasons to make people resistant to accepting evolution.
1. The warfare model of science and religion. The belief that there is a war between science and religion where one is right and the other is wrong, and that one must choose one over the other.
2. The belief that evolution is a threat to specific religious tenets . Many people attempt to use science to prove certain religious tenets, but when they do not appear to fit, the science is rejected.
3. Misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. A significant problem is that most people know so little about the theory. In the 2001 Gallup Poll, for example, a quarter of the people surveyed said they didn't know enough to say whether they accepted evolution or not, and only 34 percent considered themselves to be "very informed " about the theory.
4. The fear that evolution degrades our humanity. Darwin revealed us to be "mere animals", subject to the same natural laws and historical forces as all other animals.
Believers should embrace science, especially evolutionary theory, for what it has done to uncover the magnificence of the divinity in a depth never dreamed by our ancient ancestors. We have learned a lot in 4,000 years, and that knowledge should never be denied. Instead, science should be welcomed by all who cherish human understanding and wisdom. | high8268.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "dealing with a teenage girl staying in her house"
},
"options": [
"trying to please her boss",
"changing a girl's bad behavior",
"improving her communication skills",
"dealing with a teenage girl staying in her house"
... | My boss's daughter was studying in the Philippines. He asked me if my husband and I could take care of her. He thought his daughter would be able to improve her English communication skills in this way.
After days of thinking, we agreed. He then brought her here and left after 3 days. I thought that my boss's daughter was well-mannered, but that was wrong.
After a month of staying in the Philippines, she started to show her true colors. When my husband asked her what she wanted for breakfast, she answered him in a rude way. From then on, we experienced fights at home. There was a time when we didn't talk to her for a week as a punishment of not being good to us. What I hated most was that she didn't care about other people's feelings. She ate ahead of us when we were still working and didn't leave anything for us. So we had to separate her food from ours to avoid such a problem.
The worst thing about her was that she shouted at us. I was wondering if she did this to her parents. We told this to her parents, but unfortunately I didn't think _ solved the problem. This situation lasted for almost 8 months. Our patience was tested during that time.
We tried to teach her everything we could to make her a better person, but I guess 8 months may not to be enough. We even tried to understand her and adjust for her, but it didn't work. I just hope that she learned something from us and from other Filipinos. | high900.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Accidents"
},
"options": [
"Diet",
"Exercise",
"Medicine",
"Accidents"
],
"question": "The differences between Asian and American culture are not discussed in _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | American doctors have been trying to figure out the secrets behind Asians being healthier than Americans since the early 90s - The Japan has the lowest mortality rates in the world and Chinese medicine has been around for thousands of years, since around 2000 B.C. only meant that there's more to Asian health philosophy. In Asian medicine, there's an acknowledgment of the whole-body theory of medicine, instead of isolationism that's prevalent in many American doctor's offices.
The main reason behind a better health lies in the difference between Asian and American culture. Diet, exercise, and a holistic approach to medicine all contribute to Asians living longer and healthier than their American counterparts. In addition, the result of the Asian lifestyle has led to a stronger overall immune system and better detoxification efficiency.
The more preferred drink in the American lifestyle is soda, beer or coffee. However, in Asian culture, the preferred drink is water or herbal tea. Consumption of water serves to immediately strengthen one's body detoxification program, since water dilutes toxins and helps flush the body. Americans savor red meat and pork, while most Asians prefer chicken, rice and fish. Also, the foods in Asia are mostly organic and lack the hormonal toxins that American food carries. Overall the Asian diet leads to less food-introduced toxins into the body, and allows the body to spend its energy on its immune system rather than toxin control. Also, the fish that Asians consume have very strong immunological effects, providing more antioxidants than the red meat preferred in America.
The average American family has more than one car. In Asia, on average there's 1 car per 4 families. In Asian cultures, people use bicycles more than four-wheeled transportation. The Asian lifestyle also involves more labor and physical work, such as agricultural labor and gardening. The American lifestyle praises white-collar jobs which lead to Americans sitting in front of computer screens for hours on end. Exercise helps detoxification in two ways: it speeds up metabolism, and induces sweat.
Medicine in Asia centers mostly on natural ingredients that have healing properties. Asian medicine also addresses the mind-body connection and the importance of mental balance. There are more traditional medicine doctors per person in Asia than in America. American medicine costs more and is symptom-focused, often ignoring the overall cause of the symptoms. In America, the prescriptions that are chemically derived are dangerous toxins that stress the body's detoxification system. Using Asian medicine means using only natural ingredients, which the body can easily detoxify while getting the same health benefit.
It is not very difficult to adopt the Asian lifestyle and improve your body's detoxification and immune system. You can change your lifestyle today by eating and drinking organic, exercising rigorously at least three times a week, and using organic health alternative therapies over dangerous prescription medicines. ks5u
Emma Deangela is the author of detox and fasting site at eDetoxify.com. Combining both Asian and Western philosophy, Emma Deangela has helped many people by giving them health consultation to make their lives better and healthier through natural health philosophy. Visit eDetoxify.com to discover the health philosophy that leads many people to a healthy life. | high23810.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "happiness is the thing that everyone wants to get"
},
"options": [
"happiness means the same to everyone",
"happiness is the thing that everyone wants to get",
"money makes one happy, so does helping others",
"not all p... | There is one thing that everyone wants more than anything else .Some people try to get it by making money .They think that when they have enough money to buy such things as houses ,arms ,and cars ,they will have the one thing that everyone wants .
Other people believe that if they know enough, they will find this thing .They study all their lives in search of it .Still others think that if they have power, they will find this thing .They keep telling themselves: When I am a boss, I will no longer have to search for this thing.
What is it that everyone wants more than anything else? What is it that all of us keep working and searching for each day? It is happiness.
Happiness is a strange thing .It does not mean the same to all men .What will make one man happy may not make another man happy .Some men say that happiness comes from helping others ,other men say that happiness comes from making life more pleasant for everyone .What do you mean when you say"That makes me happy."
Read what different people have said about happiness .Perhaps you will learn something that will bring you peace of mind ,comfort ,money or may bring you what you search for happiness. | high12415.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Romania might be unsafe at that time"
},
"options": [
"a trip to Europe would be dangerous",
"the mother didn't want to see her son",
"Romania might be unsafe at that time",
"the mother didn't like to write in pen"
... | I have happy memories of trips to Europe, but my trip to Romania was unique. When I was there as recalled, it was like being in a "James Bond" movie. My husband was born there, but his family sent him to study in Italy. Before he left, his mother told him, "As long as I write in pencil, don't come back. When I write to you in pen, it's safe to return." But she never wrote in pen.
My husband lived a poor life in Italy. He applied to go to America, but there was a limit in number and he was rejected. He was accepted by Canada, though, and from Calgary he jumped onto a train to San Francisco. There he stayed --illegally. He became a US citizen when we got married. By then he was a charming European with a Romanian accent and the manners of a prince.
With seven years' experience in America, a US passport, and two children later, he felt it was safe to visit Romania. He hadn't seen his mother, two sisters, and two brothers since he was sixteen. We flew to Munich, Germany; picked up the German-made car we had purchased in the States; and drove to Romania via Austria and Hungary. When we reached Bucharest, the capital city of Romania, his family was waiting outside his sister's house to greet us. After a long time of hugging, kissing, and crying, his family also hugged me, the American wife with two young children. They had great interest in me. Few Americans visited Romania at that time, and most Romanians had little chance to travel. I had brought an English-Romanian dictionary with me and managed to communicate, using only nouns, with no verbs. My Romanian improved, and the family's stock of English words increased, but mostly I spoke in broken, New York-accented Romanian. The sisters loved their gifts of skirts and purses, the brothers loved the radios, and the children loved the candy. We made side trips to the Black Sea and enjoyed sightseeing in beautiful mountains. Dining at outdoor cafes to the music of violins was fantastic with fancy flavor, but nothing was as special as family dinners.
Romania didn't have many dry cleaners. Most homes had old-fashioned washing machines but no dryers, and it was a hot summer. My husband's relatives didn't want to risk dirtying their clothes. Their solution was as simple as it was shocking: the women only wore their bras and slips at dinner table. The men were eating without shirts. They all had jobs, so time was precious. Having dinner without proper clothes was a small inconvenience compared with the effort of washing clothes --at least in my husband's home, perhaps all across Romania. I, of course, having just met them, ate fully clothed. I washed my clothes by hand and hung them outdoors to dry.
On the last night of our three-week stay, we had a large family dinner. I was tired of washing my clothes. So I pulled my dress over my head and placed it on the chair behind me. All men and women applauded for my action. Even with my poor Romanian, I understood that they were saying, "She's part of our family now."
My children were 4 and 5 at the time, but they still have memories of that trip. They know how to say, "Good morning." and "There are apricots on the tree." I can still say, "Do you speak Romanian?"and "I swim in the Black Sea." But most of all, I remember sitting at a long dining-room table in my bra, enjoying meatballs with fresh garlic . | high9610.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "enjoy themselves"
},
"options": [
"get some fruits",
"enjoy themselves",
"train their escaping skills",
"frighten other animals"
],
"question": "Danger-junkie orangutans shook the tree to _ .",
"question_... | Danger-junkie orangutans in Borneo climb dead trees and shake then until they begin to fall. They scream with excitement as they cling to the falling tree. Just before the tree hits the ground the orangutans leap to another tree or vine, narrowly escaping death. While no one cab ask orangutans if they enjoy it as a person playing an extreme sport, one animal behaviorist sees this monkey fun as a bit of harmless thrill-seeking.
A growing number of scientists agree that animals are conscious and capable of experiencing basic emotions , such as happiness, sadness, boredom or depression. A few scientists even see the possibility for higher animal emotions like love, jealousy and spite.
Five years ago, behaviorist and animal-rights activist Dr. Jonathan Balcombe stood on a Virginia hotel balcony watching two crows intimately groom each other in the comfort of an abandoned billboard. He felt that the birds liked what they were doing, even if engaged in a natural, beneficial act, such as picking parasites off the other's feathers. That moment changed the way he would view animals forever and led to a book, "Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good", which is filled with hundreds of examples of animals living it up thanks to developed senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell.
Balcombe recounts a favorite example of Kenyan hippos having high-end spa treatment in a fresh water spring. They splay their toes, open their mouths wide and wait for a school of cleaner fish to remove parasites and slough off dead skin, he recalls. Balcombe knows that the hippos and the fish both benefit from this arrangement. "My interpretation is that it is also enjoyable for them ," he says. | high14064.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a high brand usually sets a much higher price"
},
"options": [
"a high brand wins the loyalty of consumers",
"a high brand usually sets a much higher price",
"it's easy for a high brand company to launch new products",
... | A brand is a name, word, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of these, intended to identify the goods or services of a company or a group of companies. Another purpose of a brand is to contrast one company from another. The most important skill of professional marketers is the ability to create, maintain, protect, and enhance the brands of their products and services. Branding has become so important that today hardly any company or product is without one. Therefore, brand management is an increasingly important element in marketing.
Brand power refers to the relative strength of a company's brand in the minds of consumers, and can influence consumers' choice of products. Brands are powerful to the extent that they give high brand loyalty and strong brand associations, name recognition, perceived quality and other assets to a company. A strong brand can be one of a company's most important assets.
High brand power provides a company with many competitive advantages. A powerful brand enjoys a high level of consumer brand awareness and loyalty. Because consumers expect stores to carry the brand, the company has more bargaining power when negotiating with retailers . And because the brand name brings high credibility, a company with a strong brand can more easily launch new products with the same brand name.
Many companies use the advantage of a strong brand power strategically to expand their business. When a company introduces an additional item with a new flavour, form, colour or package size in a given product category and under the same brand name, it is called a line extension. Another strategy is called brand extension. This involves the use of a successful brand name to launch new or modified products in a new category, thereby employing brand recognition in order to increase sales of new products.
Brand recognition is certainly important. Because consumers often hold long-standing perceptions about brands, high brand power ensure a company continued sales of its products. | high6523.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "teens' brains continue to do much needless work"
},
"options": [
"teens' brains continue to do much needless work",
"the grey matter in young children's front brain becomes active",
"people are not likely to be distracted unt... | Parents who feel disappointed at their teenagers' failure to pay attention in class, and inability to sit quietly long enough to finish homework or plan ahead, should take _ . Their children are not being lazy or careless, according to new research.
The research has found that teenagers' brains continue developing far longer into adulthood than we used to think. Teens may look like young adults but their brain structure is similar to that of much younger children.
"It is not always easy for teens to pay attention in class without letting their minds wander, or to ignore distractions from their younger brothers or sisters when trying to solve a maths problem," said Dr Iroise Dumon-theil. "But it's not the fault of teenagers that they can't pay attention and are easily distracted. It's to do with the structure of their brains. Teens simply can't think as well as an adult."
The research showed that the brain of a teenager works less effectively than that of an adult. "We knew that the front of the brain of teens functioned in a chaotic way but we didn' t realize it continued until the late 20s or early 30s," said Dr Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, who led the research.
Chaotic thought patterns are a result of teenagers' brains containing too much grey matter -- the cell bodies and connections which carry messages within the brain. As we age, the amount of grey matter in our brain reduces.
"What our research has shown is that there is simply too much going on in the brains of teens," said Blakemore. "The result is that their brain energy and resources are wasted and their decision-making process is badly influenced. Adults, on the other hand, have less grey matter. This means that the brain works far more effectively." | high2745.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It was most probably Sinbad's last voyage on sea"
},
"options": [
"It was most probably Sindbad's sixth journey in Europe",
"It was most probably Sinbad's last voyage on sea",
"It was on the 4th day that Sindbad was caught by... | After my sixth voyage I was quite determined that I would never go to sea. One early spring day, however, I was brought to see the Caliph. He said, "Sindbad, I have chosen you to deliver a letter and a gift to the King of Serendib in return for his message of friendship."
The Caliph's commandment fell upon me like a thunderbolt .
"Your Majesty," I answered, "I am ready to do all that your Majesty commands, but I have made a promise never again to leave Baghdad."
"I admit," said he, "that you have indeed had some extraordinary experiences, but I do not see why they should prevent you from doing as I wish. You have only to go straight to Serendib and give my message, and come back as you will."
At last, I agreed. The Caliph was delighted and gave me a thousand sequins (gold coins) for the expenses of the voyage. Soon I sailed quickly and safely to Serendib after a nearly 30-day voyage where I was well received, and brought into the presence of the king.
I displayed the Caliph's gifts: a bed which cost a thousand sequins, and more beds of different fashion. The King received the assurance of the Caliph's friendliness with satisfaction. Since my task was accomplished, I was anxious to depart. The king dismissed me with many presents, and I left immediately on the end day of May. On the fifth day we suffered from pirates who killed some of us and made the rest prisoners of whom I was one. On a distant island they sold us for slaves. I fell into the hands of a rich merchant.
The merchant asked me to shoot elephants in the forest. When he left, he said, "When you have succeeded in killing one come and tell me."
So saying, he gave me a supply of food and returned to the town. I settled myself in the tree and kept watching. The next morning I saw a large group of elephants passing by. I shot one to death and run back to tell my master of my success, for which I was praised and regaled(,) with good things. Then we went back to bury the elephant I had killed, in order that when it became a skeleton my master might return and keep its tusks safely.
I hunted for two months. One morning as I watched the coming of the elephants which paused instead of passing the tree, trumpeting(,) horribly. I was terrified. The largest of the animals brought me to the ground .I thought now that my last hour was surely come; but the huge creature, picking me up gently enough; set me upon its back, then turned into the forest. After what seemed a long time to me, I was standing on a great hill where there was filled with bones and tusks of elephants which are more than I could carry away in a lifetime.
I run to my master's house, and was received by him with joyful surprise. He asked me what had happened to me and why I was still alive. I soon satisfied his curiosity, and the next day we went together to the Ivory Hill, and he was overjoyed to find as many tusks.
He said, "My brother, these wild elephants have killed numbers of our slaves every year. You alone have escaped; therefore you must be under the special protection of Heaven. You deserve your liberty, and I will give you a fortune."
I only asked liberty to return to my own country
"Well," he answered, "the monsoon will soon bring the ivory ships here, and then I will send you on your way."
So I stayed with him till the time of the monsoon. When the ships at last arrived, my master put on board for me a great store of supply, also lots of ivory, and said me goodbye. I left without feeling at ease upon the sea after what had happened. I sold my ivory and bought many expensive presents. I joined a traveling team of merchants. Our journey was long and boring, but gradually, I did not to fear storms, or pirates, or any of the other dangers. When the fall wind came blowing, we reached Baghdad.
I brought myself to the Caliph and told him everything about my experience. My story was written in letters of gold, and laid up among his treasures. I took my leave of him, well satisfied with the honors and rewards he gave me; and since that time I have rested from my labors, and given myself up wholly to my family and my friends. | high18886.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Park your car in P15 or P17 and then take a transit bus to the terminal"
},
"options": [
"Just park your car outside the airport",
"Park your car in P15 or P17 and then take a transit bus to the terminal",
"Park your car near... | Airport Information
Name:Copenhagen Airport
Location: Located 8km southeast of Copenhagen(capital of Denmark)
No. of terminals:4
Disabled facilities:
Copenhagen Airport is physically accessible throughout. Wheelchair-accessible toilets and reserved seating are provided and dedicated parking spaces are available. Passengers with disabilities are requesited to inform their airline in avdance about their needs.
*Car Parking:
There are more than 10,000 car parking spaces in short-, medium- and long-term car parks at Copenhagen Airport. The P6, P7, and P8 areas offer short-term options directly linked terminals 2 and 3. Medium-term rates are avaiable in P1, P2, P5, P8, P10 and P12, which are all ly near the terminal buildings. Economy long-term parking is available at P15 and P17, a little further from the terminals (free tasnsit buses sre provided). The airport parking office is located between Terminals 2 and 3 and is open 24 hours.
*Public Transport
Rail; There are direct high-speed trains to Copenhagen Central station(journey time: 14 minutes; fare; Kr36), as well as a number of other destination in Denmark and Sweden. The station and ticket office are situated in Terminal 3.
Metro: The Metro M2 line connects to the city center (journey time: 14 minutes;fare: Kr24). The station is situated in Terminal 3, from which tickets can be purchased.
Bus: Several buses(5A, 35 and 36)run from Copenhagen Airport to the city center(journey time: about 55 minutes; fare:Kr 30)and beyond.
Taxi: Taxis are readily available from ranks outside the arrival areas of Terminal 1, 2 and 3. The ride into Copenhagen takes about 15 to 20 minutes, and prices start from Kr250. | high19540.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It's a terrible thing to get sick in a strange country."
},
"options": [
"You must receive some vaccinations after going abroad.",
"Alcohol intake will keep you focused on your safety.",
"You should employ a travel doctor who... | Getting sick overseas can be scary. You're in an unfamiliar place and often don't speak the language. Although each trip is different, there are universal things you can do to keep safe.
Be prepared. "Schedule a visit with a doctor who specializes in travel or the area you're visiting at least four weeks before your departure," says WHO public health expert Dr. Gilles Poumerol. A travel doctor will be able to give you the required and recommended vaccinations as well as discuss any medical issues you may come across abroad.
Get insurance. "In many countries where you have limited access to health care, good health care is only found in the private sector and can be very expensive," Dr. Poumerol says. Plus, in an emergency, returning to the United States can cost more than $50,000. Ask your health insurance company whether your policy applies overseas and whether it will cover trips to a foreign hospital. If not, there are many companies that offer short-term travel health insurance for a reasonable fee. A list can be found on the US State Department's travel website. Ks5u
Pack well. Dr. Poumerol also suggests bringing a note from your doctor in English and the language of the country you're visiting. Packing an emergency contact list is important. Contacts should include the local embassy , s who should be informed if you get sick and your health insurance company.
Be care. You have to be in charge of your health. If you're being treated abroad, question the medical staff about their sterilization practices; injection equipment should be put in boiling water for at least 30 minutes or used only once. Also be sure that doctors and nurses are wearing gloves to prevent fluid transfer. Limiting your alcohol intake will keep you focused on your safety. If your common sense is perfect, the rest of your body should follow. | high16673.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "respect from others"
},
"options": [
"a long marriage",
"better health",
"profession success",
"respect from others"
],
"question": "According to the passage, happy people enjoy the following benefits EXCEPT _... | Ask most people anywhere in the world what they want out of life and the reply will probably be: "to be happy." Ed Deiner, an American psychology professor, has spent his whole professional life studying what makes people happy, comparing levels of happiness between cultures and trying to find out exactly why we enjoy ourselves.
Many people would say that this question does not need an answer. But Professor Deiner has one anyway. "If you're a cheerful, happy person, your marriage is more likely to last, and you're more likely to make money and be successful at your job. On average, happy people have stronger immune systems, and there is some evidence that they live longer."
So who are the world's happiest people? It depends on how the word is defined. There is individual happiness, the sense of joy we get when we do something we like. But there is also the feeling of satisfaction we get when we know that others respect us and approve of how we behave. According to Professor Deiner, the Western world pursues individual happiness while Asia prefers mutual satisfaction.
"In the West, the individualistic culture means that your mood matters much more than it does in the East. People ask themselves if they are doing what is fun or interesting. They become unhappy when they can't do any of these things. If you ask people from Japan or China if they are happy, they tend to look at what has gone wrong in their lives. If not much has gone wrong, then they are satisfied."
People from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries had the happiest culture, Professor Deiner found. "The biggest cultural difference is to do with pride and shame. Hispanic cultures report much more pride and much less shame than others."
Income also made a big difference to people's happiness, but only at the lowest levels. Average income earners in the US were much happier than people in poverty. But millionaires were only a little bit happier than people on average incomes. It seems that money makes us happy when we have enough to feel secure. | high10216.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Early onset binge drinkers are poor at decision-making."
},
"options": [
"Four categories of heavy drinkers.",
"Heavy drinking affects college students.",
"Early onset binge drinkers are poor at decision-making.",
"Peop... | A four-year study of 200 college students found that those who drink heavily and started drinking at an early age demonstrate poor decision-making skills, just like long-term, chronic alcoholics. Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia believe early onset binge drinking negatively affects psychological development.
The researches examined college students between the ages of 18 and 22. After three years, they tested them using the Iowa Gambling Test, which measures the tendency to make immediate (disadvantageous) or long-term (advantageous) choices.
Based on the students' reported drinking habits, they were grouped into four categories: low binge drinkers, moderate binge drinkers, increasing binge drinkers and stable or high binge drinkers.
"Students in the stable or high alcohol use category, who had longer histories of binge drinking, made riskier and less advantageous choices, which reflect problems associated with planning for the future," the researchers reported.
The study also found that only students who started binge drinking when they were younger showed impairment on the task.
"There is reason to think that heavy binge drinking during adolescence, when the brain is still rapidly developing, may have some negative legacy on psychological development," said Kenneth J. Sher of MU's Midwest Alcoholism Research Center in a news release. "The interesting thing is that if we were to just look at binge drinkers and how impaired they are in the decision-making process as juniors, we'd really be obscuring the important issue, which is how long they've been binge drinkers and / or how early they started." | high2751.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Stand Up While You Read This."
},
"options": [
"Become an Athlete to Be Healthy.",
"Choose a Better Chair for You.",
"How to Speed Up Your Metabolism.",
"Stand Up While You Read This."
],
"question": "What would... | Your chair is your enemy. That is the conclusion of several recent studies. Among people who sit in front of the television for more than three hours each day, those who exercise are as fat as those who don't.
So what's wrong with sitting? The answer seems to have two parts. The first is that sitting is one of the most passive things you can do. Compared to sitting, standing in one place is hard work. To stand, you have to tense your leg muscles, and engage the muscles of your back and shoulders; while standing, you often shift from leg to leg. All of this burns energy.
You may think you have no choice about how much you sit. But this isn't true. Suppose you sleep for eight hours each day, and exercise for one. That still leaves 15 hours of activities. Even if you exercise, most of the energy you burn will be burnt during these 15 hours, so weight gain is often the cumulative effect of a series of small decisions: Do you take the stairs or the elevator? Do you walk to the corner store, or drive?
But it looks as though there's a more sinister aspect to sitting. Some evidence suggests that when you spend long periods sitting, your body actually does things that are bad for you.
Lipoprotein lipase is a molecule that plays a central role in how the body processes fats. Low levels of lipoprotein lipase are associated with a variety of health problems. Studies in rats show that leg muscles only produce this molecule when they are actively being moved. The result is that when you sit, an important part of your metabolism slows down. You may also have a higher risk of suffering from diabetes .
Some people have advanced radical solutions to the sitting syndrome : replace your sit-down desk with a stand-up desk, or watch television in a rocking chair. But whatever you choose, know this. The data is clear; look out for your chair. | high11108.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Trends Updates."
},
"options": [
"Tech Styling.",
"Super Cool Pets.",
"Trends Updates.",
"Decide What to Buy."
],
"question": "Where can you find the full post of the \"Cryo S\"?",
"question_type": "factiod_... | Win $ 50 in the Coolest Gadget of the Week
Look at what's the coolest gadget (vote for a chance to win $ 50).
Cryo S: A Cool Netbook Cooler
Like the other devices of NZXT, the Cryo S was designed to provide a competitive advantage at PC gaming. It has two adjustable 120mm fans that provide powerful cooling.
The full post can be found on Trends Updates.
Starry Night Bed
Are you having trouble getting that good nights sleep that you're needing? Well, not any more. Why not take a look at the Starry Night Bed? The Starry Night Bed is a great new invention which will revolutionize the way in which you sleep. Not only is this bed fashionable and comfortable but it's also a gadget heaven. With this bed you get many added gadgets including anti-snore technology, movie projector with speakers, temperature control and many more.
The full post can be found on Tech Styling.
Fugoo--talking gadgets
Fugoo gets all your appliances(,) talking to each other so your alarm clock could first wake you up and then tell the coffee machine to start working while checking traffic conditions online to tell you how long it will take you to get to work.
The full post can be found on Decide What to Buy.
Vote What is this week's coolest gadget?
0 A Cool Netbook Cooler
0 Starry Night Bed
0 Fugoo--talking gadgets | high19554.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Rupert Hoogewerf speaks fluent Chinese."
},
"options": [
"Rupert Hoogewerf is from Holland.",
"Many Chinese merchants like Rupert Hoogewerf very much.",
"Ordinary people take delight in talking with the Englishman.",
"R... | Rupert Hoogewerf, whose name sounds Dutch, is actually an Englishman. The 34-year-old man is very famous in prefix = st1 /China--though many Chinese merchant princes have complicated feeling towards him. Every day people, meanwhile, take delight in talking about his work. All of the fuss is over the annual report that Hoogewerf puts out ranking Chinese millionaires.
On the wall of Hoogewerf's office in Shanghai, there is a massive Chinese map, and on almost every province is glued a small strip of paper. On each strip is written how many millionaires are registered on Hoogewerf's list. Hoogewerf, wearing jeans and sandals, speaks fluent Chinese to introduce the initial motivation for compiling the list.
When Hoogewerf went into university to study Chinese in 1997, he says, he was affiliated with the renowned accounting firm Arthur Andersen, and was assigned to work in Shanghai. Working in Shanghai, he could see first-handChina's fast economic development.
"But my fellows and I don't understand the process of how this could happen," he says, "let alone to explain this phenomenon in the concept of economics."
Then he had an idea to compile a ranked list to introduce Chinese tycoons abroad, knowing that foreigners preferred reading people's stories to data.
With the help of two colleagues in 1999, Hoogewerf complied the first ranking of Chinese millionaires. The most difficult task was to select candidates, and Hoogewerf and his colleagues spent two months reading Chinese and English magazines and newspapers. From a list of more than 1,000 people, they chose 300 people to survey and contact further. Finally, a list with the hundred richest businessmen in Chinaappeared. The listing astounded the populace; the Chinese have a tradition where people are afraid to exhibit their wealth. The achievement of a hundred millionaires became the main topic in everyone's conversation. Hoogewerf instantly became famous acrossChina.
Hoogewerf also brings forward some advice to Chinese companies. In his opinion, compared to foreign companies, Chinese companies are still in the beginning phase. Their finance management and public relations need most work. So the service in accountant, auditing, public relations, consultation and so on is still required.
"If I don't compile ranks one day," Hoogewerf says,"I hope to do my Chinese career in _ ." | high16667.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Sympathetic."
},
"options": [
"Shocked.",
"Sympathetic.",
"Annoyed.",
"Upset."
],
"question": "How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer... | Goldie's Secret
She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. "We're moving house."; "No space for her any more with the baby coming." "We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present." People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.
I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a more creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.
That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.
By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking the four puppies I started to feel sympathy towards them. "We didn't know what had happened to her," said the woman at the door. "I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared." "She must have tried to come back to them and got lost," added a boy from behind her.
I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I've learnt a good lesson: not to judge people. | high914.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "consider the prediction made by the researchers seriously"
},
"options": [
"don't believe the prediction that no one will own cars by 2020",
"are dedicated to the technological invention in car industry",
"consider the predic... | In many parts of the world, cars play an important role in daily life and many societies would not exist without them. So the idea that in 20 years' time, no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously, not only by government but also by car manufacturers.
The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized. That will mean much saving, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car in the future will drive itself. And it will not be owned by one individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.
According to Dr. David Davis, who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture, which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air, and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.
Davis says, cars will be fitted with some intelligent devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. The car will automatically speed up, or slow down, to match the speed of the car in front. computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.
By 2016, Dr. David Davis believes, car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road, whatever the weather conditions, by projecting an image of the road ahead on to the car's windscreen. And by 2020, cars will travel in line, linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected by an electronic tow bar to the car in front to form "road-trains". "The front vehicle in such a train burns the normal amount."says Davis. "but all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount, and so produce about ten percent of the pollution." | high7629.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the sea"
},
"options": [
"the sea",
"the salt",
"chemicals",
"animals"
],
"question": "According to the passage, human beings may have originated in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | Tears are nature's way of making us feel more comfortable. When our eyes is made uncomfortable by some small pieces of pollution, or when we are cutting onions, or when we are exhausted and "red-eyes" from over work and late hours, tears form in our eyes to clean and refresh them.
Tears are also a sign of strong emotion . We cry when we are sad and we cry when we are happy.
And tears seem to be uniquely human. We know that animals also experience emotion fear, pleasure, loneliness, but they do not shed tears.
Biologically speaking, tears are actually drops of saline fluid, which is a little bit salty, produced by a gland in the body. Because salt is an important component, tears may actually constitute the most conclusive evidence that the human animal is the end product of a long evolutionary process that began in the sea.
And it is clear that, in addition to the emotional benefits, the shedding of tears has a specific biological function as well. Through tears, we can eliminate from our body certain chemicals which build up in response to stress and create a chemical imbalance in the body. Crying actually makes us feel better by correcting that imbalance and making us feel good again. And thus the emotional and the biological functions of tears merge into one and make us even more "human" than we would otherwise be. | high23804.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It's a good place for visitors to approach the nature."
},
"options": [
"It is located in the center of Florence.",
"It's a good place for visitors to approach the nature.",
"Visitors may see 150 sea lions there at any time."... | Located in Florence, Oregon is "Sea Lion Caves", the only known western, coastal, mainland habitat of Stellar Sea Lions. It is also the world's largest sea cave in existence today and a perfect place to get up close and personal with nature. The sea caves are said to be the home of an estimated 200 sea lions and that at any given time visitors can expect to see at least 150 sea lions going about their daily business.
The most immense of all sea lions, the Stellar males are known to grow up to 12 feet in length and weight an incredulous 1,500 pounds. The females, on the other hand, tend to be a bit smaller and average 9 feet in length with an average weight of 700 pounds.
They tend to breed and give birth during the spring and summer months. The breeding and birthing process takes place on the steep cliff ledges that surround the sea cave. Therefore the best time to view this ritual is during those select months from the outside viewing platform.
In addition to the sea lions, visitors can expect to catch a glimpse of the rare Pigeon Guillemont. These unusual sea birds tend to nest in seaweed along the cliff ledges in early April. And ever the graceful Gray Whales are expected to be seen. Each year, travelling in pods, these sea creatures _ around " Cape Blance" on their way to and from their native Alaska waters.
As of 2010 " Sea Lion Caves" is open daily year round except for both Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The ticket box office is open from 9:00 am until 5:30 pm. Visitor have a choice of two different ticket options; platform view or cave view. And admission into the cave itself is $13.00 for adults and $ 8.00 for children ages 3 to 12. Children under the age of 2 are admitted for free and there is a discount ticket price available for senior citizens . It currently costs $3.50 per person to access the topside wildlife viewing platform. While on the platform visitor can pay an additional fee to use the on-site telescope or opt to bring their own such equipment. | high12401.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "on the Internet"
},
"options": [
"in a newspaper",
"in a magazine",
"on the Internet",
"on TV"
],
"question": "We can probably read this advertisement _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | How to Order
Ordering from BooksFirst is easy and safe.
Selecting Your Books
When you have found a book you would like to order, just click on Add to Basket and it will be added to your shopping basket. To make it easy to keep track of the books you've selected, My Shopping Basket will display your choices wherever you are on the site. When you're ready to place your order, select View Basket.
View Basket
This is where you select the postal destination for your order, indicate whether you would like Next Day Delivery in the UK and choose gift-wrapping. You can also amend the contents of your basket by making any changes and then selecting Update Basket.
Overseas customers ordering three or more books can also request reduced airmail charges here. When you're happy with the contents of your shopping basket, go to the Secure Checkout.
The Order Form
After you've completed the order form, you will receive an on-screen acknowledgment. This will be followed by an email confirming the details of your order.
We will then inform you when your order has been sent. If this is your first order, we will also inform you of your personal BooksFirst account number.
Your First Order
We'll send you a personal account number after you have placed your first order. For following orders all you need to do is enter your personal account number and email address.
Returning Customers
If you have ordered from us before, online, by mail or telephone, you will have already owned a personal account number. You then only need to complete the full order form. Using your account number allows us to find your details from our records (they are not accessible online).
However, you do not need your BooksFirst personal account number to place an order--simply present all the required details on the order form. If you don't have a note of your account number just Contact us so that we can supply it to you. | high1258.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "tells the readers about the inaccuracy of four \"historical\" films"
},
"options": [
"praises four \"historical\" films",
"shares with us four great movies",
"tells the readers about the inaccuracy of four \"historical\" film... | Have you seen a historical film recently? Do you think it was accurate? Some say that there is no such thing as a historical film. In many cases, Hollywood film-makers simply change the facts. Just look at these supposedly "historical" films.
1. The Patriot
The film was released in 2000 and was directed by Ronald Emmerish and starred Mel Gibson. It is set near Charleston, South Carolina, during the American Revolutionary War(1775--1783) and follows the story of Benjamin Martin and his fight for American freedom against the British. The film was criticized for inventing and exaggerating British cruelty. The most criticized scene was one showing the burning of a church containing people of the town, of which there is no historical record. Another historical inaccuracy was the description of American-owned slaves being freed to serve with the American forces. In reality, many slaves ran away from their American owners and fought with the British against the Americans.
2. Brave Heart
The film(1995) starred Mel Gibson was directed by Toby Reisz. It is based on the life of Scottish national hero William Wallace and his fight against English rule in Scotland during the 13th century. The film includes an affair between William Wallace and Princess Isabella (based on Isabella of France). The film implies she is a mother-to-be when William Wallace will be killed. However, historically, the real Isabella was a child of nine still living in France at this time, never having met Wallace. The film also caused controversy because of its anti-English nature. Apparently, when the film was shown in Glasgow, there was a loud noise made by happy American audience.
3. U-571
This 2000 film was directed by Jonathan Mostow and starred Mathew MacConaughey, Havey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi. It took place during the Second World War(1939--1945). In the film, a German submarine(warship underwater) is boarded in 1942 by American soldiers who made themselves up as Germans. They took away the German submarine's code-language machine, which, in the film, helps the Americans get many secret messages from Germany. However, the film was heavily criticized because it was actually the British who got the machine in May 1941 when they boarded U-110. The movie was also criticized for showing a scene where the U-boat sailors killed American sailors in the water after their ship sunk, which is, in 99% cases, impossible to happen.
4. The 300 Spartans
The latest controversy surrounds the film The 300 Spartans. The film (directed by Zack Synder) tells the story of the battle between the Greeks and Persians in 480 BC. It is regarded as a key event in the birth of western democracy by some historians. In the film, 300 Spartans under the king fight against the enemies, 120,000 Persians led by Emperor Xerxes. The tiny Spartan forces repeatedly gain advantage over the invaders. These actions delays the Persians' attack and gives the Greek armies enough time to prepare for the defense of Athens. But the Iranians (modern-day Persians) aren't happy with the film. They say the film describes them as savage, killing-loving, and war-loving. | high9604.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "laughter is a good way to get rid of pain and fear"
},
"options": [
"laughter is a good way to get rid of pain and fear",
"laughter is the best way to cure psychological wounds",
"it is your attitude that decides whether you ... | Studies show that laughter is something that makes you feel calm or relaxed for both physical and psychological wounds though it may seem futile to laugh in the face of pain and fear.
When Dan Rather interviewed comedian Bill Cosby just one week after his son, Ennis, was killed, Cosby said, "I think it is time for me to tell people that we have to laugh. You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, you can survive it."
Call it a flashlight for dark times: laughter just seems to adjust attitude better than anything else. Inspirational speaker Steve Rizzo recalls a TV interview with an injured firefighter a few days after 9.11.The man had fallen more than 30 stories in one of the towers and had broken a leg. Everyone was crying, and the reporter asked, "How is it that you've come out of this alive?" He looked at her and without missing a beat, said, "Look, lady, I'm from New York and I'm a firefighter; that' all you need to know."
"Everyone laughed and though the laughter was only a couple of seconds," says Rizzo. "Sometimes that's all you need to catch your second breath. Laughter gives you that couple of seconds. You're sending a message to your brain, and the message is: If you can still laugh even a little among the pain, you are going to be OK."
Of course, there is a difference between laughing off a serious situation and laughing off the fear that results. The firefighter was doing the latter, states Rizzo, the author of Becoming a Humorous Being, and so should we. "If there is anything we have learnt from 9.11, it's how precious life really is," she says. "We have to send a message that our spirit won't die. One important thing that unites us is our ability to laugh." | high6537.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The baby is growing healthily."
},
"options": [
"The baby is growing healthily.",
"The parents are rich enough.",
"The mother has enough milk.",
"The family is in good situation."
],
"question": "Why is everyone... | Your weight has been important since the moment you were born. Maybe you even know what your birth weight was. Most newborns weigh between 6 and 9 pounds, but some may weigh more and some less. But very quickly, a baby gains weight and everyone is glad about that because it means the child is growing bigger and stronger.
As you get older, your weight is still important. It's something your parents and doctor will probably keep an eye on. When you go for a checkup, the doctor often will record your height and weight and compare it with what it was the last time you came in. The doctor wants to check whether you have a healthy weight because weighing too much or too little can be a problem.
But these days, being overweight is more common than being underweight. In the last 30 years, a growing number of kids and teenagers have developed weight problems. Today, 1 out of 3 kids and teens between the ages of 2 and 19 are overweight. Many grown-ups understand what it's like to have weight problems, since 2 out of every 3 adults are overweight..wfsqzkss.
For kids and adults, weighing too much can lead to illnesses and health problems. And a kid who is overweight might be made jokes on or find it hard to keep up with friends on the playground. When people talk about being overweight, they mean that someone has more body fat than is healthy. Everyone has some body fat, but extra fat can influence someone's health and ability to walk, run, and get around, as well as how the person looks and his or her self-respect. | high14716.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "hurting yourself and your teenagers"
},
"options": [
"hurting yourself and your teenagers",
"being harmful to yourself only",
"being not good for teenagers",
"having no negative influence"
],
"question": "What's... | Having a bit of a temper tantrum , whether at home or in the classroom, is as harmful as you can get and only serves to discourage your teenagers.
What they really need at this stage in their lives are words that build them up according to their needs that it may benefit them-that is, words of encouragement, affirmation and a good deal of praise. The benefits to them and us as parents and teachers are quite amazing-harmony, peace and love.
When I left my last school where I had been a casual for eight years, I received "thank you" notes from the students. I think these notes illustrate what teenagers want and need from their parents and teachers.
Some of the notes mention kindness, patience, thoughtfulness, encouragement and fun. Teenagers value these qualities and what I found was that the more I relaxed and enjoyed their company, the less I had to discipline them.
Below I've included a few excerpts from the notes to let the kids speak for themselves. These are teenagers speaking from the heart and show what, according to teenagers, they need and value.
Each note began, "Thank you for..."
* making each student in the school happy
* putting up with us every time you get us (i.e. having patience)
* Always giving every student a chance and treating everyone like an adult giving lots
of merits and making every lesson fun and enjoyable
* Being very kind & for giving me lots of (merit) stickers
* You make working be fun
* Being a patient and thoughtful teacher
Patience is needed as well as kindness, thoughtfulness, a sense of humor and fun and the ability to listen more than talk.
When we praise and value our teenagers, the results are nothing short of miraculous. | high9162.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "back injuries"
},
"options": [
"polio",
"her bent spine",
"back injuries",
"the operations she had"
],
"question": "The terrible pain Kahlo suffered was caused by _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | When Frida Kahlo's paintings were on show in London,a poet described her paintings as "a ribbon around a bomb".Such comments seem to suggest Kahlo had a big influence on the art world of her time.Sadly,she is actually _ today than she was during her time.
Born in 1907 in a village near Mexico City,Kahlo suffered from polio at the age of seven.Her spine became bent as she grew older.Then,in 1925,her back was broken in several places in a schoolbus accident.Throughout the rest of her life,the artist had many operations,but nothing was able to cure the terrible pain in her back.However,the accident had an unexpected side effect.While lying in her bed recovering,Kahlo taught herself to paint.
In 1929,she got married to Diego Rivera,another famous Mexican artist.Rivera's strong influence on Kahlo's style can be seen in her early works,but her later works from the 1940s,known today as her best works,show less influence from her husband.
Unfortunately,her works did not attract much attention in the 1930s and 1940s,even in her home country.Her first onewoman show in Mexico was not held until 1953.For more than a decade after her death in 1954,Kahlo's works remained largely unnoticed by the world,but in the 1970s her works began to gain international fame at last. (2012*,C) | high6251.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it is difficult to get employed"
},
"options": [
"they are lowly paid",
"they are not well trained",
"it is difficult to get employed",
"they don't know what they are interested in"
],
"question": "Few school le... | Too often young people get themselves employed quite by accident, not knowing what lies in the way of opportunity for promotion, happiness and security. As a result, they are employed in doing jobs that afford them little or no satisfaction.
Our school leavers face so much competition that they seldom care what they do as long as they can earn a living. Some stay long at a job and learn to like it; others leave one for another looking for something to suit them. The young graduates who leave the university look for jobs that offer a salary up to their expectation.
Very few go out into the world knowing exactly what they want and realizing their own abilities. The reason behind all this confusion is that there never has been a proper vocational guidance in our educational institution. Nearly allfeel their way in the dark. Their chief concern when they lookfor a job is to ask what salary is like. They never bother tothink whether they are suited for the job or, even more important, whether the job suits them. Having a job is more thanmerely providing yourself and your dependants with daily bread and some money for leisure and entertainment.It sets a pattern of life and, in many ways, determines social status in life, selection of friends, leisure and interest.
In choosing a profession you should first consider the type of work which will suit your interest. Nothing is more sad than taking on a job in which you have no interest, for it will not only ruin your talents but also discourage your desire to succeed in life. | high13079.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "36 million hours"
},
"options": [
"1 million hours.",
"94 million hours",
"100 million hours.",
"36 million hours"
],
"question": "How much time in total had Chinese game players spent on \"Halo 2\" by early 200... | The neglected baby is crying alone. The young man, suffering from a lack of sleep, threatens suicide. The marriage fails because of the husband's crazy behavior.
Is this just another story of social breakdown in the modern age? Not really. But they are the effects of a real social problem--Internet Addiction , or, Internet Addiction Disorder.
The addiction is obvious from the popularity of one game alone: "Halo 2". It's a first-person shooter developed by Bungie Studios for the Xbox video game console. By early 2005, 1 million players worldwide had clocked up an amazing 100 million hours on the game, among which are 360, 000 Chinese players.
China has about 94 million regular Internet users. Of these, a survey suggested, 4.4 million are teenagers who are so addicted to it that they neglect anything else.
Video gamers who have gone too far show symptoms similar to those of alcohol and drug abusers. "The real world meant nothing to me when I was fully involved in online games. I lost track of time, space, hunger, pain, and everything," explained Liu Pinyi, a 19-year-old college dropout. She has had treatment in Beijing for her addiction.
What makes it similar to drugs is that online game addicts also develop a chemical imbalance in their brains. Gaming stimulates the production of a chemical compound that produces delighted or pleasant feelings. When they're away from the screen, they suffer feelings of anxiety and headaches.
Experts say young people are attracted to video games partly because they are partly because they are pushed right into the center of the action. This allows them to overcome a lack of confidence which people at that age can often suffer from. | high12367.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "some families can't afford a bigger property"
},
"options": [
"children like to do homework in the kitchen",
"some families can't afford a bigger property",
"only a few families have housing problem",
"people are satisf... | When you see homework covering the kitchen table and toys are piling up around the sofa, you probably wish there was a bit more space. You are not alone. Nearly a third of parents say they feel squeezed into their homes but cannot afford to move to a bigger property, a report reveals today.
Twenty-nine perc
ent say "their property is too small to fit the size of their family--rising to 40 percent for those 34 and under". One in four children is 'forced to share' a bedroom, according to the Finda-Property. Com website. Property analyst Samantha Baden said: "Afford-ability remains a key issue for families, with the average cost of a three-bedroom home around PS193,000."Very few can afford to buy or to rent a property of the size they want and in the area they desire to live in, according to Miss Baden.
A recent report, from investment firm LV, also found that many 'space-starved parents'are pushed into a two-bedroom home which was perfect when they were a young couple, but has no space for three or so children. Grown-up children who cannot afford to leave homo are also adding to the problem facing families in Britain's 'big squeeze'.
For a home to be the correct size, which means it is not overcrowded, parents must have their own bedroom. Children under ten can share, as well as same-sex children between ten and 20.Anyone over 21 also needs their own room. | high15408.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "does things as planned"
},
"options": [
"tries to pleases its investors",
"does things as planned",
"ignores the fierce market competition",
"rushes to put new products to market"
],
"question": "According to Ra... | There is no doubt that Apple is well aware of the increased competition in the market and could be in a hurry to put another device out there, said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst at IDC Mobile Devices Technology and Trends. Given its history with product launches and business policy, though, Apple probably isn't going to rush an iPhone release simply to put it on shelves, he said.
"If you're Tim Cook (CEO of Apple), you're thinking if you want to pay more attention to how to keep growing that bottom line and keep investors happy, or continue with the same approach from Apple, which is do what we can do and manage products and releases in the best way they can work for us. Apple usually does things in their own time ,and I'm having a hard time buying this May or June timeline." Llamas told Mac News World.
While it,s probable that Apple is definitely in a testing stage for its next smartphone , consumers likely have a standard wait for the finished product, said Colin Gibbs, analyst at GigaOm Pro.
"It typically takes a year or longer to create a state-of-the-art smartphone, so no one should be surprised Apple is in the testing stages with the next iPhone. And while it's possible that Apple could launch the next iPhone this spring or summer, I'm not expecting to see it until a little later in the year," he told Mac News World.
When it does launch, though, it could be in a variety of colors, said Gibbs. "Apple has already tested the waters with releasing colored devices when it revamped(,)its iPod line last fall, so it's not too much of a stretch to believe it would want the new twist with its smartphone, as well".
"I wouldn't be surprised if the new iPhone becomes available in some new colors,'' he said. "That could be done pretty cheaply ,and it would give Apple a new marketing angle." | high4446.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He devoted himself to his personal interests."
},
"options": [
"He devoted himself to his personal interests.",
"He worked part time for non--profit business.",
"H e was in charge of an educational center.",
"H e shared... | Henry Edwards Huntington
Henry Edwards Huntington was born in 1850 in Oneonta,New York.In 1872 he went to work for his uncle,one of the owners of the Central Pacific Railroad.Twenty years later, Huntington moved to San Francisco at his uncle's request to share management of the Southern Pacific Railroad.On the way to San Francisco,he visited San Marino,and later bought it,which is home to his collections today.
In 1902,Huntington moved his business operations to Los Angeles,where he developed the street railway system that created the structure of the Los Angeles area.He greatly expanded the existing electric railway lines,creating an extensive inter-urban system providing the transportation necessary.Huntington's business interests continued to grow particularly in the areas of water,power,and land development;at one time he served on as many as 60 corporate boards throughout the United States.
At the age of 60,he announced his decision to retire in order to devote time to his book and art collections and the landscaping of the 600acre farm.In 1911 the large Beaux Arts building,in the charge of the architect Myron Hunt,was completed.
In 1913,Huntington married Arabella Duval Huntington.She shared his interests in collecting.As one of the most important art collectors of her generation,she was highly influential in the development of the art collection now shown in the former building.
In 1919,Henry and Arabella Huntington signed the agreement that conveyed their San Marino property and collections to a nonprofit educational trust,creating the Huntington,one of the world's great cultural,research,and educational centers.
Henry E.Huntington died in 1927,leaving his great treasures the Huntington,including the world--famous H untington Library,Art Gallery,and Botanical Gardens in San Marino,California to the public,which hosts more than 500,000 visitors each year. | high5980.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Their working performance during the previous year."
},
"options": [
"Their characters and interests.",
"Their class performance during the previous year.",
"Their working performance during the previous year.",
"Their ... | The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.
Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher's instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job.
_ Each child received a normal job. But Rita's job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest.
Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger.
One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, "Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rain forest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant."
That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks. | high3329.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "one of her books"
},
"options": [
"one of her books",
"she was a very heartedly person",
"she was a kind wife",
"she worked for the war"
],
"question": "Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe became famous for _ .",
"... | The pen is more powerful than the sword. There have been many writers who use their pens to write things that were wrong. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them.
She was born in the U. S. A. in 1811. One of her books not only made her famous but has been described as one that excited the world, and was helpful in causing a civil war and freeing the enslaved race. The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861, in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally won.
This book that shook the world was called Uncle Tom's Cabin. There was a time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child had read this novel that did so much to stop slavery. Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting, if only to show how a warm-hearted writer can arouse people's sympathies. The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor seen a slave. The Southern Americans were very angry at the book, which they said did not at all represent the true state of affairs, but the Northern Americans were widely excited over it, and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free. | high5758.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Those who think the glass is always half empty are optimistic."
},
"options": [
"The author was once asked how to be healthy and wealthy by two people.",
"The author came to realize why people responded differently to happiness.",
... | During my many contacts with people in China, I have been asked by two different people what I would recommend to them so that they could be happy. One of these people was my student and friend who began her question by saying I always appeared happy to her. She then asked how I could be this way and if I could teach her how to be happy all the time. The other inquiry was basically the same and came from the secretary of a company for which I was doing some work.
The first one to ask was my student and in thinking about an answer I even explored in class the idea of optimism and pessimism, of people who feel the glass is always half full and those who think it is half empty. It was easy to show that different people react differently to the same situations and conditions but that didn't bring me much closer to understanding why.
About two months later I was riding to the airport in a taxi with the company secretary who asked me the same question and it made me think. Why did both these ladies feel they needed help to become happy? Indeed, why did either of them think they were not happy? Why did they choose to ask this question of me? Why are some people generally happy while others are not?
Certainly if someone is healthy, it might be expected that they are happy, and this is probably true. However, some people have money and health but have a miserable _ that makes it difficult for them to have friends and meaningful relationships. Similarly, one would expect those who have little to complain about their fate and many do, but others are able to enjoy what they have and enjoy life. It seems the difference must lie within the people. What we may be looking at is acceptance of a personal set of circumstances and the contentment which flows from that. _ should not mean, however, that those people cannot wish for something better.
If the difference between people who are happy and those who are not lies within the people themselves, can happiness be learned? I think there are things we can do, such as dreaming of the future, which can give us the sort of positive outlook which will generally make us happy people. | high20458.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "For many years people depend on luck to catch fish."
},
"options": [
"For many years people depend on luck to catch fish.",
"Fish can never be trained like a dog.",
"Radar can always help catch more fish.",
"Well-equipp... | For a long time, people who fish have had to rely on luck to catch fish. Even big fishing ships, fitted out with radar and modern equipment, have their share of bad days. Wouldn't it be nice if fish could be trained to come at the call of a whistle the way some days are trained?
Well, the days of "fish whistle" may be just _ . Japanese companies are working on methods that will train fish to return to harvest areas at the sound of an underwater whistle.
The method works like this: First, fish eggs are hatched in a laboratory. Whenever feeding time arrives, a whistle sounds. The young fish learn to return to their feeding areas at the sound of the whistle.
Later, the fish are set free at sea, near special-made under water "barns". There, the whistle-plus-feeding program continues. Being well fed and sheltered, the fish continue to live around the barn. So when fishing time arrives, all the harvesters need to do is to sound the whistle, drop their nets, and draw in a lot of fish.
Many countries have closed their offshore fishing waters to ships from other countries. With fish whistle and barns, Japan hopes to become less dependent on importing fish from other countries. | high21746.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "grow up in her present situation"
},
"options": [
"make her mother change",
"grow up in her present situation",
"get along well with her mother",
"start a new family with her sister"
],
"question": "The kids ask... | Dear Michelle,
My mother is not a good example for me and my sister. She smokes, stays out late, and she curses. I love her but I am ashamed of her. I do not want to bring home my friends because she does not act like any of the other mothers. She says I am a loser because I sit at home and I study. I wish I could live in another family that is normal, but that will not be for another 5 years when I am 18 and legal. What am I supposed to do until then?
Prisoner of a Crazy House
Dear 7th Grade,
I am glad that you love your mother because the rest of your feelings about her may change as you mature and get older.
While it is true that your mother's smoking, partying and cursing bring you shame, the fact that you want to stay separate from her doing is notable and very smart. It shows that you are a winner, not a loser.
I am guessing, therefore, that you do not bring shame to yourself, and that is a good thing. So, keep it that way and keep away from your mother's habits.
In the meantime, get the best grades as possible and join clubs and after-school activities. Offer social service on weekends and visit with your friends at their homes.
Unfortunately, you are not alone. Many teens live in homes with immature, misguided, selfish parents. Those kids often feel lonely and separate from the rest of their friends because of their parents' terrible deeds.
Yet, despite this, some of these very teens grow up to be just fine. They develop good friendships with nice kids, do well in school, and often find a teacher of guidance advisor who makes all the difference!
Do it, Miss Winning 13-year-old, and keep looking forward to your own fine future. Maybe by then your mother may even see the light and realize how surprising you really are.
Best luck!
Michelle | high11685.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They wanted to play a trick on teachers."
},
"options": [
"They wanted to let chickens free.",
"They wanted to let chickens run all round the school.",
"They wanted to see feathers flying.",
"They wanted to play a trick... | It's hard to avoid looking like a fool on April Fool's Day. On April 1 each year, people play tricks on each other. These tricks are usually silly rather than mean. Classmates sometimes tie each other's shoelaces to their chairs.Teachers might hand out an impossibly difficult surprise test that scares students before they realize it's only a joke. Newspapers announce fake contests (such as "Win an elephant!") and report on fake stories (like "UFO" lands in New York City).
Forget gifts, songs and special foods--those are for the other holidays of the year. On April Fool's Day, the only tradition is to laugh (and maybe to cause a little bit of trouble).
One April Fool's Day, when I was in high school, a group of students in my class played a very clever and funny trick on the teachers. They bought some chickens and set them free in our school cafeteria. The chickens ran all round the school, in and out of classrooms and under our feet. Feathers were flying everywhere.
Teachers began running after the chickens, trying to catch them. Finally, they caught four of them. But the chickens were wearing numbered tags around their necks, and the teachers discovered that they had only caught chickens No.1, 2, 3, and 5.Where was chicken No.4? The teachers looked and looked. They couldn't find another chicken. After a few hours, they realized that the students had played another joke on them: There were only four chickens in the first place! They've been tricked by the numbers on the chickens.
It's been a long time since I was in high school, but that April Fool's Day remains one of my favorite memories from those years. | high14925.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "you'd better not have your watch repaired if nothing has gone wrong with it"
},
"options": [
"you'd better not have your watch repaired if nothing has gone wrong with it",
"you'd better never have your watch repaired",
"you'd... | If you have a watch, don't go to a watchmaker's unless something is wrong with the machinery. Once I had a beautiful watch. And it had kept perfect time. But one night it happened that I forgot to _ it _ . Next morning I went to a watchmaker as I wanted my perfect watch to be set by the exact time. He examined it and said, "The regulator must be pushed up as your watch is four minutes slow.
I tried to stop him from doing so, but he didn't listen and pushed the regulator.
My beautiful watch began to gain. It gained faster and faster day by day. By the end of the second month it had left all the clocks and watches of the town far behind.
I could do nothing but take it to another watchmaker to be regulated. I expected him to regulate the watch at once, but he asked me to come in a week's time. When at last I got my watch back from him, it began to slow down. And I failed to be in time for trains, business affairs, and even missed my dinners.
Now I went to a third watchmaker. When I was waiting for him to repair my poor watch, he took it to pieces and said that he would try to finish this work in three or four days. What I could do was to nod my head. After that, my watch went for half a day, and then stopped. So I kept taking my watch from one watchmaker to another. But each watchmaker disappointed me.
My watch had cost me two hundred dollars, but I paid for repairs more than two hundred. At last I decided to buy another watch, which I did. | high8297.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the westerners have become more interested in Chinese literature"
},
"options": [
"more Chinese writers can express themselves in English freely",
"Chinese visitors are enjoying more chances to go abroad",
"the westerners hav... | Chinese writer Mo Yan's Noble Prize for Literature on Thunday might set off an explosion of global interest in Chinese literature and lead to more titles being translated into English. Chinese literature has alyeady attracted international attention, but experts say translation remains a barrier.
"Many very good Chinese writers have been accepted globally for a long time already."says Michel Hockx, professor of University of London. " It's mainly because there are many more opportunities for Chinese writers to visit other countries, to publish their work outside China and to interact with readerships abroad. At the same time, more and more people globally are learning Chinese and taking an interest in Chinese language and Chinese culture."
Hockx adds: "We need more good translators, especially foreign translators, who know good Chinese and can translate the work into their own languages in a way that foreign readers will appreciate and understand."
London's independent literary agent Toby Eady, who represents many Chinese writers, including Yu Dan, met Mo about 15 years ago in China. But Eady says:"I still think Mo Yan's writing--and, to an extent, all Chinese writing--are not truly understood by Western readers because a part of Chinese literature is lost in translation. The translator has done a good job in translating Mo's work, but the variety of Chinese vocabulary doesn't well translate into English."
University of Oxford lecturer in medern 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, China knows incomparably more about Europe and America than the other way around--and reading Chinese literature is an effective means of narrowing that gap." | high23151.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it would allow them access to a better life in the West"
},
"options": [
"it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country",
"Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent",
"they wanted their ... | Violin prodigies , I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world's greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. "It is very clear," he told me. "They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage." As a result, every Jewish parent's dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.
Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. "In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours," says Isaac Stern, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.
That's a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music. | high9189.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "had a mental age not matching his real age"
},
"options": [
"suffered from fragile X syndrome",
"had a mental age not matching his real age",
"couldn't write his name",
"only had a kindergarten education"
],
"qu... | I spotted (;) him at the checkout counter, bagging at No.14. His arms shook violently as he placed a box of eggs into a plastic bag. He wore a name card upon which he had wiritten "Jerry" in kindergarten handwriting. He looked middle-aged but his mental age must have been about 12.
Ever since I smiled at him the first time he bagged my groceries at my local supermarket, Jerry has followed me around like an adoring fan. His lack of boundaries makes me uncomfortable. I don't know how to avoid being noticed by him. I don't want to speak to the manager -- my complaint could get him fired. So I started avoiding him.
I can still remember the hurt I felt when I was 10 and our neighbor Mrs. Ward didn't respond when I said hello with David and Diane. Instead, she hurried out of the supermarket, leaving me holding my brother and sister's hands. I realized at that moment that I hated Mrs. Ward's reaction. Why, then, years later, was I acting as she had?
I picked up a magazine Real Simple. The beautiful photos did nothing to straighten out the guilt in me. I was being ridiculous. The last three times I have seen Jerry, I rushed. There are other stores, but I chose this one because it employs people with disabilities. I want people like my brothers to have jobs. I don't want them to be ignored, the way I am avoiding Jerry. | high13092.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "loves Chinese culture and history"
},
"options": [
"is interested in Chinese sports",
"founded Half the Sky, an organization which aims to help Chinese orphans",
"has adopted 13,000 children during 10 years",
"loves Chi... | Jenny Bowen, an American living in Beijing, has been selected as the only American to carry the 2008prefix = st1 /BeijingOlympic torch on Chinese soil. She and seven other non-Chinese winners were chosen from a pool of 262 applicants from 47 countries in a contest organized by Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group and the official English-language newspaper, China Daily. When Bowen runs with the Olympic torch, she will not only be representing the United States, but also be representing thousands of Chinese orphans .
Bowen, a mother of two adopted Chinese daughters, is the executive director of Half the Sky Foundation, an organization which was founded in 1998 and aims to enrich the lives and improve the prospects for orphaned children inChina. In nearly 10 years, Bowen and Half the Sky have touched the lives of over 13,000 children. Half the Sky is now present in 36 welfare institutions in 28 Chinese cities. About 4,000 children are active in the program, which provides trained staff, educational tools, medical support and nurturing love for orphans.
Bowen hopes that running with the Olympic torch would help draw attention to the children inChina. She will be among 19,400 runners who carry the flame along an 85,000-mile, 130-day route across five continents.Beijingorganizers say it will be the longest torch relay in Olympic history.
Like Bowen, the seven other non-Chinese winners, including a German engineer and a Venezuelan graphic designer, live inChina. Other countries represented will be thePhilippines,Colombia,India,JapanandRussia
According to Olympic organizers, candidates were selected based on an online vote, committee selection, their " love of Chinese culture and history " and devotion to " communicating information of a real China to their native countries". Each runner will carry the torch for 200 meters on Chinese soil. | high24158.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "provide more information about Mesothelioma"
},
"options": [
"tell the readers how important it is to know more about Mesothelioma.",
"provide more information about Mesothelioma",
"give advice on how tto avoid developing Mes... | Many people have never heard of Mesothelioma and are unaware of its symptoms. Although considered a rare form of cancer, each year the number of cases grows. With the prevalence of this disease on the rise, it is critical to understand why and how Mesothelioma develops and what courses of action can be taken in the event of diagnosis. The following is a list of frequently asked questions and answers that will provide you with some information on Mesothelioma, and the legal issues surrounding it.
What is Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is the term used to describe a cancerous tumor found in the mesothelial cells of an organ. The organs where this form of cancer is most commonly found are the lungs, heart and abdominal organs. Pleural Mesothelioma is cancer of the lung lining(,)and is the most common form of Mesothelioma.
What causes Mesothelioma?
Mesothelioma is almost always caused by exposure to asbestos . Asbestos is often found in building materials used before the mid 1970's. In addition, materials such as pipes, boiler insulation, floor, ceiling and roof tiles may contain asbestos.
How much asbestos exposure will cause Mesothelioma?
Generally, the probability of developing this form of cancer is in accordance with the length of time you are exposed to asbestos. Also, your health is at risk if your exposure to asbestos is intense. It should be noted that Mesothelioma has a latency period of 20 to 50 years. This means that you may develop the disease long after your exposure to asbestos. On average, people tend to develop Mesothelioma somewhere between 35 and 40 years after exposure.
How quickly does Mesothelioma progress?
The onset of Mesothelioma is quite slow. Patients will begin to experience symptoms such as lower back pain and chest pain. These symptoms may also be accompanied by weight loss, fever and difficulty breathing. Unfortunately, once Mesothelioma develops, it quickly becomes aggressive and treatment must be sought immediately.
Can Mesothelioma be treated?
Doctors are able to use several traditional methods of cancer treatment for Mesothelioma, including surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. Like all forms of cancer, detecting the disease at the earliest stage possible greatly increases the patient's chances for survival. If you have worked in an industry such as construction or suspect that you may have been exposed to asbestos, be alert for symptoms and contact your doctor immediately.
What legal courses of action can be taken?
Anyone suffering from Mesothelioma is entitled to compensation from asbestos manufacturers. Additionally, if you are the spouse or child of someone who has died from Mesothelioma, you are entitled to file a claim and seek compensation. | high727.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because she likes to form a close connection with people."
},
"options": [
"Because she likes playing musical instruments.",
"Because she wants to provide free music for her friends.",
"Because she doesn't like talking on her... | Every Sunday morning, as most people line up outside neighborhood breakfast spots, watch TV news shows, or head for church, Chloris Noelke-Olson is tuning up her fiddle . She is preparing to enjoy bluegrass music the old-fashioned way: with friends, at home, for free.
" To be able to play with other people face to face and have that sort of connection, it is spiritual," Ms Noelke-Olson said of the weekly house concerts in Chicago she participates in. " It's like a good conversation with instruments---something that doesn't seem to happen much any more because everyone is chatting on their cellphones."
She is among a growing group of Americans who are finding it pleasant to get away from the digital grid , at least temporarily. While there is no exact data to track how many people are forming knitting groups, hosting house concerts, or organizing family game nights, it is possible to connect the dots between the rising price of entertainment and the rising sales of board games and craft supplies.
In the past two years, the prices for restaurant meals, concert tickets, and movie tickets all increased. At the same time, board games sales rose 6 percent, while total toy sales decreased 3 percent.
These trends are expected to continue because of the struggling economy. Instead of equipping their homes with expensive home entertainment systems, consumers are more likely to pick up the old-fashioned way: eye-to-eye. Families are rediscovering ways to come together that have nothing to do with high technology.
"People are turning inward to build an enjoyment time for family and home," said Linda Bettencourt, an interior designer in San Francisco whose customers typically live in million-dollar homes. Over the past six months, Ms Bettencourt has been hired to redesign living space to promote the kind of connectivity that doesn't involve wires. " The big game table is back," she says. "People want to sit around and see each other's face rather than facing a flat-screen TV." | high23637.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in a moving car"
},
"options": [
"in a library",
"in a moving car",
"where Miss Saeki used to spend time with her boyfriend",
"where Kafka lives"
],
"question": "The conversation takes place_.",
"question_ty... | With both hands resting on top of the steering wheel, Oshima looks over at me: "That's where you will be living now, Kafka. In the room where Miss Saeki used to spend time with her boyfriend. As I said, there is some change to the library, but it's the very same room. "
Silence on my part.
"Miss Saeki's life stopped at age 20,when her lover died. No, maybe not age 20, maybe much earlier... I don't know the details, but you need to know of this. The hands of the clock inside her soul stopped then. Time outside, of course, flows on as always, but she isn't affected by it. For her, what we consider normal time is meaningless."
"Meaningless?"
Oshima nods. "Like it doesn't exist. "
"What you're saying is Miss Saeki still lives in that frozen time?"
"Exactly. When you get to know her better you'll understand."
Oshima reaches out and lays a hand on my knee on a totally natural gesture. "Kafka,in everybody's life there's a point of no return. And in a very few cases, a point where you can't go forward any more. And when you reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That's how we survive."
We're about to get onto the main highway. "There's one other thing I'd like you to know of," he goes on. "Miss Saeki has a wounded heart. To some degree that's true of all of us. But Miss Saeki has a special wound that goes beyond the usual meaning of the term. Her soul moves in mysterious ways. I'm not saying she's dangerous-don't get me wrong. On a day-to-day level she's certainly got her act together, probably more than anyone else I know. She's attractive, deep, smart. But just don't let it worry you if you notice something strange about her sometimes."
"Strange?" I can't help asking.
Oshima shakes his head. "I really like Miss Saeki, and respect her. I'm sure you'll come to feel the same way."
This doesn't really answer my question, but Oshima doesn't say anything. | high22529.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "unusual and interesting"
},
"options": [
"warm and furry",
"unusual and interesting",
"lovely and friendly",
"frightening and dangerous"
],
"question": "People might like the animals in a reptile petting zoo bec... | at the Oak Park Nature Center
Kids! Are you tired of Mom or Dad dragging you to the same old petting zoos, where (if you're lucky) you might get to touch a little rabbit or goat?
Mom or Dad! Are you tired of hearing your kids complain about how animals in the same old petting zoos are monotonous?
Consider This:
The fact is that most mammals are boringly warm, furry, and come in a limited range of dull color1s. Reptiles, on the other hand, are cold-blooded and covered with scale of attractive color1s, from bright green to bright red to dark purple-red. Some, like the chameleon, can even CHANGE color1s. Did you ever see a rabbit with scales and a purple tongue almost as long as its body? NO! In our zoos, you can see pet skink, snakes, bearded dragons, and other fascinating creatures! Learn what these reptiles eat and how they care for their babies, which ones live in the desert and which live in wetlands, which ones are meat-eaters and which are vegetarians, which ones are deadly poisonous and which are not.
So Remember:
If you're bored with furry animals like rabbits...
Then the place for YOU is the Reptile Petting Zoo!
Bring the WHOLE family -- Grandpa, Grandma, Cousin Irene, even baby Joe! There's something for EVERYONE! | high18879.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The computer refused to work."
},
"options": [
"She had saved what she had written.",
"She couldn't move the cursor.",
"The computer refused to work.",
"The computer offered to repair itself."
],
"question": "Wh... | It was late in the afternoon, and I was putting the final touch on a piece of writing that I was feeling pretty good about. I wanted to save it, but my cursor had frozen. I tried to shut the computer down, and it seized up altogether. Unsure of what else to do, I yanked the battery out.
Unfortunately, Windows had been in the midst of a crucial undertaking. The next morning, when I turned my computer back on, it informed me that a file had been corrupted and Windows would not load. Then, it offered to repair itself by using the Windows Setup CD.
I opened the special drawer where I keep CDs. But no Windows CD in there. I was forced to call the computer company's Global Support Centre. My call was answered by a woman in some unnamed, far-off land. I find it annoying to make small talk with someone when I don't know what continent they're standing on. Suppose I were to comment on the beautiful weather we've been having when there was a monsoon at the other end of the phone? So I got right to the point.
"My computer is telling me a file is corrupted and it wants to fix itself, but I don't have the Windows Setup CD."
"So you're having a problem with your Windows Setup CD." She has apparently been dozing and, having come to just as the sentence ended, was attempting to cover for her inattention.
It quickly became clear that the woman was not a computer technician. Her job was to serve as a gatekeeper. Her only duty, as far as I could tell, was to raise global stress levels.
To make me disappear, the woman gave me the phone number for Windows' creator, Microsoft. This is like giving someone the phone number for, I don't know, North America. Besides, the CD worked; I just didn't have it. No matter how many times I repeated my story, we came back to the same place. She was calm and polite.
When my voice hit a certain decibel , I was passed along, like a hot, irritable potato, to a technician.
"You don't have the Windows Setup CD, ma'am, because you don't need it," he explained cheerfully.
"Windows came preinstalled on your computer!"
"But I do need it."
"Yes, but you don't have it." We went on like this for a while. Finally, he offered to walk me through the use of a different CD, one that would erase my entire system. "Of course, you'd lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos." It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. "You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive." He sounded delighted. "And it's not covered by the warranty !" The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.
I hung up the phone and drove my computer to a small, friendly repair place I'd heard about. A smart, helpful man dug out a Windows CD and told me it wouldn't be a problem. An hour later, he called to let me know it was ready. I thanked him, and we chatted about the weather, which was the same outside my window as it was outside his. | high2962.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Making comparison."
},
"options": [
"Making comparison.",
"Giving examples",
"Setting scenes",
"Following time order."
],
"question": "How does the writer develop the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
... | An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire.
The employer was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He did a bad job and used low quality materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.
When the carpenter finished his work, the employer came to inspect the house. The employer handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."
What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built, none too well.
So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized it, we would have done it differently.
Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or build a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived wonderfully and with dignity. The motto on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and choices you make today. | high21020.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because of her successful career and her charity work."
},
"options": [
"Because of her maturity and courage.",
"Because of her experience of travelling abroad.",
"Because of her appearance on screen at the age of 7.",
... | While other stars her age are partying at clubs, Selena Gomez takes the time out of her day to help those less fortunate.
She has been such an impressive role model for younger generations that the 20-year-old Disney star was named Woman of the Year by US magazine Glamour this month, in recognition of her successful career and her charity work.
An actress since the age of 7, Gomez has grown up on screen. She rose from the Disney Channel popular series Wizards of Waverly Place to hit movies like Monte Carlo (2011) to this year's comedy Hotel Transylvania. She is also no stranger to the music industry thanks to her band, Selena Gomez & The Scene.
"Honestly, the feeling, if I can be selfish for a little bit, just makes me feel so good to be able to make kids smile... and educate them about what's happening in the world," she told the Associated Press.
When she was 17, Gomez became the youngest goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). She has worked hard ever since. Over the past few years, she has traveled to poor countries such as Congo, Ghana and Chile to promote environmentally friendly behavior and help raise awareness about violence.
Mature for her age, Gomez has a good handle on the problems facing the world's youth and is an outspoken advocate for change.
Last month, she stepped up to show support for a 15-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai. Yousafzai was shot because of her fight for the right for females to have an education in her country.
Sad about the story, Gomez wanted to make a difference. Changing her Facebook page icon to Yousafzai's face, she shared more stories about the girl and encouraged her fans to spread Yousafzai's message of females' right to an education.
Her UNICEF work continues to highlight that 67 million school-age kids around the world are not in school, and that girls are less likely to enroll in school than boys. Gomez encourages her fans to donate to UNICEF's school programs in Pakistan.
Praising Gomez's charity work, her friend Taylor Swift tells Glamour, "She's giving back to people who need help." | high17592.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "like a mailbox"
},
"options": [
"by a ship supply company",
"on the basis of toy horses",
"like a mailbox",
"with glass"
],
"question": "The library was built _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},... | It's such a happy-looking library, painted yellow, decorated with palm-tree stickers and sheltered from the Florida sun by its own roof. About the size of a microwave oven, it's pedestrian-friendly, too, waiting for book lovers next to a sidewalk in Palm Beach country Estates, along the northern boundary of Palm Beach Gardens.
It's a library built with love.
A year ago, shortly after Janey Henriksen saw a Brian Williams report about the Little Free Library organization, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit that aims to promote literacy and build a sense of community in a neighborhood by making books freely available, she announced to her family of four, "That's what we're going to do for our spring break!"
Son Austin, now a 10th-grader, didn't see the point of building a library that resembles a mailbox. But Janey insisted, and husband Peter unwillingly got to work. The 51-year-old owner of a ship supply company modified a small wooden house that he'd built years earlier for daughter Abbie's toy horses, and made a door of glass.
After adding the library's final touches , the family hung a signboard on the front, instructing users to "take a book, return a book," and making the Henriksen library, now one of several hundred like it nationwide and among more than 2,500 in the world, the only Little Free Library in Palm Beach County. ks5u
They stocked it with 20 or so books they'd already read, a mix of science fiction, reference titles, novels and kids' favorites. "I told them, keep in mind that you might not see it again," said Janey, a stay-at-home mom.
Since then, the collection keeps replenishing itself, thanks to ongoing donations from borrowers. The library now gets an average of five visits a day.
The project's best payoff, says Peter, are the thank-you notes left behind. "We had no idea in the beginning that it would be so popular." (317 words) | high16698.txt |
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