questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "protect the earth from dangerous sun rays"
},
"options": [
"warm the earth to a proper level for life",
"protect the earth from dangerous sun rays",
"make all life on the earth in a dangerous situation",
"prevent human ... | The ozone layer is a thin layer of gas around the earth. It forms a special "blanket" around the planet. This "blanket" protects the earth from dangerous rays produced by the sun. Without the ozone layer, the earth's climate could warm to dangerous levels. This increase in temperature would threaten our survival. Scientists recently have discovered a hole in the ozone layer above the Antarctica. Now there is great concern that this warning has started, endangering all life on the earth.
What has destroyed part of the ozone layer? Scientists do not know for sure. They suspect that our popular spray cans have played a part in the damage. Many spray cans contain dangerous gases. These gases might have destroyed the ozone layer fifteen miles above the earth's surface, The chemicals used in refrigerators and air conditioners may contribute to the problem, too.
Many scientists believe that the destruction of the ozone layer is a serious problem for people everywhere. Global warming could change weather patterns around the world. Farmers and ranchers could find it more and more difficult to produce enough food for the earth's people. If more of the sun's dangerous rays reached the earth, there also could be an increase in skin cancers. Some skin cancers might cause people to die. Although some scientists do not believe there is a serious danger, obviously no one wants to take any chance on such a possibility.
Can scientists repair the hole in the ozone layer? They really don't know the answer to that question. Can people do anything to save the ozone layer that the earth still has? Scientists stress the need to limit the use of spray cans and other items that contain the dangerous gases. This will not be an easy task. People all over the world use these items. Solving the problem certainly will require commitment and cooperation from everyone. | high4718.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is increasingly popular."
},
"options": [
"It is flexible in length.",
"It is a time for relaxation.",
"It is increasingly popular.",
"It is required by universities."
],
"question": "What do we learn about t... | More students than ever before are taking a gap-year before going to university. It used to be called the "year off" between school and university. The gap-year phenomenon originated with the months left over to Oxbridge applicants between entrance exams in November and the start of the next academic year.
This year, 25,310 students who have accepted places in higher education institutions have put off their entry until next year, according to statistics on university entrance provided by University and College Admissions Service (UCAS).
That is a record 14.7% increase in the number of students taking a gap year. Tony Higgins from UCAS said that the statistics are good news for everyone in higher education. "Students who take a well-planned year out are more likely to be satisfied with, and complete, their chosen course. Students who take a gap year are often more mature and responsible," he said.
But not everyone is happy. Owain James, the president of the National Union of Students(NUS), argued that the increase is evidence of student hardship -young people are being forced into earning money before finishing their
education. "New students are now aware that they are likely to leave university with up to PS15,000 in debt. It is not surprising that more and more students are taking a gap year to earn money to support their study for the degree. NUS statistics show that over 40% of students are forced to work during term time and the figure increases to 90% during vacation periods," he said. | high11530.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "There is no so-called monster in Loch Ness."
},
"options": [
"It is impossible for a monster to live in cold water.",
"The Loch Ness Monster often stays under the water.",
"The Loch Ness Monster is an air-breathing animal.",
... | Loch Ness, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles, is twenty four miles long and, at one point, one mile wide. It has an average depth of four hundred and fifty feet and at times drops close to a thousand. It is cold and murky , with dangerous currents. In short, it is the perfect place to hide a monster from even the sharpest eyes of science.
The Loch Ness Monster, also called Nessie, is supposedly living in this area. The earliest recorded sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was in the biography of Life of St. Columba by Adamnan in the year AD 565. The monster apparently attacked a man who was swimming in the River Ness.
The monster didn't make headlines again until August 27, 1930, when 3 fishermen reported seeing a creature with 20 feet long approaching their boat, throwing water in the air. In 1933, after a new road was built along the edge of the Loch, the number of reports rose suddenly. Early in 1934, Author Grant, a young student, was out on his motorcycle one evening when he almost ran into the monster as it crossed the road. Grant's description of the thing - small head, long thin neck and tail with a big body, seemed to match the appearance of the plesiosaur , an aquatic type of dinosaur that has been extinct for 65 million years.
The Loch Ness Investigation Bureau was formed in 1962 to act as a research organization for information about the creature. Even now, efforts have continued to find the monster. A great deal of information was discovered about the Loch, but there isn't any yet to produce any specific evidence of a monster.
Skeptics argue that the water in the Loch is too cold for a plesiosaur to live in. They also argue that an air-breathing animal, like a whale or seal, would spend much more time on the surface than the creature seems to, and would be spotted more often.
Some scientists have wondered if the sightings might be caused by an underwater wave which is known to sometimes occur in deep, long, and cold lakes, like Loch Ness. Such a wave might push debris to the surface that might look like a strange animal.
However, none of these is identified. | high3077.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Cautious."
},
"options": [
"Optimistic.",
"Grateful.",
"Cautious.",
"Enthusiastic."
],
"question": "What's the author's attitude towards people raising the koala?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer... | Koala bears as pets might be appealing to many of us. However, there are quite a few points to consider even before thinking of adopting one.
Koala bears are one of the most lovely Australian animals. In certain cases where the koala has been raised by hand, they have turned out to be quite affectionate pets. These people tied a piece of fur to a pillow and placed it beside a joey (a baby kola) as a substitute for the mother koala. This trick seemed to work well with the baby koala. However, it is a known fact that human handling causes stress to koalas. In my personal opinion, this aspect clouds the fact that koala bears can be tamed .
In Australia the koala is a priority animal as far as conservation status assessment is concerned. It was hunted to near extinction for its fur. In fact the koala had been wiped out from South Australia in the 1920s. However, rehabilitation efforts have brought the animal back in the state. As for the Australia government, the koala is not a threatened animal, but the US government does list the koala as one.
Although they may live in 40 to 60 kinds of eucalyptus trees, they prefer only 10 to 14 specific kinds. Koalas sleep for most part of the day, which is about 16 to 18 hours, and for most of their waking hours all they do is eat. Koala bears eat the leaves of eucalyptus trees. A full-grown koala can eat almost 2 to 3 pounds of leaves in a day. Despite their slow movements and sweet look, koala bears can be _ when hungry. Other than this, there are the stress caused to koalas due to human handling and the fights that start in koalas.
Almost everyone finds koalas lovely in the zoo. However, as far as having koala bears as pets is concerned, there are legal issues to consider. Other than that, being able to provide for its diet and habitat is another point that needs some attention before any law legalizing their adoption as pets is passed. | high5406.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "its claws look like those of South American sloths"
},
"options": [
"it has something to do with the sloth",
"its claws look like those of South American sloths",
"it has long curved white claws",
"it looks like bears"
... | Scientific mistakes can live on forever. When 18th-century European museums were first sent specimens of a large furry animal with long curved white claws, they named it"bear-like sloth "because its claws resemble those of South American sloths. Later scientists realized that the species was a tropical bear unrelated to sloths, but its wrongheaded name remains the sloth bear.
Rangingprefix = st1 /India,Nepal,Bhutan,Sri Lanka, and possiblyBangladesh, these 150 to 300-pound bears feed on fruits and insects. They sound like bellows when using their flexible noses and lips to blow away dirt and suck up ants. But don't be misled: This gentle-looking bear can be dangerous, occasionally killing villagers who enter the forest. Yognand often talks with villagers to help avoid conflicts."Attacks can be prevented if people avoid certain places."
One goal of his research has been to track a dozen radio-collared bears in the dry forests ofIndia'sPannaNational Park. He's discovered that some bears have home ranges of up to 40 square miles. His conclusion:"We need to protect large patches of their _ and maintain links between those patches. Unfortunately sloth bears have to compete with species such as tigers. The bears get far less attention than they deserve." | high17141.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they don't go to school as other teenagers"
},
"options": [
"they preferred to teach themselves",
"they do extremely well on achievement tests",
"they don't go to school as other teenagers",
"they feel they have gotten ... | Rowena and Billy Wrangler are model high school students. They study hard and do extremely well on achievement tests. And next year,Rowena will be attending Harvard University.Billy,her younger brother,hopes to go to Cornell.What makes Rowena and Billy different from most students is that they don't go to school.In fact,they've never been to school.Since kindergarten,they've studied at home.Like many of more than one million people who receive home schooling in the United States, they feel as if they've gotten a good education.
The home-schooling trend began in the U.S.in the 1980s with parents keeping their children out of public schools so they could provide religious education at home. Today,as the home-schooling trend continues to grow,parents are more likely to consider home schooling as an option because they believe schools don't do a very good job of teaching and are occasionally dangerous places.But can parents really do a better job?
The answer in many cases is yes.In many studies,students taught at home ranked average or above average when compared to students who went to public schools.More importantly,these students were often more self-directed and have a greater depth of knowledge.They were well prepared for academic challenges.
One such student,Robert Conrad, now a sophomore at university, claims he really learned how to study and schedule his time during his eight years of home schooling.Still, not every student is as successful as Robert.
"For every home-schooling success story,there are an equal number of failures."states Henry Lipscomb,an educational researcher."There are just so many disadvantages that students taught at home have to overcome." For example,they have fewer chances to get in touch with others of their own age.Consequently,they sometimes lack the usual social skills."No matter what,though,"states Lipscomb,"home-schooling is a growing trend.I think we'll be seeing more and more of this." | high1660.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "people's attitude toward changes and challenges"
},
"options": [
"a bestseller in the US",
"what people think about China's entry into the WTO",
"people's attitude toward changes and challenges",
"how a book influences ... | Several days ago, a Beijing - based IT company fired about 400 people overnight. No one had expected the job cuts, which broke with traditional ways of letting go of workers in China. Moreover, what was special about this case was that the day before the 400 were fired, they all received from their boss a gift - the book "Who Moved My Cheese?".
The book - a bestseller in the US - is being used by men and women to deal with changes in their lives and work. Some large organizations, including Coca- Cola, Kodak and General Motors, ask their employees to read it in order to encourage them to be active towards changes.
Cheese is something related to everyone's livelihood - our jobs, the industries we work in, relationships and love as well.
With China's official entry into WTO, the whole nation will face up to more changes and challenges. So what should we do once this "cheese" on which we are so dependent is moved?
"Whatever challenges and changes we meet, we should face up to them bravely" Jiang Hengwei, a civil servant said after reading the book.
Professor Yang in Renmin University of China agrees. "We should change our way of thinking. The coming competitive foreign companies and products provide us with great chances to learn from them and improve our own products to meet international standards and be more competitive."
"With hard work and wisdom, we will create a much larger and better piece of cheese. "Zhang smiled confidently. | high13327.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "An old kind of toys."
},
"options": [
"An old kind of toys.",
"Factories where good, safe and interesting toys are made.",
"People who are famous for making toys for children.",
"A company that has been making and selli... | You have heard of Webster Toys. Websters have made good safe and interesting toys for more than a hundred years. Now we sell them, and children play with them, in countries from New Zealand to Norway , and from Japan to Brazil . We are looking for someone to sell our toys in the Far East. He(She) will be between the ages of thirty and forty. He will already have some years of selling in world markets behind him. He will speak good English and at least one other language of the Far East.
The person we are looking for will live in Singapore, and work in our office there but he will travel for up to six months in other countries in one year. He will know the Far East well. He should know how to sell in established markets and where to find new ones. He will know to make more money than ever, for himself and for Webster Toys.
Websters want someone who can stand on his own feet. If you think you are the person we are looking for, write to Mr.J.Sloman at our office. Webster Toys Company Church Mill Watford. | high12039.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The more you give, the more successful you will be."
},
"options": [
"Success means giving more as well as asking for more.",
"Success is based on how much money you make.",
"The more you receive from others, the more success... | Success is everybody's dream. But what is the key to success? How can you be successful? I think we should measure success based on how much we give rather than how much we receive. Fortunately, it also works nicely the other way around since those who give more almost always will also receive more. So how do you pave your way to success? How do you become more successful? The answer is amazingly simple: the key to success is making yourself as useful as possible to others. Here are some ideas on how to do it.
1. Be observant of needs
To be useful to others, you should always be aware of even the slightest clues of needs. The more sensitive you are to the needs of others, the more appreciative people will eventually become. The best plan is being able to
a need before the other people are even aware of it.
2. Find solutions to the needs
Now that you are aware of needs, the next step is finding solutions to them. The solutions you offer should be as useful as possible. To be able to do so, there is no other way but to continuously build your own value. It is from the value you have that you could give value to others.
3. Be proactive to help
Do not wait for the other person to ask for your help. Be proactive. Give your help even before they ask.
4. _
What matters is not only the solution you offer, but also the way you deliver it. Being sincere means being glad to help others without expecting anything in return. Make it your joy to give something to others. People can somehow distinguish whether or not you are sincere.
5. Go the extra mile
Doing the above four steps is good, but add this one if you can: give more than expected. First, give what is expected, and then add a little more. If you do the above four steps people will be appreciative, but if you add this one step they will be impressed. | high15756.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the mastodon elephant"
},
"options": [
"the Asian elephant",
"the forest elephant",
"the savanna elephant",
"the mastodon elephant"
],
"question": "One of the fossils studied by the researchers is that of _ .... | A recent study of ancient and modern elephants has come up with the unexpected conclusion that the African elephant is divided into two distinct species.
The discovery was made by researchers at York and Harvard Universities when they were examining the genetic relationship between the ancient woolly mammoth and mastodon to modern elephants -- the Asian elephant, African forest elephant, and African savanna elephant.
Once they obtained DNA sequences from two fossils , mammoths,and mastodons the team compared them with DNA from modern elephants. They found to their amazement that modern forest and savanna elephants are as distinct from each other as Asian elephants and mammoths.
The scientists used detailed genetic analysis to prove that the African savanna elephant and the African forest elephant have been distinct species for several million years. The divergence of the two species took place around the time of the divergence of Asian elephants and woolly mammoths. This result amazed all the scientists. There has long been debate in the scientific community that the two might be separate species, but this is the most convincing scientific evidence so far that they are indeed different species.
Previously, many naturalists believed that African savanna elephants and African forest elephants were two populations of the same species, despite the elephants' significant size differences. The savanna elephant has an average shoulder height of 3.5 metres while the forest elephant has an average shoulder height of 2.5 metres. The savanna elephant weighs between six and seven tons, roughly double the weight of the forest elephant. But the fact that they look so different does not necessarily mean they are different species. However the proof lay in the analysis of the DNA.
Alfred Roca, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois, said, "We now have to treat the forest and savanna elephants as two different units for conservation purposes. Since 1950,all African elephants have been conserved as one species. Now that we know the forest and savanna elephants are two very distinctive animals, the forest elephant should become a bigger priority for conservation purposes." | high7211.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "over 1500 years"
},
"options": [
"over 2000 years",
"over 1500 years",
"over 500 years",
"over 1000 years"
],
"question": "The English language has a history of _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Every day, 340 million people speak it. One billion people are learning it and it is said that by 2050, half of the world's population will be using it. What are we talking about? That is the global language--English.
The English language started in Britain in the 5th century. It is a mixed language. It was built up when German. Scandinavian and French invaders settled in England and created a common language for communication.
Today it is the official language of the UK, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Ireland as well as many islands in the Caribbean. Many other countries and regions use it for politics and business, for example, India. Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines. English is also one of the official languages of Hong Kong.
But global advertising and pop music mean that in most countries, you will see or hear some English. Thanks to McDonalds, we all know about "burgers". "fries" and "milkshakes". Songs by Madonna, Britney Spears and Celine Dion are in English. We can sing along, even if we do not understand what we are singing!
English is a messy language. Every year, dictionaries include new words that talk about popular culture, for example, computer-related words such as "blogging", "download" and "chartroom". Also included are words that teenagers use. Who does not know "cool", "OK" and "hello"? Other languages also influence English. Many English words come from French. Words like "cafe" and expressions like "c'est la vie" (that is life) are all part of the English language. On the other hand, the French language includes English words like "le weekend" and "le camping". German words are also part of English. Words like "kindergarten" come from the German language.
Recently, British people have become interested in "yoga". But the word comes from an ancient Hindu language in India. | high9228.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "advertisements"
},
"options": [
"the government",
"their owners families",
"advertisements",
"the TV stations"
],
"question": "The existence of the privately owned mass media depends on the support of _ .",... | In the West, advertisements are the fuel that makes mass media work. Many TV stations, newspapers, magazines, radio stations are privately owned. The government does not give them money. So where does the money come from? From advertisements. Without advertisements, there would not be these private businesses.
Have you ever asked yourself what advertising is? Through the years, people have given different answers to the question. For some time it was felt that advertising was a means of "keeping your name before the public". And some people thought that advertising was "truth well told". Now more and more people consider it in this way: Advertising is the paid, non-personal, and usually persuasive presentation of goods, services and ideas by some certain sponsors through various media.
First, advertising is usually paid for. Various sponsors pay for the advertisements we see, read, and hear over the various media. Second, advertising is non-personal. It is not face-to-face communication. Although you may feel that a message in a certain advertisement is aimed directly at you, in fact, it is directed at large groups of people. Third, advertising is usually persuasive. Directly or indirectly it asks people to do something. All advertisements try to make people believe that the product, idea, or service advertised can benefit them. Fourth, the sponsors of the advertisement must show their names. From the advertisement, we can see if the sponsor is a company, or a single person. Fifth, advertising reaches us through old and modern mass media. Included in the old media are newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and films. Modern media include emails, matchbox covers, and boards on top of buildings. | high15742.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "witnessed a remarkable improvement in students' test scores and enrollment"
},
"options": [
"shaken the belief of both teachers and students",
"witnessed a remarkable improvement in students' test scores and enrollment",
"spe... | Carmen Arace Middle School is situated in the town of Bloomfield,but four years ago it faced many of the same challenges as inner--city schools nearby:low scores in standardized tests and dropping enrollment of students.Then the hard-driving headmaster, Delore Bolton,persuaded her school to shake up the place by buying a laptop computer for each student and teacher to use in school and at home.For good measure,the board provided wireless Internet access at school.Total cost :$5 million.
Now an hour before classes start,every seat in the library is taken by students eager to get online.The teacher talks about rocks as students view them at a colorful website,after school students on buses pull laptops from backpacks to get started on homework.Since the computers arrived,scores in state tests are up 35%and the enrollment increases by 20%.
Indeed,school systems in rural areas are eager to follow Carmen Arace Middle School's example.Angus King,the state governor, has proposed using$50 million from an unexpected budget to supply computers for students.
However, the school is seeking federal grant money to expand the laptop program.In the meantime,most of the problems have been worked out.Some students use computers to visit unauthorized websites,but teachers have the ability to track where students have been and restrict them."That is the worst when they disable you" says a boy.The habit is rubbing off on parents."I taught my mom to use e-mail."says the honorable girl."And now she is taking computer classes.I'm so proud of her!'' | high8136.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "at the beginning of the new school year"
},
"options": [
"after the school year ended",
"before the new school year started",
"in the middle of the school year",
"at the beginning of the new school year"
],
"que... | Dear Parents,
It is almost a week since school began. I hope that you and your child are settled and comfortable in the arrangement of the new school year. I would like to take this opportunity to give you news about the art project that the eighth grade students and I will be working on during this unit.
My name is Molly Atkinson and I am a new middle school teacher here at MSAE in Kauai. I feel that it is important for you to know that my approach to classroom management is inspired by Maharishi's Principle of Ideal Teaching. I believe that it is the most positive method for guiding our students' education. I also believe that by keeping the lessons interesting, the classroom will be a creative environment for the students to explore the artistic process. My experience with the class this week makes me believe that the students and I will have a fruitful and caring experience in our time together.
The students' first project is a three-part work that begins with the creation of a collage . A pencil drawing of the collage will follow. The third part of the project will be a geometrical three-dimensional drawing of the collage. The students have jumped right into the project with enthusiasm and focus. I can tell that we are going to have a very productive unit.
On October 30th, the students will have a showing of their work for you. I look forward to meeting all of you that day. If you would like to get hold of me before _ I will be here after school until 4:30 on Mondays and Wednesdays and can be available on other afternoons by appointment . I may also be reached at my e-mail address: matkinson@kdsi.net. I am very happy to be here and look forward to working with the eighth grade students.
Sincerely,
Molly Atkinson | high3063.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because it is not easily noticed."
},
"options": [
"Because it tastes and smells good.",
"Because it is not easily noticed.",
"Because it kills and injures people.",
"Because it always harm people.[."
],
"questi... | Carbon monoxide poisoning kills and injures many people and animals around the world. The gas has been a problem since people first began burning fuels to cook food or to create heat. It is a problem in all parts of the world that experience cold weather.
Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer because people do not know it is in the air. The gas has no color1. It has no taste. It has no smell. It does not cause burning eyes. And it does not cause people to cough. But it is very deadly. It robs the body of its ability to use oxygen.
Carbon monoxide decreases the ability of the blood to carry oxygen to body tissues. It does this by linking with the blood. When the gas links with the blood, the blood is no longer able to carry oxygen to the tissues that need it.
Damage to the body can begin very quickly from large amounts of carbon monoxide. How quickly this happens depends on the length of time a person is breathing the gas and the amount of the gas he or she breathes in.
Carbon monoxide poisoning has warning signs. But people have to be awake to recognize them. Small amounts of the gas will cause a person's head to hurt. He or she may begin to feel tired. The person may feel sick. The room may appear to be turning around. The person may have trouble thinking clearly. People develop severe head pain as the amount of gas continues to enter their blood. They will begin to feel very tired and sleepy. They may have terrible stomach pains.
Medical experts say carbon monoxide affects people differently. For example, a small child will experience health problems or die much quicker than an adult will. The general health of the person or his or her age can also be important. An older adult with health problems may suffer the effects of carbon monoxide more quickly than a younger person with no health problems. People with heart disease may suffer chest pains. They may begin to have trouble breathing. | high20921.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because her son's lack of sleep hurt her but she had to wake him up."
},
"options": [
"Because her son's lack of sleep hurt her but she had to wake him up.",
"Because her son wasn't good at lessons.",
"Because she thought her... | Tears came into this mother's eyes when she talked about waking up her son. Every morning, her ten-year-old boy puts up one finger with his eyes still closed, begging for one more minute to sleep.
Why is he so sleepy? Because, like thousands of student "early birds" in China, he has to get up before 6 a.m. every morning.
School students usually need eight to ten hours' sleep a night. But in Shanghai, it's reported that 90% of the students do not get enough sleep. And studies show that without a good night's sleep, students seem to be weaker than they should be. Many become near-sighted as a result.
Li Ming, a student at Qinghua High School, said that he usually goes to bed after 11 p.m. But when he has exams coming up, he can stay up as late as midnight. This "night bird" lifestyle has made many students nod off in class. Li Ming said that it is during afternoon classes that he feel most sleepy. "My parents are usually happy to see me studying so late," he said. "They think I work very hard and they make me cups of coffee."
However, not all parents are happy about this. "My daughter gets up so early. She looks tired and it really hurts me." said one of the parents. Why don't so many students get enough sleep? Now many members of society began to think about it. | high5412.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "How Nik kept his balance against the strong winds."
},
"options": [
"How Nik managed to cross the Niagara Falls with safety measure.",
"What Nik would do when he lost his balance on the tightrope.",
"How Nik kept his balance ... | On June 15th,2012,millions of people watched as 33yearold Nik Wallenda walked across one of the world's greatest waterfalls on a tightrope .What made the 25-minute walk that was televised live and watched by over 13 million people worldwide even more amazing,is that it was done over the Niagara Falls-An action that had never been attempted before.
Even though Nik was wearing a harness ,a safety measure provided by ABC,the television network that broadcast the event,his action to keep his balance against the strong winds made for some heart-stopping moments for the audience.
Nik,however,never slowed down for even one moment.Wearing special shoes made by his mother,he remained totally focused on the job at hand.It was only when he got to the last stretch near Canada's Table Rock that he knelt down on one knee and finally broke into a smile.Waving and blowing kisses to the cheering audience,he knew he had accomplished a great task,which most people had thought impossible.
While he described the whole experience as peaceful and relaxing,Nik said his biggest challenges came from a totally unexpected source-his 40 pound balancing pole.The balancing pole was so heavy that he could hardly carry it on the tightrope.
One would think that now that Nik has realized his lifelong dream he would be ready to hang up his "balancing pole".However,the adventurer who already has seven Guinness World Records under his belt,is just getting started-Next up? A 5,000-foot tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon.While the one across the Niagara Falls took years of planning because he had to convince the US and Canadian officials,this one should happen in the very near future.That's because,the Florida resident has already been granted a permit by the Canyon officials.5 | high18266.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "right for their social position"
},
"options": [
"the best they could afford",
"right for their social position",
"built for showing off",
"rather small"
],
"question": "The house the writer's family lived in wa... | My father had returned from his business visit to prefix = st1 /Londonwhen I came in, rather late for supper. I could tell at once that he and my mother had been discussing something. In that half-playful, half-serious way I knew so well, he said,"How would you like to go to Eton?"
"You bet. " I cried quickly catching the joke. Everyone knew it was the most expensive, the most famous of schools. You should be entered at birth, if not before. I understood my father. He disliked any form of showing off. He always knew his proper station in life, which was in the middle of the middle class; our house was medium-sized; he had avoided joining Royal Liverpool Golf Club and went to a smaller one instead; though once he had got a second-hand Rolls-Royce at a remarkably low price, he felt embarrassed driving it, and quickly changed it for an Austin 1100.
This could only be his delightful way of telling me that the whole boarding school idea was to be dropped. Alas! I should also have remembered that he had a liking for being different from everyone else, if it did not conflict with his fear of drawing attention to himself.
It seemed that he had happened to be talking to Graham Brown of the London office, a very nice fellow, and Graham had a friend who had just entered his boy at the school, and while he was in that part of the world , my father thought he might just as well phone them. I remember my eyes stinging and my hands shaking with the puzzlement of my feelings. There was excitement, at the heart of great sadness.
"Oh, he doesn't want to go away. " said my mother. "You shouldn't go on like this. " "It's up to him. " said my father. "He can make up his own mind." | high17155.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A study on native languages endangered."
},
"options": [
"A study on native languages endangered.",
"The knowledge of native languages.",
"People's efforts in saving native languages.",
"Harrison and his study on langua... | The world's native languages are dying out at an unprecedented rate, taking with them irreplaceable knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.
The study identified five global "hot spots" where languages are _ faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. "Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction," linguistics professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world's 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.
Native people had an intimate knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. "Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it's only in people's heads," he said. "We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base."
Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. "The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them," he said. "When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,'This is a dying language, we need to learn it'." Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct.
The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues. | high5374.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a prisoner"
},
"options": [
"an animal protector",
"the owner of the cat",
"a prison officer",
"a prisoner"
],
"question": "From the passage we can learn that the author was_.",
"question_type": "cloze_quest... | When a dirty and untidy grey cat showed up in the prison yard, I was one of the first to go out there and pet it. I hadn't touched a cat or a dog in over 20 years. I spent at least 20 minutes, knelt down behind the kitchen as the cat rolled around, relaxed. When he was expressing outwardly, I was feeling inwardly. It was an amazing bit of grace to feel him under my hand and note that I was reaching a life or another creature with something as simple as my care.
Over the next few days, there were other prisoners responding to the cat. Every yard period, a group of prisoners gathered there. They stood around talking and taking turns petting the cat. These were guys you wouldn't usually find talking to each other. Several times I saw an officer in the group, not chasing people away, but just watching and seeming to enjoy along with the prisoners. Bowls of milk and water appeared along with bread, wisely placed under the edge of the dustbin to keep the birds from getting it.
The cat was obviously homeless and in pretty bad shape. People said that the cat came to the right place. He's getting treated like a king. This was true, but as I watched I was also thinking about what the cat was doing for us. There was a lot of talk about what's wrong with prisons in America. We need more programs. We need more psychologists or treatment of various kinds. Some may even talk about making prisons more kind. But I think what we really need is a chance to practice our own kindness. Not receive it, but give it. After more than two decades here, I know kindness is not a value that's encouraged. It's often thought of as a weakness. Instead, the culture encourages keeping your head down, minding your own business, and never letting yourself be weak.
The cat did my heart good to see the effect he had on me and the men here. By simply saying, "I need some help here", he did something important for us. He needed us. And we needed to be needed. I believe we all do. | high17633.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the size of the class"
},
"options": [
"the size of the class",
"the period of the class",
"the attention from teachers",
"the achievements of students"
],
"question": "The professor argues about _ .",
"... | Providing small classes for at least several grades starting in early primary school gives students the best chance to succeed in late grades, according to groundbreaking new research from a Michigan State University scholar.
The research by Spyros Konstantopoulos, a professor of education, is the first to examine the effects of class size over a period and for all levels of students. The study appears in the American Journal of Education.
He is also a member of a group for the Department of Education's Instiute of Education Sciences that will give official advice on class size to the states. He said the advice will mirror his research: the best plan is to provide continuous small classes(13 to 17 students) for at least several years starting in kindergarten or first grade.
"For a logn time states thought they could just do it in kindergarten or first grade for one year and get the benefits," He said. "I don't believe that. I think you need at least a few years in a row where all students, and especially low-achievers, receive the treatment, and then you see the benefits later."
His research used data from the Project Star study in Tennessee that analyzed the effects of class size on more than 11,000 students in primary and middle school. He found that students who had been in small classes from kindergarten through third grade had actually higher test scores in grades four through eight than students who been in larger classes early on.
Students from all achievement levels benefited from small classes, the research found. "But low-achievers benefited the most, which narrowed the achievement gap with high -achievers in science, reading and math, " he said.
Although the study didn't consider classroom practices, he said the reason for the narrowing gap is likely due to low-achieving students receiving more attention from teachers.
" _ is especially important in poorer schools because teacher effectiveness matters more in schools with more disadvantaged and low-performing students, " he said. | high11242.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the prospectors' stories"
},
"options": [
"the prospectors' stories",
"mountains and rivers",
"horse races",
"American Indians"
],
"question": "In his pictures, Remington often painted _ .",
"question_typ... | If Catlin was the painter of the American Indians and Bierstadt the painter of the Rocky Mountains, the artist of the Western cowboys and settlers was Remington. Born in New York, the son of a wealthy publisher, Remington was a boxer and a football player at Yale University -- the last man would expect to become the artist of the Old West. But as a boy he loved horses and fed on the journals of some famous writers.
At the age of nineteen, he left college to look for adventures. He traveled from Montana to Texas as a prospector . Remington had always been interested in journalism. Now he began to write about and to paint and draw what he saw. The subject of the "Winning of the West" attracted the East. Magazines and newspapers were filled with account of prospectors' adventures, and of battles with cattle thieves and other outlaws -- all the tales that were then news and have become legends since. There were also stories by many other writers. Often these were presented by drawings and paintings from Remington's hand, but it was as a successful journalist that Remington was a great artist. | high21381.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Gerry McCambridge."
},
"options": [
"Raymond.",
"Mac King.",
"Brad Garrett.",
"Gerry McCambridge."
],
"question": "Who is most likely to be able to read audiences' minds?",
"question_type": "factiod_question... | Category: Comedy
Best known for his role on the Emmy award-winning sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, Brad Garrett returns to his Vegas roots with his comedy club at the MGM Grand. It is a good place to check out when you need a break from work.
Prices from: $56.40 and up
Age restriction: Must be 21 years of age or older
Show Length: 115 minutes
MAC KING COMEDY MAGIC SHOW
Category: Comedy, Magic
Mac King Comedy Magic Show is different every afternoon, with lots of audience participation. He is willing to make fun of himself instead of his guests in order to make everyone feel welcome and entertained. The afternoon is kid-friendly from start to finish. Still, whether you're eight or 80, you won't be able to figure out King's secrets.
Prices from: $40.90 and up
Age restriction: No age restriction
Show Length: 90 minutes
THE MENTALIST, GERRY MCCAMBRIDGE
Category: Comedy, Magic
Using his skills as a "mentalist", Gerry McCambridge shocks the crowds as he uses his abilities to predict just what audience members will do next. Anyone who has seen the show has walked away in disbelief, amazed by his unusual power.
Prices from: $34.99 and up
Age restriction: Under 13 will not be admitted into the theater
Show Length: 75 minutes
ROCK OF AGES
Category: Plays & Musicals
The cheerful Rock of Ages brings audiences back to the times of big hair and even bigger bands with 28 popular rock songs from the 80s including "Every Rose Has Its Thorn," "I Wanna Know What Love Is," "Here I Go Again," and more.
Rock of Ages has been nominated for five Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. It also received a Drama League nomination for Distinguished Production for a Musical.
Prices from: $74.00 and up
Age restriction: Must be 15 years of age or older
Show Length: 125 minutes | high15024.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "unusual"
},
"options": [
"normal",
"painful",
"unusual",
"successful"
],
"question": "Compared with the seventh-grade school year, Grace's sixth-grade year was _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | I'm Grace, 13 years old and in seventh grade in Florida. This school year has been normal. However, my family and I spent my sixth-grade year driving all over Europe, seeing amazing places, meeting all kinds of people, and getting closer as a family in the process.
When my family decided to move to Europe, we were excited . But we had a problem. We couldn't find a vehicle that had enough space to work for our five-member family, so my dad decided he'd just made one. No matter where we were , our new home took some getting used to . I had to leave a lot of my stuff behind because so little of it would fit into my tiny new room. We had to be careful to save our water. And we were doing home school, which worked out great.
No matter what, I made sure to look out my window every morning , because the view was different every day -- England, then France, Italy,Greece... each special in its own way. In country after country, we touched around and tried to pick up little bits of the local language, but that didn't help us much. Luckily we kept finding people who knew some English. Everywhere we went , we saw the most amazing things. I love reading about places in my textbooks and then getting out of our vehicle to look right at them . I can't pick a favourite spot, because whichever one we were at seemed to be the best at the time.
After our trip ended , we moved to Florida. But it makes me happy that my family had this great year-long experience together. I'm thankful for that. | high8650.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To give a brief introduction to Lin's road to an outstanding basketball player."
},
"options": [
"To make readers interested in great basketball players.",
"To give a brief introduction to Lin's road to an outstanding basketball pl... | February4, 2012 saw the take-off of a new rising NBA star- Jeremy Lin.
Among professional basketball players, Jeremy Lin's background is not typical. He graduated from Harvard University, which sends few players to the NBA, and he is the only Chinese-American NBA player. But when you watch him on the court, there is no doubt that he belongs there. He moves with speed and grace that demonstrate years of faithful practice, which is fueled by a love for basketball.
Lin's enjoyment to basketball actually began in Taiwan. When Lin's father moved to U.S., his interest in the sport only grew and he passed on this love of basketball to his son, introducing him to the game at the age of five. The young Lin spent much of his youth playing basketball for fun.
In high school, Lin dreamed of playing in the NBA. When he applied for college, he was not offered a single sports scholarship. However, after his admission to Harvard ,he was offered a place on its college basketball team.
During Lin's time at Harvard, his basketball career began to speed up. He scored 1,482 points, making him one of the highest scorers in Ivy League history.
When he graduated, no professional teams offered Lin a contract, but he was invited to play in the NBA Summer League. He played well and ended up eagerly signing a contract with the Golden State Warriors.
At first, playing in professional games filled Lin with excitement. He treasured opportunities to meet players he had been watching on TV for years. But slowly, the excitement wore off and was replaced by anxiety. In a few very difficult months, he was cut by two teams before the New York Knicks picked him up.
But he had the courage and determination to stick to his dream, so he put himself into hard training to get ready for his opportunity to come, Then his moment arrived on February4, 2012,on which his excellent performance made him famous overnight. After that, he led the Knicks to their fifth straight victory.
The Associated Press called Lin"the most surprising story in the NBA."Knicks fans developed the nickname for him"linsanity" .Time magazine released its 2012 list of the 100"Most Influential People in the World",Jermy Lin included. | high22688.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "an art collector"
},
"options": [
"a museum director",
"a master of art",
"an art collector",
"an art dealer"
],
"question": "The English Baron Fitzgerald was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},... | The very wealthy English Baron Fitzgerald had only one child, a son, who understandably was the apple of his eye. His wife died when the child was in his early teens. So Fitzgerald devoted himself to fathering the kid. Unfortunately the son died in his late teens.
Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's wealth greatly increased. He spent a lot on art works of the masters. Later Fitzgerald himself because seriously ill. Before his death, he had carefully prepared his will as to how his wealth would be settled--to sell his entire collection at an auction .
Because of the large quantity and high quality of his collection, a huge crowd of possible buyers gathered for the auction. Many of them were museum directors and private collectors eager to bid .Before the auction, the art works were shown, among which was a painting of Fitzgerald's son by an unknown artist. Because of its poor quality, it received little attention.
When it was time for the auction, the auctioneer gaveled the crowd to attention. First the lawyer read from Fitzgerald's will that the first art work to be auctioned was the painting of his son.
The poor-quality painting didn't receive and bidders...except one--the old servant who had served the son and loved him, and who for emotional reasons offered the only bid.
As soon as the servant bought the painting for less than one English pound, the auctioneer stopped the bidding and asked the lawyer to read again from the will. The crowd became quiet, and the lawyer read from the will:"Whoever buys the painting of my son gets all my collection."Then the auction was over. | high7563.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "email"
},
"options": [
"the multimedia excitement",
"different websites",
"email",
"mail server"
],
"question": "The passage is about _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Even with the multimedia excitement of the web. Electronic Mail, email, is the most frequently used application of the Internet. Many people who have a chance to use the Internet at school, home, and work. They use the Internet for no other purposes than to send or receive emails.
It's all very easy. You prepare the message, log onto the Internet, and send it. The message first goes to your Internet Service Provider's mail server, which in turn sends it to the recipient's mail server. On the way your message may go through several servers, each reading the name in order to send it to the right server. The message then remains in the recipient's mail email server until he requests it by "checking his mail".
The benefits of emails are obvious: mostly it's quick. Also, many people feel that the rules for regular mails don't apply to email, making it less formal, which in turn make email easier to write and send.
It's not just friends and coworkers that are receiving emails. Wherever you look, the Web is providing email addresses. This has made communication between strangers easier than ever. You can read an interesting article online and immediately send the author an email. Anyone who posts his email address on a Web page is saying he wants to receive email.
There are places you can go if you don't know someone's email address. Check out Bigfoot, the Internet Address Finder, or Netscape's Email Directories for more information.
Email is one of the services offered by your Internet Service Provider--a service that you're applying for every month. | high8888.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to study medicine there"
},
"options": [
"to carry out a research project there",
"to set up a medical institute there",
"to study medicine there",
"to deliver lectures there"
],
"question": "Sophia wrote a lett... | It was a simple letter asking for a place to study at Scotland's oldest university which helped start a revolution in higher education. A 140-year-old letter written by a lady calling for her to be allowed to study medicine at St Andrews University has been discovered by researchers. Written by Sophia Jex-Blake in 1873, the seven-page document, which urged the university to allow women to study medicine at the institution, was released yesterday on International Women's Day.
The document was discovered buried in the university archives by part-time history student Lis Smith, who is completing her PhD at St Andrews Institute of Scottish Historical Research. She said: "We knew that Sophia Jex-Blake and her supporters, in their effort to open up university medical education for women, had written to the Senatus Academicus at St Andrews in an attempt to gain permission to attend classes there, but we didn't know documentary evidence existed. While searching the archives for information about the university's higher certificate for women, I was astonished to come across what must be the very letter Jex-Blake wrote."
In the letter, Sophia and her supporters offered to hire teachers or build suitable buildings for a medical school and to arrange for lectures to be delivered in the subjects not already covered at St Andrews. Although her letter was not successful, it eventually led to the establishment of the Ladies Literate in Arts at St Andrews, a distance-learning degree for women. The qualification, which ran from 1877 until the 1930s, gave women access to university education in the days before they were admitted as students. It was so popular that it survived long after women were admitted as full students to St Andrews in 1892.
Ms Jex-Blake went on to help establish the London School of Medicine for Women in 1874. She was accepted by the University of Berne, where she was awarded a medical degree in January 1877. Eventually, she moved back to Edinburgh and opened her own practice. | high486.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "its author knows the Queen well"
},
"options": [
"its author is very famous",
"its author knows the Queen well",
"it presents reader a very different Queen",
"it has pictures that have never been seen"
],
"quest... | One of the Queen's closest relatives and oldest friends was allowed to give a deep description into the family life of the Royals. Although there have been hundreds of other books declaring to offer a quick look behind the Palace doors, this is the first written by someone who is closely related to the Royal Family and has shared their lives--not only throughout the Queen's reign but also through that of her father, King George VI.
The Final Curtsey was written by her Majesty's cousin and childhood playmate the Honorable Margaret Rhodes. It tells in details the story of Mrs. Rhodes's relationship with the Royal family over eight decades. The book, with delightfully informal and never-before-seen pictures, has been written with the full knowledge of the Queen, who has read and approved parts of it.
Born in 1925, the Honorable Margaret Rhodes has led an extraordinary life. She was the childhood playmate of her cousin, the Queen; a wartime M16 spy; and she was a lady-in- waiting to her aunt, the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, from 1991 until the latter's death in 2002. At the Queen's 80thbirthday in April 2006, Margaret gave an interview to the BBC which she proved that, in her own opinion and despite several false reports, the Queen would not abdicate .
In this charming autobiography ,she told how she was offered a house to live in the Royal farm in Windsor Great Park unexpectedly. One day when she and the Queen were out riding outside, she suddenly returned and said, "Could you bear to live in the suburb?" "I think it should be OK." Therefore Mrs. Rhodes is now still living there. | high13455.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "4"
},
"options": [
"7",
"6",
"4",
"3"
],
"question": "How many famous people mentioned in this passage died on 23rd? _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,... | World Book and Copyright Day is a annual event that falls on April 23 and was first celebrated in 1995.
The event was organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright.
The connection between April 23 and books was first made in 1923 by booksellers in Catalonia, prefix = st1 /Spainas a way to honor the author Miguel de Cervantes who died on that day. It became part of the celebrations of theSaint George'sDay (also April 23) in the region, where it has been a tradition since the medieval era for men to give roses to their lovers and since 1925 for women to give a book in exchange.
In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on April 23 to _ people who have made great contributions to social and cultural progress of mankind.
The date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare, the death of renowned authors Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Josep Pla, the birth of Maurice Druon, Vladimir Nabokov, Manuel Mejia Vallejo and Halldor Laxness.
With the success of the World Book and Copyright Day, UNESCO developed the concept of World Book Capital City, selecting Madridas the capital for 2001. After this, UNESCO's General Conference resolved to make the designation of a World Book Capital City an annual event and selected Beirut as this year's capital. | high23596.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Lack of the advertisement funds"
},
"options": [
"Theater-chain bankruptcy",
"Lack of the advertisement funds",
"The stress to increase corporate profit",
"Being unable to produce creative movies"
],
"question":... | Hollywood is on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Worried about an industry wide writers' strike, struck by a series of theater-chain bankruptcies , burdened with unreasonable corporate profit, requirements and seemingly incapable of producing consistently creative movies, the American film industry is in a period of soul-searching. There's little doubt it will survive this crisis. But most insiders agree there is disease at both ends of the business--where film are produced, and where they're shown---that may take years to overcome.
While annual box-office income increases for nine straight years, largely due to increased ticket prices, the number of actual tickets sold declined for the second year in a row. The construction boom has added nearly 10,000 theaters(more than 200,000 more seats) in the last five years. But due to a static audience base, eight major chains have gone into bankruptcy and several others are in terrible financial situations.
In fact, insiders say, Hollywood is now in a business it does not want to be in. "There's a general problem in that the companies that have the most consistent output of material are least interested in what they're making," says former 20thCentury Fox CEO, Bill. And, Bill adds, "We're in a period where movies are getting bigger and more costly and less interesting and fulfilling to an audience."
Today the studios are under the stress to increase profit margins for their corporate parents, and profit margins are hard to control in a business whose products are seen as impulse buys . Other business can increase profits by cutting costs--buying cheaper material, or making the candy bar smaller. Not Hollywood.
"What we're cutting is risk," says the head of one major studio, who asked not to be named, "And risk is what great film has always demanded." While the studios are avoiding risky concepts, their competitors in the home entertainment business have been expanding the boundaries of the imagination. It was this pressure---in electronic games, the Internet, EVDs----that forced the movie theater chains into a self-destructive craze of expansion. | high12993.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They should have their free life out of working hours."
},
"options": [
"They should do as their employers expect.",
"They should have their free life out of working hours.",
"They feel more prepared for the job after having ... | It's because college kids today can't do math, one line of reasoning goes. Or they don't know science. These are all good theories, but the problem with these young adults' unemployment goes way beyond a lack of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills.
A survey by the Workforce Solutions Group at St. Louis Community College finds that more than 60% of employers say applicants lack the ability to communicate and get along with others--- a jump pf about 10 percentage points in just two years. A large number of managers also say today's applicants can't think creatively, solve problems or write well. Jobs are going unfilled as a result, which hurts companies and employers. The annual global Talent Shortage Survey from ManpowerGroup finds that nearly 1 in 5 employers worldwide can't fill positions because they can't find people with soft skills.
One thing that does appear to make a difference is internships . More than 80% of employers want new graduates they hire to have completed a formal internship, but only 8% of students say having an internship in a field related to their major is something they spend a lot of time doing. Instead, the top extracurricular activities are hanging out with friends, working in an unrelated job and eating out.
And all internships are not created equal. Overall, only about half of college grads say they're prepared for the work---and the number of bosses who think they're prepared is lower than 40%.
Among students who don't have an internship, only 44% consider themselves ready for the job market. That improves for students with unpaid internships; 58% say they're prepared for the workplace. But among students who compete paid internships, that number jumps to 70%. None of the students think they're entirely prepared for the workforce, but they are a lot more confident than the managers surveyed. Part of the problem is that "you don't know what you don't know", as the saying goes.
Harris Interactive found a huge gap between students' view of their abilities and managers' view of those same skills such as financial skills. It's just harder to teach these skills, experts say. "It is hard to correct a lifetime of bad habits in a short period of time," Roderick Nunn, vice chancellor for economic development and workforce solutions at St. Louis Community College, tells the St Louis Beacon. | high18528.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Most children have to find a job at an early age."
},
"options": [
"Something is wrong with the country's basic education system.",
"Most children have to find a job at an early age.",
"The final exam is too difficult for mos... | Since the 1990s, education has been required for all South Africans from age seven to fifteen. Last December, the government announced that 70% of students passed their final examination to finish high school. In 2008, the pass rate was about 63%. There have been increases each year since then.
Professor Shireen Motala says basic education is no longer a problem in South Africa. Most children stay in school until they are about sixteen. The problem is that large numbers of them leave without completing high school.
Students take an examination known as the "matric" in Grade Twelve. Professor Motala says, "Less than half of the children who started school in 2000 sat for the matric last year. Many dropped out of school, so only around 45% took the matric. And the worry is where those students actually go." Those who drop out have to compete with better educated people for jobs.
Educational researchers also point to another problem. South African schools do not produce enough students with the skills for higher education in maths and science. Many schools are not well-equipped. Children do not see laboratories, and, as a result, their science marks are not very good. They do not have libraries at school. Also, many teachers do not have the skills or training to do their jobs.
In South Africa, a number of teachers were poorly trained before. Secondly, teachers have been confused by the many educational reform efforts in the last fifteen years. Finally, language differences in the classroom have not got as much attention as they should, which is a huge problem. Subjects such as maths and science are taught in English starting at about the age of ten. But South Africa has eleven official languages.
South Africa's minister of basic education promises a number of improvements. Angie Motshega says teacher development efforts will focus on subject and content knowledge, making sure that the correct teachers are in the correct jobs. | high2433.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To argue how to understand happiness."
},
"options": [
"To show how to achieve happiness.",
"To encourage people to achieve happiness.",
"To explain the features of happiness.",
"To argue how to understand happiness."
... | We all think that we know what happiness is. We all seem to be making great efforts towards this goal of happiness but what is it really? It is an agreed fact that all the creatures want happiness and are afraid of pain and sadness. The question, however, is "what is real happiness?" What really is called happiness? The desire for happiness has no meaning without understanding the real nature of happiness.
Some thinkers say, "Happiness does not lie in objects of enjoyment; happiness or unhappiness lies in imagination."
To prove their belief, they give examples like the following one: A man has a two-storey house; on the right is a five-storey building and on the left a cottage. When he sees right, he feels unhappy and when he sees left he feels happy. As such happiness does not lie in possession of sensory objects, but in imagination. They advise people to look towards those who have fewer possessions and be happy. If you look towards people having more wealth and possessions, you will always be unhappy.
It is unreasonable to hold this point of view. It is unkind to regard one happy by imagining that one is better than the poor and the unhappy. "If you want to be happy, look towards the poor". We know that those poor people cannot satisfy even their basic needs. This attitude satisfies the sense of pride of possessions, but this can never be called happiness.
Unless we really find where happiness lies, we cannot really be happy.
Some ask people to do this and do that and say, "This way your desires would be satisfied. You would get the desired objects and become happy." People holding these views regard happiness as satisfaction of desires. But it is not possible to satisfy one's desires because there are countless desires of countless people and the material things are limited. Then new desires arise as soon as the previous ones are satisfied. Therefore, desires, which are changing all the time, can never be satisfied.
Happiness is a characteristic of a good life, that is, a life in which a person fulfills human nature in an excellent way. People have a set of purposes which are typically human: these belong to our nature. Happiness is also a condition that must be prepared for, cultivated , and defended privately by each person. People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives and come to being happy. Happiness lies in the distribution of easiness among others. Happiness stands for forgiveness and justice. Happiness is the name of struggle and courage. Happiness may be founded in seeking of true knowledge and rule of wisdom. Happiness may be shared in service and duty. This life is combination of joys and sorrows, and honest efforts should be done to make this life journey full of happiness, love, peace and harmony. | high10174.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They are unwilling to take advice."
},
"options": [
"They like flying By themselves.",
"They are unwilling to take advice.",
"They pretend to Be good pilots.",
"They are quick learners of CRM."
],
"question": "W... | Doctor are known to Be terriBle pilots. They don't listen Because they already know it all. I was lucky: Became a pilot in 1970, almost ten years Before I graduated from medical school. I didn't realize then, But Becoming a pilot makes me a Better surgeon. I loved flying. As I flew Bigger, faster planes, and in worse weather. I learned aBout crew resource management , or CRM, a new idea to make flying safer. It means that crew memBers should listen and speak up for a good result, regardless of positions.
I first read aBout CRM in 1980. Not long after that, an attending doctor and I were flying in Bad weather. The controller had us turn too late to get our landing ready. The attending doctor was flying; I was safety pilot He was so Busy Because of the Bad turn, he had forgotten to put the landing gear down. He was a Better pilot - and my Boss - so it felt unusual to speak up. But I had to: Our lives were in danger. I put aside my uneasiness and said, "We need to put the landing gear down now!" That was my first real lesson in the power of CRM, and I've used it in the operating room ever since.
CRM requires that the pilot/surgeon encourage others to speak up. It further requires that when opinions are from the opposite, the doctor doesn't overreact, which might prevent fellow doctors from voicing opinions again. So when I'm in the operating room, I ask for ideas and help from others. Sometimes they're not willing to speak up. But I hope that if I continue to encourage them , someday someone will keep me from "
". | high16505.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "In 2000."
},
"options": [
"In 1998.",
"In 2001.",
"In 2000.",
"In 2006."
],
"question": "When did Xia Haibo get the serious illness?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"ans... | These days, many passers-by always _ a beggar on the Jiaochangkou Street in Yuzhong District of Chongqing in southwest China.
The beggar's name is Xia Haibo, and he was born in Meihe Village, Tianmen City of Hubei Province. Being 25 years old, he is quite a special beggar in some ways -- he doesn't beg on his knees, as other beggars do when begging. Rather, he often stands in the crowded street, either reading a book or thinking about something carefully. He also started a blog on the Internet which has been clicked more than 500,000 times. He likes reading -- he has read many classical Chinese poems. He has kept writing and recently, he has planned to publish his writings.
In 1998, Xia entered Tianmen Middle School as the best student in his town. However, a year before he took the college entrance examination, he came down with a high fever and was later diagnosed as having rheumatoid arthritis . In order to treat his disease, his father borrowed 60,000 yuan from relatives and friends. However, with this money, he didn't recover from the disease. He did not want to become a burden to his family any more. So in July, 2006, he left his hometown and went to Wuhan to make a living by begging.
Begging has become a job to Xia now. However, he doesn't plan to go on living like this. "By July 24, 2008, when I have been begging for two years, I will stop my begging life. I promise," he said.
It is his plan that by using the money he "earns", he will rent a small shop in his hometown and keep on writing in his spare time.
Right now, he is trying to finish a book of his own. The book, called Love Is With Me, tells about the people who helped him during his begging life. | high4042.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It is accessible to everyone.44478344447834"
},
"options": [
"At a reasonable cost.",
"It is still reserved for the very rich.",
"Travelers enjoy the first-class comforts.",
"It is accessible to everyone.44478344447834"... | With tourism developing fast, you'd expect greater understanding between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it! Superb systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other's countries at a reasonable cost. What was once the "grand tour", reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody's grasp so that modern travelers enjoy a level of comfort. But what's the sense of this mass exchange of populations if the nations of the world keep ignoring each other?
Many tourist organizations deliberately set out to protect their travelers from too much contact with the local population. The modern tourist leads a sheltered life, such as living at international hotels, eating food and sipping drink there. However, he stares at the natives from a distance. Guided tours to places of interest are carefully planned. The tourist is allowed to see only what the organizers want him to see and no more, and language also holds them back. So he is only too happy to be protected in this way.
The sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the continuance of national stereotypes. That is, we don't see the people of other nations as they really are, but as we have been brought up to believe they are. So when you set out on your travels, the only characteristics you notice are those which confirm your previous knowledge. You leave with the highly unoriginal and inaccurate impression that, say, "Latin peoples shout a lot". You only have to make foreign friends to understand how absurd and harmful national stereotypes are. But how can you make foreign friends when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you? | high19636.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Mark always had the papers with him."
},
"options": [
"Students did not care others' comments.",
"Mark always had the papers with him.",
"Mark lost his wallet in the battle.",
"Mark lost the papers in the battle"
],... | One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students and write down the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates. That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that _ . On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments.
No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents. Several years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam and his teacher attended his funeral. As she stood there, one of the soldiers came up to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."
After the funeral, Mark's mother and father were waiting there, "We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket, "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."
The teacher carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him. "Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said, "As you can see, Mark treasured it."
The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be. So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. | high6655.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Uniting surrounding cities."
},
"options": [
"Uniting surrounding cities.",
"Entertainment.",
"Bringing pride to the locals.",
"Establishing characteristics."
],
"question": "Choose the one that isn't the functi... | Often a nickname is a shortened form of a person's name, and it can also be a descriptive name for a place or a thing. Many American cities have nicknames. These can help build up an identity, spread pride among citizens and build their unity. Nicknames can also be funny.
Los Angeles, California is the second largest city in population, after New York City. Los Angeles has several nicknames. One is simply the city's initials, L.A. It is also called the City of Angels because Los Angeles means "the angels" in Spanish.
Los Angeles often has warm, sunny weather. So another nickname is City of Flowers and Sunshine. New York is called The Big Apple. So Los Angeles is sometimes called The Big Orange because of the fruit that grows in that city's warm climate.
The American movie and television industries are based in Los Angeles. So it is not surprising that it is called The Entertainment Capital of the World. Many films are made in the area of Los Angeles called Hollywood. Millions of people visit the area. _
Many movie stars live in Los Angeles. The city is sometimes called Tinseltown. This nickname comes from the shiny, bright and often unreal nature of Hollywood and the movie industry.
Another nickname for Los Angeles is La-La Land, using the first letters of Los and Angeles. This means a place that is fun and not serious, and maybe even out of touch with reality.
A good place for watching unusual-looking people is Venice, an area on the west side of Los Angeles. A system of waterways designed after the Italian city of Venice has been built there. Many people love Los Angeles for its warm sunny weather, beautiful mountains and beaches, and movie stars. That includes Randy Newman, who sings about his hometown.
On the whole, Los Angeles is growing attractive just for its rich nicknames. | high14312.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "get entertainment"
},
"options": [
"benefit the farmers",
"get entertainment",
"show off their wealth",
"limit the fox population"
],
"question": "Wealthy people in Britain have been hunting foxes to _ .",
... | Foxes and farmers have never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accused of killing farm animals. They are officially classified as harmful and farmers try to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them.
Famers can also call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population. Hunting consists of running after a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs eventually catch the fox, the kill it or a hunter shoots it.
People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport. They wear a special uniform of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict rules of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly are expensive, so most hunters are wealthy.
It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox-hunting. But over the last couple of decades the number of people who are against fox-hunting, because they think it is brutal , has risen sharply. Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kind of conflict between hunters and hunt opponents . Sometimes these incidents lead to violence, but mostly opponents discourage the hunt by misleading riders and disturbing the trail of the fox's smell, which the dogs follow.
Noisy conflicts between hunters and opponents have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as running after foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox-hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party member of Parliament , Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain. | high9566.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "yawning is a kind of emotional connection among humans"
},
"options": [
"humans differ from animals because they communicate with others",
"yawning is a kind of emotional connection among humans",
"emotions are infectious, bu... | It seems hard to watch someone yawn and not to yawn ourselves. Even reading about yawning can make you do it. Now, a new study has found why yawning has such a powerful force.
Yawning when others yawn, the study suggests, is a sign of pity and a form of social connection. Kids don't develop this deeply rooted behavior until around age four, the study found. Kids with autism are less likely to catch yawns. In the most serious cases, they never do. Yawning might help doctors to see whether the children are developing rightly. The work could also lead to a better understanding of the ways that people communicate and connect.
"Emotional infection seems to be a born thing that connects us together," said Molly Helt, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Connecticut. "Yawning may be part of that." Inspiration for her study came when she tried to get her own autistic son to clear his ears on an airplane. She repeatedly yawned at him, hoping he would yawn back. He never did.
"The fact that autistic kids don't do it might mean they're really missing out on that emotional connection with people around them," she said. "The biggest thing people try to figure out after birth is how we become humans and understand that humans have minds that are different from others'," she added. "Autistic people never seem to understand that."
Like infectious laughter and crying, scientists have found that yawning is a shared experience that promotes social connection. Helt said it could fight stress after a period of being nervous and spread a feeling of calm through a group. | high6133.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "she didn't want to be impolite"
},
"options": [
"she fell in love with him",
"she didn't want to be impolite",
"no one paid attention to him",
"no one else was interested in her"
],
"question": "She accepted his... | He met her at a party. She was outstanding; many guys were after her, but nobody paid any attention to him. After the party, he invited her for coffee. She was surprised, so as not to appear rude, she went along.
As they sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything and she felt uncomfortable. Suddenly, he asked the waiter, "Could you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee."
They stared at him. He turned red, but when the salt came, he put it in his coffee and drank. Curious, she asked, "Why salt with coffee?" He explained, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea. I liked playing on the sea. I could feel it salty, like salty coffee. Now every time I drink it, I think of my childhood and my hometown. I miss it and my parents, who are still there."
She was deeply moved. A man who can admit that he's homesick must love his home and care about his family. He must be responsible. She talked too, about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family. That was the start to their love story.
They continued to date. She found that he met all her requirements. He was tolerant, kind, warm and careful. And to think she would have missed the catch if not for the salty coffee! So they married and lived happily together. And every time she made coffee for him, she put in some salt, the way he liked it.
After 40 years, he passed away and left her a letter which said:
My dearest, please forgive my life-long lie. Remember the first time we dated? I was so nervous that I asked for salt instead of sugar. It was hard for me to ask for a change, so I just went ahead. I never thought that we would hit it off. Many times, I tried to tell you the truth, but I was afraid that it would ruin everything.Sweetheart, I don't exactly like salty coffee. But as it mattered so much to you, I've learnt to enjoy it. Having you with me was my greatest happiness. If I could live a second time, I hope we can be together again, even if it means that I have to drink salty coffee for the rest of my life. | high14474.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Students in English and Drama"
},
"options": [
"Students in Biomedical Sciences",
"Students in Chemistry",
"Students in Dentistry",
"Students in English and Drama"
],
"question": "Who can apply for the exchange ... | International Exchange Programme
The application form for participation on the exchange programme for 2016/17 can be found in Application Procedures.
Applying Qualification--Current Queen Mary undergraduate students(with the exception of students in Biomedical Sciences,Chemistry,Dentistry and Medicine)have qualifications to apply.
Law Students--Students enrolled in The School of Law should contact Sheila Shirley(s.shirley@qmul.ac.uk)for details of study abroad opportunities.
English and Drama Studen--Students cannot study abroad for the full academic year. Students will be able to spend only the autumn semester studying at one of our exchange partners*
Applications
A complete application will consist of the two-page application form,a personal statement and a supporting academic reference.Students should follow these application procedures. Applicants must ensure they have spoken to their departmental study abroad instructor before submitting their application.Applications can be submitted in person at The Study Abroad Office(E09,Ground Floor,Queens'Building)or by email to h.gibney@qmul.ac.uk
New Exchange Partners for 2016/2017
For 2016/17 we hope to offer students the opportunity to study abroad at the following new partners:The University of Pennsylvania--UPenn(USA),The University of Sydney(Australia) and Waseda University(Japan).Should we be unable to send students to any of these new institutions on exchange,and if you intend to include one or more of these destinations with your application,please provide at least one alternative destination from the list of other partner programmes. | high12005.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "job-hunters"
},
"options": [
"job-hunters",
"an undergraduate",
"employers",
"handshake raters"
],
"question": "The passage is probably intended for _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | A firm handshake is key to interview success. As any serious job-hunter knows, it helps to dress smartly and smile at that all-important interview. But research has showed that a firm handshake is what really matters when it comes to impressing potential employers.
The US research looked at 98 undergraduates taking part in mock interviews with businesses. As each undergraduate was graded on their overall performance, five "handshake raters" also marked them on their grasp, strength, duration, vigor and eye contact.
Professor Greg Stewart, from the University of Iowa, who led the study, said those who scored highly with the handshake raters were also considered to be the most hirable by the interviewers. Students with " wimpy" shakes were judged to be more timid and less impressive.
The study also found women with a firm handshake were likely to be evaluated more favorably than their male counterparts.
Professor Stewart said: "We've always heard that interviewers make up their mind about a person in the first two or three minutes of an interview. But we found that the first impression begins with a handshake that sets the tone for the rest of the interview. We don't consciously remember a person's handshake but it is one of the first non-verbal clues we get about the person's overall personality, and that impression is what we remember."
Women were less likely to have a highly rated handshake, partly because traditionally they shake hands less than men. But when women did possess a firm handshake, they were likely to be evaluated more favorably than their male counterparts.
Body language experts warn, however, that the firmness needs to be just right, - as an over enthusiastic "bone crusher" handshake can indicate self-importance, a controlling personality and a lack of trustworthiness.
The handshake is thought to have originated in medieval Europe as a way for kings and knights to show that they did not intend to harm each other and possessed no hidden weapons. | high1884.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "teacher"
},
"options": [
"doctor",
"teacher",
"driver",
"farmer"
],
"question": "Mr. Jenkins is a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_t... | Baseball Match
Mr. Jenkins works in a middle school. There he teaches his students English. He works hard and is very busy. After supper, when his family watch TV, he always reads some newspapers in his room. At times Robert comes in and asks him to tell him a story. He likes his little son and does all what the boy wants.
One Sunday Mrs. Jenkins was doing some housework and Mr. Jenkins was reading a newspaper.
Robert came in but he didn't say anything. About ten minutes later the boy showed a newspaper to him and called out, "There will be a baseball match tonight, Dad!"
Mr. Jenkins was surprised. He said to himself, "The boy is only three years old. How can he read the newspaper?"
He held up the newspaper and began to look for the news. But he couldn't find it. At last the boy showed him an exclamation mark on the newspaper. | high4724.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "because she wanted to kill time"
},
"options": [
"because she was hungry then.",
"Because the biscuits were on sale.",
"because she wanted to kill time",
"because the young man wanted to eat it"
],
"question": "... | One night there was a woman at the airport who had to wait for several hours before getting her next flight. While waiting, she bought a book and a pack of biscuits to spend the time. She looked for a place to sit and waited. She was reading her book, when suddenly she realized that there was a young man sitting next to her who was stretching his hand, and grabbing the pack of cookies lying between them. He started to eat them one by one. Not wanting to make a fuss about it ,she decided to ignore him. The woman ate the biscuits and watched the clock, while the young thief was also eating them. The woman started to think, "If I weren't such a good and educated person, I would have hit this man by now."
Every time she ate a biscuit, he had one, too. The dialogue between their eyes continued and when only one biscuit was left, she wondered what he was going to do. Softly and with a nervous smile, the young man grabbed the last biscuit and broke it into two. He offered one half to the woman while he ate the other half. Briskly she took the biscuit and thought, "What a bad man! How uneducated! He didn't even thank me!"
She had never met anybody who made her so angry, and was pleased when her flight was ready. She grabbed her bags and went towards the gate not looking back to where that thief was seated. After getting on the plane and being seated, she looked for her book which was almost finished by now. While looking into her bag she was totally surprised to find her pack of biscuits. "If my biscuits are here," she thought, feeling bad, "those others were his and he tried to share them with me."Too late to say sorry to the young man, she realized with pain, that it was her who had been an uneducated thief, but not him. | high19150.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "teachers"
},
"options": [
"students",
"teachers",
"parents",
"managers"
],
"question": "The four films above are specially intended for _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Sometimes educators need to be reminded that their job is important and they are very much appreciated. Here are some movies that inspire us and make educators feel proud to be in the field of education where they really do have an impact.
The Miracle Worker
The ultimate teaching miracle, Anne Bancroft is awesome as Annie Sullivan who uses 'tough love' to get through to the deaf and blind Helen Keller played by Patty Duke. Very few people can watch the famous 'water' scene without experiencing a feeling of victory and relief. Excellent portrayal of the importance of perseverance. Both Bancroft and Duke won an Academy Award for their performances.
The Karate Kid
While not normally thought of as a 'classroom' movie, The Karate Kid has much to say to teachers: Sometimes we have to have our students do things that they will not understand until much later; Basic skills are most important; Honor and integrity are central to character; Students need to see us beam with excitement over their achievements. A fun, nostalgic and inspiring movie to relish.
To Sir With Love
Produced in 1967, this film with Sidney Poitier as a novice teacher has a lot to teach us today. Poitier takes a teaching position in the rough part of London in order to pay his bills. Realizing that his students need to be taught important life lessons more than the curriculum he has been handed to teach them, he throws out the lesson plans and makes a real impact on their personal lives.
Mr. Holland's Opus
This memorable movie gives all teachers hope that they truly have an impact on their students. Richard Dreyfuss is wonderful as a musician/composer who must take a teaching job to support his family. In the end, Dreyfuss' character realizes that he has had as much if not more of an impact from his teaching ashe would have as a composer. | high2355.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Pudding Lane"
},
"options": [
"a hotel",
"the palace",
"Pudding Lane",
"Thames Street"
],
"question": "The fire began in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_ind... | The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and _ , was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o' clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Pauls and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, write about the fire, "People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat ."
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect , wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the mew St Pauls.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past. | high4730.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Chateau Ste. Michelle"
},
"options": [
"the Seattle Art Museum",
"the Seattle Great Wheel",
"the Olympic Sculpture Park",
"Chateau Ste. Michelle"
],
"question": "If you are a music lover, you are advised to go t... | Heading to Seattle? What's New in Washington's Seaside City?
Advice to visit Seattle's Pike Place Market may border on cliche--but for a good reason.
"Whether you're visiting Washington's seaside city for vacation or just stopping by en route to and from the coming Sasquatch music festival, Pike Place is an easy catch-all destination for shopping, eating and just plain walking around," said Kirk Johnson, The New York Times's Seattle bureau chief for the past three years.
The Seattle Great Wheel is one of many stops to consider in Washington's seaside city.
"Almost any day of the week, especially on the weekend, it's a crazy fun scene of people shopping," Mr. Johnson said. "There's also pretty good food." He recommends wandering into whatever place--especially a hole in the wall--catches your eye.
There is one specific restaurant Mr. Johnson likes: the Pink Door, which has no signage and can be found only by its rosy entrance. "It's creative, interesting Italian," he said. "In the summer they get a lot of great fresh vegetables and probably have the best tomato bruschetta I've had."
He also recommends the nearby Pioneer Square, the oldest neighborhood in Seattle. Its historic architecture has charm, and the area isn't bad for a lunch break, he said. The clear favorite here is Salumi--which, as the name suggests, is known for its cured meats. Mr. Johnson did warn, however, that it's necessary to plan for the fact that the restaurant has a long line as soon as it opens.
Pioneer Square is also a portal to Seattle's maritime world that remains alive and well. Ferry rides are a short walk away. Mr. Johnson said the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island provides "a great view of the city," and it's not a long ride back to the mainland.
At some point, you may see sculptures emerging on the horizon--that would be the Olympic Sculpture Park, which is operated by the Seattle Art Museum, Mr. Johnson said, and that's worth a visit itself.
People who want to experience Seattle's nearby charms can easily do so with a bicycle, Mr. Johnson said, if they want to get away from depending on a car. He takes a ride to Chateau Ste. Michelle, a famous winery outside the city. Starting in June, he said, Chateau Ste. Michelle hosts a summer concert series on its lawn. | high11518.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To explain how modern technology can be applied in unique ways."
},
"options": [
"To provide information to police who are looking for stolen art.",
"To persuade art dealers to check for fake copies before selling art.",
"To ... | Some wonderfully creative uses of X-rays have been in the world of art.But the most impressive one is to uncover what has been covered up.Details unfolded by an X-ray of a painting can ' t be seen any other way.For example, in the past, paintings were often repaired if small pieces of paint fell off the canvas . These repairs cannot be seen just by looking at the painting.It takes an X-ray to discover where the repairs have been made.
An X-ray of a painting is one of the best ways to tell if it was created by a famous painter or if it is a forgery .If there is a question as to whether an old master has painted a certain painting or not, X-rays are made and compared to those of paintings that are known to be original.If the brushstrokes , for example, are shown to be totally different than in other work done by a certain artist, then the painting is proved to be a fake copy.
Since modern paints are usually made from different materials than paints of hundreds of years ago, the image they leave on an X-ray film looks different.This is another way X-rays can be used to spot a forgery.A modem artist will try to make a forgery look hundreds of years old by painting dirty varnish on it or by using artificial means to get the varnish to look cracked.To the naked eye the forgery may look old, but when a careful study of the X-ray image is made, the _ is obvious.
It was common many years ago for an artist to finish a painting, decide it wasn't any good, and paint a completely different picture on top of it.Or artists would paint over others' work --it was their version of recycling.Taking an X-ray is the only way to find out if there is a picture underneath the picture you see with your eyes.Sometimes museums will be more interested in the painting beneath than the one on top, and will restore the older one by having the top layer painstakingly removed. | high2341.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He thought he might lose his life on the voyage."
},
"options": [
"He missed his family very much then.",
"He hoped to share his experience with his family.",
"He regretted taking a risk on the ocean.",
"He thought he m... | In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and preparing for the worst, Australian adventurer Peter Seiter wrote a farewell note to his family, put it in a bottle and threw it overboard. With a sense of bad feeling he wrote: "The ocean has a personality of its own. The place can be such a peaceful environment to be in, yet it can be frightfully violent. I've experienced both." Fearing he wouldn't make it home, he placed the note -- dated June 11, 1998 -- in a wine bottle and covered the bottle.
"I included my geographical coordinates, so if anything happened to me, they'd know my last place when I threw the bottle into the ocean," says Peter, who was then sailing from the Azores in Portugal to New York and knew the Atlantic could be dangerous. He also included some money with his message, asking whoever found it to use the money to post the letter to his family.
Seventeen days later he reached his destination, having survived the dangerous seas, but he assumed his message in the bottle had not -- until it was found on shore, 11 years later!
Recently, American woman Katherine Ginn and her friend came across the bottle on a deserted beach in the Bahamas. "Alongside it they'd found a life jacket and, assuming the worst, opened the bottle and spent 24 hours drying it out so they could read my story and write to my family as I requested," says Peter, 44. "I couldn't believe it -- that after all these years my bottle had turned up with its contents, still undamaged."
Overjoyed, he wrote to the pair, saying he was alive and living in Australia with his family.
Katherine posted him his letter, money and some broken glass of his bottle placed in a tiny box as a special souvenir. These special items now share pride of place among photos of Peter's Atlantic voyage. "I can't express what this old letter means to me," Peter says. "It gives me a sense of hope and belief. It's something special to share with my children as they grow up." | high10606.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Mexico"
},
"options": [
"Canada",
"Mexico",
"America",
"Australia"
],
"question": "Which team won the Eighth National Geographic World Championship in 2007?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | *Geographic Championship
August 9, 2007 - "What historic site was carved from sandstone in about 1200 B.C.? This site includes two huge temples and statues of an ancient ruler."
That's the question that gave three students from prefix = st1 /Mexicovictory over teams fromCanadaand theUnited Statesin the final round of the English National Geographic World Championship, a biennial contest of geography knowledge. Fourteen other international teams competed in the event, which has been since 1993.
Continued on Next Page >>
*House fire put off
Sept. 16, 2007 -- A home located at 240 Cexter AvenueinMeridencaught fire around 5:45 Sunday afternoon. When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found the first floor of the wood-frame house was in flames.
The Meriden Fire Department had it under control by 6:47 pm. The house suffered such heavy damage that the electricity was cut off. The house has been declared unlivable until repairs can be made.
There was no one in the house at the time. One firefighter was taken to MedicalCenterat 7:15 pm when he complained about not feeling well. Police are now looking into the cause of the fire.
Continued on Next Page >>
*Extinct languages
Sept. 18, 2007 - In the vast outback of northern Australia, the native languages of the Aborigines are slowly dying. But a team of explorers and linguists are fighting to keep these dialects alive through the five - year Enduring Voices project, funded by the National Geographic Society.
As the team tracks down speakers of these _ languages, including the only known speaker of a language long thought to be extinct, they learn why losing the wisdom of these mother tongues is a "tragedy for humanity."
Continued on Next Page >> | high17169.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "on the sea"
},
"options": [
"on land",
"in space",
"on the sea",
"in the desert"
],
"question": "DeltaSync is a company that wants to build cities _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"an... | Could cities that float on the sea solve the problems caused by floods and provide food for the world?
Some scientists think so. The idea is already being tested and they believe that floating citied will provide more homes for a growing population, without having to use land needed to grow food. And they believe floating areas will allow more food to be grown, so that no one in the world is hungry.
In some places, cities that float on the sea are already being planned, A company in the Netherlands called DeltaSync thinks that sea cities will save the world, with more than one in ten people living in them.
They say sea cities solve many of the problems the world faces in the 21st century, like not having enough land , more and more people needing homes, fossil fuels running low and the increasingly serious problems caused by floods.
DeltaSync says building in the desert is not possible because there is no enough water and that developing ways for people to live in space is still too expensive. So they believe the answer is our oceans, which cover over two thirds of the Earth's surface. Their plans for floating areas include using algae to produce fuel and food.
More than a quarter of the land in the Netherlands already lies underwater and scientists there have spent years trying to find ways to deal with it. In the city of Rotterdam they already have floating homes.
Bart Roeffen from DeltaSync says: "We have plans for neighbourhoods including roads and, in the end, I believe we can build floating cities on the sea." | high9214.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the feeling of being less than valued"
},
"options": [
"the tiredness after long hours in labs",
"the fear of seeing something moving",
"the feeling of being less than valued",
"the loneliness of riding the bus home"
... | Raised in a fatherless home,my father was extremely tightfisted towards us children. His attitude didn't soften as I grew into adulthood and went to college. I had to ride the bus whenever I came home. Though the bus stopped about two miles from home,Dad never met me,even in severe weather. If I _ he'd say in his loudest father-voice,"That's what your legs are for!"
The walk didn't bother me as much as the fear of walking alone along the highway and country roads. I also felt less than valued that my father didn't seem concerned about my safety. But that feeling was canceled one spring evening.
It had been a particularly difficult week at college after long hours in labs. I longed for home. When the bus reached the stop,I stepped off and dragged my suitcase to begin the long journey home.
A row of hedge edged the driveway that climbed the hill to our house. Once I had turned off the highway to start the last lap of my journey,I always had a sense of relief to see the hedge because it meant that I was almost home. On that particular evening,the hedge had just come into view when I saw something gray moving along the top of the hedge,moving toward the house. Upon closer observation,I realized it was the top of my father's head. Then I knew,each time I'd come home,he had stood behind the hedge,watching,until he knew I had arrived safely. I swallowed hard against the tears. He did care,after all.
On later visits,that spot of gray became my watchtower. I could hardly wait until I was close enough to watch for its secret movement above the greenery. Upon reaching home,I would find my father sitting innocently in his chair. "So! My son,it's you!" he'd say,his face lengthening into pretended surprise.
I replied,"Yes,Dad,it's me. I'm home." | high12011.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in 1989 Hong Kong was the largest foreign investor in the U.S."
},
"options": [
"South Africa controlled about $19.2 billion in sales in 1990",
"in 1989 Hong Kong was the largest foreign investor in the U.S.",
"more and more ... | The combined sales of the 100 largest foreign investing companies in the U.S. increased by 40% in the two years between 1987 and 1989, and the number has continued to increase steadily. In 1990, South Africa proved to be the largest financial investor in the U.S., controlling about $19.2 billion in sales. The Netherlands and the U.K. follow as second largest investors--and Germany next. New of the list of the top 100 foreign investors are 12 banking and finance and insurance companies--the largest, the Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corp from Hong Kong. The number of Latin American companies engaged in business here is growing steadily, often through third country holding companies.
Why are so many firms coming to the U.S.? There are many reasons. One of the greatest attractions, of course, is a market of over 200 million consumers with a high average per capital income. In addition, with the devalued dollar the cost of American labor has declined markedly, relative to many foreign labor costs. Some firms seeking to avoid bureaucratic and/or political pressures at home find the U.S. a politically stable environment in which to work. Many hope they may be able to continue selling to the American market even if the U.S. Government restricts imports further, or if major price changes occur due to currency fluctuations . Many foreigners are attracted by U.S. technology, its modern management methods, its labor saving and mass production techniques. | high6899.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "held her first lemonade stand in 2001"
},
"options": [
"couldn't walk until she was four",
"held her first lemonade stand in 2001",
"was the only daughter of the Scotts",
"was born with cancer"
],
"question": "I... | Alexandra Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester, Connecticut on January 18, 1996, the second of four children. Shortly before her first birthday, Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer.
On her first birthday, the doctors informed Alex's parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later, Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents' request to kick. This was the first indication that she would turn out to be a courageous and confident child with big dreams and big accomplishments.
By her second birthday, Alex was able to stand up with leg braces . She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be overcoming the difficul-ties, until the shocking discovery within the next year that her tumors had started growing again. In the year 2000, the day after her fourth birthday, Alex received a stem cell transplant and informed her mother, "When I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand. " She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to help other kids, like they helped me. True to her word, she held her first lemonade stand later that year with the help of her older brother and raised an amazing $ 2,000 for her hospital.
People from all over the world, moved by her story, held their own lemonade stands and donated the earnings to Alex and her cause. In August of 2004, Alex passed away at the age of 8, knowing that, with the help of others, she had raised more than $ 1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex's family--including brothers Patrick, Eddie, and Joey--and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring cause through Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. | high12777.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "prevent more marine species being endangered"
},
"options": [
"contribute to a complete eco-system",
"prevent more marine species being endangered",
"set up a large nature reserve for reefs",
"raise more teenagers' envi... | I don't think I can recall a time when I wasn't aware of the beauty of the ocean. Growing up in Australia, I had the good fortune of having the sea at my side. The first time I went to Half moon Bay. _ .
For my 10thbirthday, my sister and I were taken out to the Great Barrier Reef. There were fish in different colors, caves and layers of coral. They made such an impression on me. When I learned that only 1 percent of Australia's Coral Sea was protected, I was shocked. Australian marine life is particularly important because the reef shave more marine species than any other country on earth. But sadly, only 45% of the world's reefs are considered healthy.
This statistic is depressing, so it's important to do everything to protect them. The hope that the Coral Sea remains a complete eco-system has led me to take action. I've become involved with the Protect Our Coral Sea activity, which aims to create the largest marine park in the world. It would serve as a place where the ocean's species will all have a safe place forever.
Together, Angus and I created a little video and we hope it will inspire people to be a part of the movement. Angus also shares many beautiful childhood memories of the ocean as a young boy, who grew up sailing, admiring the beauty of the ocean, and trying to find the secrets of ocean species. | high13469.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Missouri"
},
"options": [
"Texas",
"Michigan",
"Missouri",
"Louisiana"
],
"question": "People are not permitted to hunt wild pigs freely in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": ... | On May 23rd the United States Department of Agriculture will meet to discuss the pressing topic of wild pigs. These beasts, which number 6 million or so, are an increasing bother. At their worst, they can damage crops, spread diseases, attack humans and kill farm animals. And things are getting worse: a study show that they are likely to double in number over the next 3 years. Why is it so hard to control wild pigs?
Introduced to America in the 16th century, and related to the wild pigs found in Europe, wild pigs can be found in 75% of all states. No single law exists to control them and regulations differ between states: while in Missouri they can only be shot if met by chance, in Texas hunting is actively encouraged. A "pork chopper" law allows Texan hunters to shoot wild pigs from helicopters, and some people in Louisiana have even built their own pighunting drone . As well as being popular with hunters, wild pigs are cheaper for game raisers to breed than deer. In Michigan and Pennsylvania suggested bans on the private breeding of pigs for hunting have caused quarrels between game raisers and wildlife officials.
Wild pigs' double nature----considered pests by farmers, but valued by hunters----makes it hard to pass laws to control them. Two other factors also contribute. Nearly 70% of land in America is privately owned. And it is difficult for lawmakers to impose breeding and hunting laws on private landowners. Secondly, it is hard to define a wild pig.
In some states, laws are being introduced to redefine the term "wild animal" to keep out wild pigs. This is good news for those raising pigs for hunting, but less are to those who consider them pests whose number should be limited. Meanwhile, discussions continue over how to deal with this problem. | high6641.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "showed less interest in their favorites"
},
"options": [
"changed their preferences",
"escaped from the water more eagerly",
"remained active as before",
"showed less interest in their favorites"
],
"question": ... | Doctors sometimes use light therapy to treat a form of depression in people who get too little morning sun. But too much light at other times may actually cause such mood disorder. Long-lasting exposure to light at night brings depression, a new study finds, at least in animals.
The new data confirm observations from studies of people who work night shifts, says Richard Stevens of the University of Connecticut Health Center. Mood disorders join a growing list of problems, including cancer, obesity and diabetes that can occur when light throws life out of balance by disturbing the biological clock and its timing of daily rhythms.
In the new study, Tracy Bedrosian and Randy Nelson of Ohio State University exposed mice to normal light and dark cycles for four weeks. For the next four weeks, half of the mice remained on this schedule, and the rest received continuous dim light throughout their night. Compared with mice exposed to normal night-time darkness, those getting dim light at night lost their strong preference for sweet drinks. "A sign that they no longer get pleasure out of activities they once enjoyed," Bedrosian says.
In a second test, mice were clocked on how long they actively tried to escape a pool of water. Those exposed to night lights stopped struggling and just floated in the water, a sign of "behavioral despair", 10 times as long as the mice that had experienced normal night-time darkness. All symptoms of depression disappeared within two weeks of the mice returning to a normal light-dark cycle, the researchers report. The scientists could also _ the behavioral symptoms by injecting the brains of animals with a drug that prohibits the activity of certain molecules linked with human depression. This finding further suggests that light at night may cause something related to depression.
Human studies linking night-time light and mood disorders are important but can not easily detect molecular underpinnings as animal studies can, says George Brainard of Thomas Jefferson University. The new work, he says, suggests that the change of the biological clock by light at night can be "an extremely powerful force in regulating biology and behavior". | high9572.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the moving love story between Tinker Bell and Terrence."
},
"options": [
"the attractive details",
"the lively animation characters",
"the three - dimensional animation",
"the moving love story between Tinker Bell and T... | If there's a child in your house who likes pixies , nature, or magic, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure is sure to be a hit. This beautifully animated film is a first class production in every way, and features the familiar voices of Kristin Chenoweth, Anjelica Huston, Jane Horrocks, Lucy Liu, and Raven Symone.The movie offers up an adventure that's easy enough to follow, but complex enough to hold one's
attention, and even throws in a nice little moral about friendship.What can I say? I'm pleasantly surprised.
The promising Mae Whitman voices Tinker Bell herself, a far more dynamic character than we met in Peter Pan.Though Tinker still possesses her fiery temper, it doesn't _ itself immediately, and takes a backseat to this pixie's many good qualities. As it turns out, Tinker Bell is extremely skilled at tinkering ( ), so she is a natural choice to build a special scepter ,for Pixie Hollow's Autumn Celebration.The scepter will hold the moonstone through which the light of the Blue Moon will pass, supplying Pixie Hollow with enough pixie dust for the year ahead.
For days, Tinkers works hard on the perfect scepter design while her good friend Terrence does his best to assist. When Terrence accidentally breaks the Moon Stone, Tinker Bell "explodes and sends him away.One of Tinker's more literal friends finds this extremely concerning, as she doesn't' quite understand
that the outburst was emotional rather than physical - very funny indeed.
After hearing the legend of the lost treasure, Tinker Bell strikes out on her own to find a new Moon Stone.She faces many difficulties and meets new friends along the way, but when Terrence comes to the rescue at Tinker's darkest hour, she realizes the value of a truly loyal friend. Though the film offers a positive message to young viewers, it's the animation that makes Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure stand out.Pixie Hollow is a charming, visually stunning world basked in lush colors.It's so lovely, so detailed, so
three - dimensional that you almost want to step inside. | high2427.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "There are more people using e-mail compared with those searching information on the internet."
},
"options": [
"Chinese people are now spending more time surfing the net than watching TV.",
"There are more Chinese people using the ... | Chinese people are now spending more time surfing the net than watching TV, according to results of a survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) published Thursday.
The survey, of citizens of five Chinese cities, found that 79 percent of interviewees use the internet for information, and 55.1 percent to read news on the internet. About 63 percent of the interviewees use e-mail. The average times spent surfing the net and watching TV were 2.73 hours and 1.29hours, respectively.
Only 10.4 percent reported use the internet primarily to send and receive email; 65.9 percent read online news; 62.2 quite often play games on-line. More and more people have taken an interest in the entertainment opportunities online. Up to 56.5 percent of interviewees quite often download music, and 53.5 percent get entertainment messages from the internet.
Yet the survey found that television is still the dominant mass medium. Seventy-nine percent of interviewees choose to watch TV to get information, and another 75 percent take newspapers as important as TV.
Five major web sites in the Chinese language, namely Sina, Sohu, Netease, Baidu and Yahoo are still ranked top ones by web users, and those that voted for Sina as the best among them were 30.9 percent.
Authorized statistics showed that web users in China have already
100 million, second to that of the United States. | high16511.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "healthy babies are born with nice pink skin"
},
"options": [
"the expression has a very long history",
"the color1 pink makes people feel happy",
"people think the color1 pink is gentler than red",
"healthy babies are b... | As is known to all, color1s appear in every language to express people's feeling and thoughts.Then, what is the situation in American English?
Red is a hot color1.Americans may say they are red hot about something unfair.They are red hot when they are very angry about something.The small hot-tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hot for their color1 and their fiery taste.Fast loud music is popular with many people.They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland Jazz.
Pink is a lighter kind of red.People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health.The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century.It comes from the fact that many babies are born with nice pink skin that shows that they are in good health.
The color1 black is often used in expressions.People describe a day on which everything goes wrong as a black day.People or things on a blacklist are connected with things illegal now.But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.
The color1 green is natural for trees and grass.But it is an unnatural color1 for humans.A person who has a sick feeling in his stomach may say he feels a little green.A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.
Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has.That person may say he is green with envy.Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or greenbacks.Dollars are called greenbacks because green is the color1 of the back side of the paper money. | high19622.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Twain's attack on racism was much less open."
},
"options": [
"Twain was more willing to deal with racism.",
"Twain's attack on racism was much less open.",
"Twain's themes seemed to agree with plots.",
"Twain was openl... | Mark Twain has been called the inventor of the American novel. And he surely deserves additional praise: the man who popularized the clever literary attack on racism.
I say clever because anti-slavery fiction had been the important part of the literature in the years before the Civil War. H. B. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is only the most famous example. These early stories dealt directly with slavery. With minor exceptions, Twain planted his attacks on slavery and prejudice into tales that were on the surface about something else entirely. He drew his readers into the argument by drawing them into the story.
Again and again, in the postwar years, Twain seemed forced to deal with the challenge of race. Consider the most controversial, at least today, of Twain's novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Only a few books have been kicked off the shelves as often as Huckleberry Finn, Twain's most widely read tale. Once upon a time, people hated the book because it struck them as rude. Twain himself wrote that those who banned the book considered the novel "trash and suitable only for the slums ." More recently the book has been attacked because of the character Jim, the escaped slave, and many occurences of the word nigger. (The term Nigger Jim, for which the novel is often severely criticized, never appears in it.)
But the attacks were and are silly--and miss the point. The novel is strongly anti-slavery. Jim's search through the slave states for the family from whom he has been forcibly parted is heroic. As J. Chadwick has pointed out, the character of Jim was a first in American fiction--a recognition that the slave had two personalities, "the voice of survival within a white slave culture and the voice of the individual: Jim, the father and the man."
There is much more. Twain's mystery novel Pudd'nhead Wilson stood as a challenge to the racial beliefs of even many of the liberals of his day. Written at a time when the accepted wisdom held Negroes to be inferior to whites, especially in intelligence, Twain's tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth. A slave gave birth to her master's baby and, for fear that the child should be sold South, switched him for the master's baby by his wife. The slave's lightskinned child was taken to be white and grew up with both the attitudes and the education of the slave-holding class. The master's wife's baby was taken for black and grew up with the attitudes and intonations of the slave.
The point was difficult to miss: nurture , not nature, was the key to social status. The features of the black man that provided the stuff of prejudice--manner of speech, for example-- were, to Twain, indicative of nothing other than the conditioning that slavery forced on its victims.
Twain's racial tone was not perfect. One is left uneasy, for example, by the lengthy passage in his autobiography about how much he loved what were called "nigger shows" in his youth--mostly with white men performing in black-face--and his delight in getting his mother to laugh at them. Yet there is no reason to think Twain saw the shows as representing reality. His frequent attacks on slavery and prejudice suggest his keen awareness that _ did not.
Was Twain a racist? Asking the question in the 21st century is as wise as asking the same of Lincoln. If we read the words and attitudes of the past through the "wisdom" of the considered moral judgments of the present, we will find nothing but error. Lincoln, who believed the black man the inferior of the white, fought and won a war to free him. And Twain, raised in a slave state, briefly a soldier, and inventor of Jim, may have done more to anger the nation over racial injustice and awaken its collective conscience than any other novelist in the past century. | high4056.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Taking moderate exercise every day"
},
"options": [
"Drinking a proper amount of red wine every day.",
"Eating bread made of whole grains",
"Adding Vitamin C-powered seeds to meals",
"Taking moderate exercise every day"... | As is known, healthy foods can help save your life.Now, here is a list of healthy foods that can save your memory.It is best that every person knows what he eats, as he takes in, can make or break himself, in terms of health.
Fish is helpful in regaining back the kind of memory that a person once has.Eating fish can help you save the trouble of forgetfulness.Vegetables rich in fiber and other dark and green leafy kinds are very suitable for people who want to avoid mental blocks.These foods contain high units of vitamin E.
Another food that is considered having different effects on preventing this brain deficiency is avocado , which is also rich in vitamins E and C.It is really good to know these healthy foods that can save your memory are always at hand so as to help you in your fight against diseases.Sunflower seeds are regarded as Vitamin C-powered seeds and also give you enough energy.
As for red wine, do not over consume it, as it is said to have to be taken in moderate amounts in order to help the body.Over-drinking can cause illness and like anything else.This is considered as one of the healthy foods that can save your memory; alcohol can otherwise lose it.
It is better to consume color1ed bread, rice and whole grains for you t o get the best out of fiber.These foods can lower the body' s risk of being infected with Alzheimer' s disease.
Knowing the healthy foods that can save your memory is living the life that you have longed and desired.Among the others, the best, of course, is exercise.Taking in different kind of exercises, physical activities or sports can keep both your body and mind healthy | high20048.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Nice but unintelligent."
},
"options": [
"Nice but unintelligent.",
"Creative but unattractive.",
"Competent but unfriendly.",
"Humorous but unambitious."
],
"question": "According to the research,which kind of ... | Camaraderie over Competence
The importance of liking people is the subject of an article in the Harvard Business Review,which has carried out an experiment to find out who we'd rather work with.Hardly surprisingly,the people we want most as our workmates are both:brilliant at their jobs and delightful human beings.And the people we want least are both unpleasant and useless.More interestingly,the authors found that,given the choice between working with lovable fools and competent jerks ,we irresistibly choose the former.Anyway,who likes those stupid men who annoy or hurt other people?We might insist that competence matters more,but our behavior shows we stay close to the people we like and sharing information with them.
What companies should therefore do is get people to like each other more.The trick here is apparently to make sure staffs come across each other as often as possible during the day.They also should be sent on bonding courses and so on to encourage friendliness and break down displeasure.However,more outdoor-activity weekends and shared coffee machines inspire no confidence at all.
The reality is that people either like each other or they don't.You can't force it.Possibly you can make offices friendlier by tolerating a lot of chat,but there is a productivity cost to that.In my experience,the question of lovable fool against competent jerk may not be the right one.The two are interrelated:we tend not to like our workmates when they are completely hopeless.I was once quite friendly with a woman whom I later worked with.I found her to be so outstandingly bad at her job that I lost respect for her and ended up not really liking her at all.Then is there anything that companies should be doing about it?
By far the most effective strategy would be to hire people who are all pretty much the same,given that similarity is one of the main determinants of whether we like each other.I think this is a pretty good idea,but no one dares recommend this anymore without offending the diversity lobby group.There is only one acceptable view on this subject:teams of similar people are bad because they stop creativity.This may be true,though I have never seen any conclusive proof of it.
Not only do we like similar people,we like people who like us.So if companies want to promote more liking,they should encourage a culture where we are all nice to each other.The trouble is that this needs to be done with some skill. | high19811.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The link between cellphone use and brain cancer."
},
"options": [
"The current situation of cellphone use.",
"To phone or not to phone.",
"The link between cellphone use and brain cancer.",
"Long-term harmful effects of... | The worldwide increase in the use of cellphones has caused concerns regarding possible harmful effects caused by cellphone radiation. People are particularly concerned that the radiation will put cellphone users at a higher risk of suffering from cancer. However, studies of the association between cellphone use and the risk of brain cancer have reached different conclusions(some, but not all, studies showed increased risk).
Researchers conducted a study to examine if cellphone radiation affected regional activity in the human brain. The study, conducted between January 1 and December 31, 2009,included 47 participants. Cellphones were placed on the left and right ears, and brain imaging was performed to measure brain glucose metabolism twice: one with the right cellphone activated for 50 minutes("on" condition) and once with both cellphones deactivated("off" condition). An analysis was conducted to check the association of metabolism and cellphone radiation. The scans were compared to assess the effect of cellphone use on brain glucose metabolism.
The researchers found that whole-brain metabolism did not differ between the on and off conditions. However there were regional effects. Metabolism in some brain region was higher (about 7 percent) for cellphone on than for cellphone off conditions. This indicates that the regions expected to absorb more cellphone radiation were the ones that showed the larger increases in glucose metabolism.
These results provide evidence that the human brain is sensitive to the effects of acute cellphone radiation. However, how cellphone radiation could affect brain glucose metabolism is unclear.
Concerns have been raised by the possibility that cellphone radiation may _ brain cancer. Results of this study provide evidence that acute cellphone radiation affects brain metabolic activity. However, these results provide no information as to their connection regarding possible carcinogenic effects (or lack of such effects) of chronic cellphone use.
Further studies are needed to assess if these effects could have long-term harm. | high22887.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "children often wear new clothes"
},
"options": [
"people don't mention things they have done wrong",
"children often wear new clothes",
"loaves and fruits are often not allowed to be served",
"Shofar is their favourite ... | Nowroz: Iranian New Year or Nowroz is celebrated on the first day of spring sometime in March. People sing, dance and parade as in a carnival through the streets with drums and trumpets to spread the news of the coming new year.
Rosh Hashanah: The Jewish New Year is called "Rosh Hashanah", and is celebrated in the month of September. It is a holy time when people think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and promise to do better in the future. Special prayers are held, and an instrument called a Shofar is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruits are served to remind people of harvest time.
Shogatsu: In Japan, the New Year (Shogatsu) celebrations are from January 1 to January 3 and most Japanese don't work during these days. In Japan, the New Year is a fresh start. This means that in December all duties should be completed. Parties are held to forget the worries and troubles of the old year. Homes and cars are decorated. On New Year's Eve, most people spend their time with their families.
Bahai New Year: The Bahai people have their own calendar consisting of nineteen months of nineteen days plus a couple of extra days between the eighteenth and nineteenth months. They have, however, adopted the Iranian custom of beginning the New Year in the spring equinox . The New Year celebrations are held on the evening of March 20th. | high451.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "colleague"
},
"options": [
"lover",
"colleague",
"actor",
"doctor-patient"
],
"question": "What is the relationship between Song Joong-ki and Song hye-hyo?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | In the latest romance-drama, Descendants of the Sun (<<>> ), a handsome soldier Yoo Shi-jin (Song Joong-ki) meets the pretty doctor Kang Mo-yeon (Song Hye-kyo) in a hospital, and he doesn't hesitate to hit on her.
The dialogue, which takes place early in the first episode, immediately indicates that this is no ordinary South Korean drama. There's no family feud, or secret crush, or love tangles, or guesses and misunderstandings. The 16-episode show is set in the fictional war-torn country of Uruk . Song Joong-ki is the leader of a special warfare command unit, while Song Hye-kyo plays a doctor who works for a humanitarian medical organization. Both are sent in the midst of disaster and disease as part of their work with UN peacekeeping troops. Both know and show clearly what they want and what they hate.
But what stands out the most are Song's skills as a pick-up artist .
Boldness and creativity are the key weapons in his arsenal. When Kang invites Yoo to drink wine with her, Yoo, who is not allowed to drink alcohol as a soldier, says, "There is a way" before kissing her. Forget about the "eighth-episode rule". This kiss happens in the fourth.
Humor also does the trick. On their first date in a cinema, Yoo says, "This is the most exciting moment of my life. The moment I am with a beautiful woman before the theater lights go out." When Kang tries to give Yoo a hard time, Yoo jokes, "I mistook you for a beautiful woman because it's dark."
And actor Song Joong-ki, who just came back from two years of military service last May, makes sure he delivers his pick-up lines just right.
"In Deep Rooted Tree (<<>> ) and The Innocent Man (<<>> ), he [Song Joong-ki] showed he had the steel to play fearless and heartless men - that he could be taken seriously as an actor, despite his pretty face. In Descendants, he hits the emotional core of every scene, whether he has to be bold and amorous, guarded and mysterious, or sad," said critic Foong Woei Wan in The Straits Times. | high13482.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "His old glasses were broken."
},
"options": [
"It was very warm and fine.",
"His old glasses were broken.",
"His glasses were missing.",
"He forgot to wear his glasses."
],
"question": "Why didn't the clerk Char... | My wife and I have always been friendly with the clerks at the local convenience store. I don't think many people appreciate what a difficult job these folks have. They work for a little over minimum wage and I often wonder how they make ends meet.
One of the clerks, Charlie, was always wearing his glasses but he didn't one day. I asked him about it and he said they'd been out of order and that he couldn't afford a new pair. His family needed money. It was obvious that he was having a difficult time.
We wanted to help him, so we turned to our own eye doctor for assistance with a plan. We had his secretary contact him, asking him to come in for an eye exam for free. We told the doctor to let him order whatever glasses he wanted and that we would pay for them. Although Charlie questioned what was going on, the doctor just told him that someone had offered the money for his new glasses. When we went in to pay the bill, the doctor told us he was so touched by our idea that he _ the exam fee and only charged us for half the price of the glasses!
It was so wonderful to see Charlie in her new glasses and he enjoyed telling all the regular customers how the gift came about. I'm sure that upon hearing her story, ideas of kindness may have emerged in the minds of many. | high12944.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Married women."
},
"options": [
"Students.",
"Married women.",
"Children.",
"Husbands."
],
"question": "Who does the writer intend to write to?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {... | Everyone is busy nowadays.It's hard to find time for anything.From the time we wake up in the morning until the time we go to bed, it's hard to find 30 minutes to simply be by yourself.If you are married with children, I know you can relate to what I am saying.
I would love to have a few days when I come home to an empty house with peace and quiet. There are days when you wish everyone on the other side of the door would simply disappear for about an hour so you can come home and relax without having to start dinner, bathe children, iron clothes for the next day. In fact, finding time to be by yourself is totally necessary if you wish to live a happy, and purpose driven life.
If there is noise going on around you it's impossible to hear the quiet voice that speaks inside of us--that guides us and gives us direction on which path we should take and that is no good. Most of the stuff that we need- to get done, does nothing towards our personal development.If you simply let life direct you, you will find that there is never time to take simply for yourself. Yes, you can schedule a vacation every now and then and that is great. No matter how busy your life may be, spend time each day by yourself to think and reflect on life and listen to that inner voice. So by yourself! Go somewhere you won't be disturbed by the children, the _ , the phone, the television, the radio, or your emails. Go somewhere you can have total peace and quiet.Pick a time that is convenient for you. | high22139.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Chinese students did better than their UScounterparts in the first two tests '"
},
"options": [
"Chinese students and their UScounterparts did poorly in the first two tests",
"Chinese students did better than their UScounterpart... | Science. And technology students in China and the US have a1ong way to go before they call develop a deep understanding of scientific reasoning, researchers have found.
As part of a research to compare science education in China and the US,LeiBao, a professor
from the Department of Physics of the Ohio State University, gave 5,760;freshmen in three US and four Chinese universities two tests to evaluate content knowledge and another to assess scientific reasoning
|Though Chinese students did better than theirprefix = st1 /UScounterparts in the first two tests that Emphasized on learning facts, both groups "scored ly poorly" on the third test, designed to assess their ability on systematically explore a problem, the results showed.
Lei Bao said that the finding challenges conventional wisdom,which holds that teaching science facts will improve students' reasoning ability."Our study shows that ,contrary to what many people would expect,even when students are thoroughly taught the facts,they don't necessarily develop the reasoning skills they need to succeed.''IBao said:'"Because students need both knowledge and reasoning, we need to explore teaching methods that target both."
'The current education systems and assessments of China and the US do not emphasize on deep understanding of scientific reasoning in the disciplines of science;technology, engineering and mathematics(STEM),the study concluded.
Bao explained that reasoning is good skill for everyone to possess-not just scientists and engineers:The general public also need good reasoning skills in order to correctly interpret scientific findings and think rationally.STEM students need to _ scientific reasoning in order to handle open-ended real-world tasks in their future careers in science and engineering.
How to boost scientific reasoning? The study suggests that educators must go beyond teaching science facts if they hope to boost students' reasoning ability.Bao points to inquiry-based leaning. where students work in groups,question teachers and design their own investigations.This teaching technique is growing in popularity worldwide. | high23227.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "25% of them"
},
"options": [
"12.5% of them",
"25% of them",
"50% of them",
"75% of them"
],
"question": "How many adults became fat after eating fast foods a generation ago?",
"question_type": "factiod_ques... | Every day, about one-quarter of American adults eat at fast-food restaurants. Cheap, tasty, and convenient, fast food is rich in fat and calories, and it's low in fiber and nutrients. Thanks in large part to fast food, half of America's adults and one-quarter of its children are fat, double the rate of a generation ago. In the past two decades, eating habits have changed as people pay more attention to their health. However, many Americans continue to eat red meat (beef in particular) as well as pork, chicken and other foods. Although beer and wine are popular in most areas, many Americans _ alcohol, because they think they will become healthier without drinking it. Various kinds of mineral water are commonly available.
Eating styles and habits vary between people of different backgrounds, but Americans generally eat with the fork in the hand with which they write. A knife is used for cutting and spreading; otherwise, it is laid on the plate or table. Fast foods, such as chips, fried chicken, hamburgers, and pizza, tend to be eaten with the fingers. There is an obvious difference between what people may do at home or in a fast-food restaurant, and how they act in a more formal restaurant. Because both parents often work outside the home, some Americans are less likely to sit down as a family to eat once the children are older and able to prepare their own food or serve themselves. | high337.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "lived in underground cities"
},
"options": [
"knew so much about the earth",
"understood their language",
"lived in underground cities",
"were advanced in technology"
],
"question": "The explorers in H. G. Well'... | People have always been dreaming of going to the moon. As long as the year 1901, H. G. Wells, an English writer, wrote a book vividly describing a trip to the moon. On landing there, the explorers discovered that the moon was full of underground cities. Words failed to express their surprise when they spotted so many "moon people". The "moon people" felt even more surprised. "Why," they asked, "are you traveling to outer space when you don't even use your inner space?"
H. G. Wells could only imagine a travel to the moon. In 1969, human beings really left their footsteps on the moon. People today know that there are no underground cities on the moon. However, the question that the "moon people" asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously thinking about _ .
Underground systems are already in place. Many cities have underground car parks. In some cities, such as Tokyo, Seoul and Montreal, there are large underground shopping areas. The "Channel", a tunnel connecting England and France, is now complete.
But what about underground cities? Japan's Taisei Corporation is designing a network of underground systems, called "Alice Cities". The designers imagine using surface space for public parks and using underground space for flats, offices, shopping, and so on. A solar dome would cover the whole city.
Supporters of underground development argue that building down rather than building up is a good way to use the earth's space. The space, they say, can be used for farms, parks, gardens, and wilderness. H. G. Wells' "moon people" would second it. Would you? | high4903.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "show picture the life of the future"
},
"options": [
"show picture the life of the future",
"introduce some high technology",
"tell us the future life is fantastic",
"tell us the future life is convenient"
],
"q... | It's Friday morning in the year 2025, and you're running late. You got distracted watching the music video that as playing in the corner of your bathroom mirror while you were brushing your teeth. How will you get to your office at Mega Giga Industries on time?
A quick check of your Internet-connected refrigerator magnet tells you your train which travels at speeds up to 250 miles an hour as it electromagnetically hovers above its guide track is a bit behind schedule, too. So you decide to drive your environmentally-friendly hydrogen fuel cell car instead or rather _ . It's programmed to know the way, and it will get you there without speeding, getting lost, or crashing.
Sealing into your office chair, which changes color to match what you're wearing, you pick up yesterday morning's newspaper. Printed on reusable electronic paper, it instantly rewrites itself with today's headlines. Now it's time for your big meeting. Uh-oh!
You've left your handwritten notes at home. No problem! The digital ink pen you used has stored an electronic copy of what you wrote.
Your wrist watch videophone suddenly rings. Your best friend's face pops up on the organic light-emitting diode screen asking what you're doing this weekend. Will you slap on your 3D contact lenses and play virtual soccer with the US Olympic team? No, no. Your friend says, so you have to take the new nanotube elevator (made of microscopic fibers many times stronger than steel) 60,000 miles into space.
Could this scene really take place in just a couple of decades? The researchers who are currently developing all this stuff think so. These things may be as common in 20 years as cell phones and DVD players are today. | high10835.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "set a higher life goal"
},
"options": [
"set a higher life goal",
"open your heart to others",
"count how many days you live",
"treat yourself as a great person"
],
"question": "According to the passage, you are... | Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they are meant to be there--to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson or help figure out who you are or who you want to become.
You never know who these people may be but, when you lock eyes with them, you know that every moment they will affect your life in some profound way.
And sometimes things happen to you at the time that may seem horrible, painful and unfair but, upon reflection, you realize that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower or heart.
Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by means of good luck. Illness , injury, love, lost moments of true greatness and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul.
Without these small tests, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. Safe and comfortable but dull and utterly pointless. The people you meet affect your life. The success and downfalls that you experience can create who you are, and the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most important ones.
If someone hurts you, betray you or breaks your heart, forgive them because they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious to whom you open your heart to. If someone loves you, love them back, unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because they are teaching you to love and open your heart and eyes to little things.
Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take from it everything that you possibly can, you are never be able to experience it again. Talk to people you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free and set your sights high.
Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. | high21430.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "know little about the real city life"
},
"options": [
"have never experienced city life",
"can only understand the rural life",
"prefer the small close community",
"know little about the real city life"
],
"ques... | Not many people can say that they have lived in two totally different environments, and technically neither can I. I have lived in the same house in the same Connecticut town my whole life, but a lot of my childhood and teenage years have been spent visiting my family in New York City.
Wethersfield is a typical New England town, a small close community where almost everyone knows your name. My friends all go to the same high school and my parents are friendly with my friends' parents. Most of my friends don't realize what life is like outside this little town. Maybe every so often a few take a day trip to Manhattan or Boston, but none really knows what it's like to live in an urban environment.
My parents are both from New York City and since they have _ and friends who still live there, we visit a lot. From an early age I have been exposed to urban life. Jeff, one of my cousins, lives with his mother in a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. He has never had his own room and has always been very much on his own. I don't think any of my friends could understand how someone could live like that. www.zxxk.com
When I go to the city I see things I would never see in my hometown. I see poverty and people struggling to make a living. I observe a whole different pace; there, you're just one guy living with millions of others who will never know your name.
I feel blessed to have experienced the lifestyles of two completely different places. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had. I feel that living in Wethersfield has given me a solid base in forming my character and the ability to deal in a close-knit society. On the other hand, my time spent in New York has exposed me to diverse cultural experiences. I feel that I would be comfortable in any environment and could make the best of any situation. | high4917.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Graduates from the countryside ."
},
"options": [
"Graduates in their 20s.",
"Young women looking for love.",
"People between 25 and 35.",
"Graduates from the countryside ."
],
"question": "Who probably belong t... | Recently Chinese society has seen a flowering of a new vocabulary. Perhaps the most interesting has been the division of people into tribes (zu in Chinese).
The pains of the yi zu, or the ant tribe, have been well-known --- recent graduates from outside the main cities who move to urban areas, live cheaply and work hard, often in low-paid jobs. Perhaps less well-known are the ken lao zu, the bite-the-old tribe, those between 25 and 35 who are out of work, still at home and depending completely on Mum and Dad.
Many of the tribes, inevitably , are made up of people looking for love. There is the jia wan zu, the marry-the-bowl tribe. These are young women searching for the most stable husbands, the ones who hold government jobs. The shan hun zu, or lightening-marriage tribe, marry fast and sometimes separate faster. They should not be confused with the yin hun zu, the hidden-marriage tribe. These are women in their 20s who hide the fact that they are married. And if you can only afford a postage stamp of an apartment, you're probably a member of the wo ju zu, the snail-house tribe.
You can belong to more than one tribe. Most members of the ant tribe also belong to the ben ben zu, the rush-rush tribe, to which, in fact, most urban Chinese belong. All that rushing around can create a lot of anger, leading to the nie nie zu, the crush-crush tribe, so named because they go into supermarkets and take out their anger by standing in the passages crushing packets of instant noodles.
Another famous one is the yue guang zu, or moonlight tribe, so named because the Chinese characters for "moonlight" sound the same as the phrase "spend all your monthly salary". Their parents save every coin, but life for these young people is just to spend, spend and spend. | high17196.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "punish the children when necessary"
},
"options": [
"beat the children every day",
"treat the children in a softer way",
"leave the children as they are",
"punish the children when necessary"
],
"question": "The... | The other day at a supermarket, I saw a naughty boy of about six crying loudly, falling to the floor and refusing to move. All the while the troubled mother was trying to persuade him to behave well but failed.A little smack on his bottom would have done the job,I thought.
Teenagers also cause discipline problems.As a teacher, I had a 16-year-old student who had fallen in love with a waiter at a fast-food restaurant.In fact,she had left home to stay with him.So we decided to put her in the school hostel.She refused.When she heard her mother begging her to stay in the hostel she turned round and said:"Why don't you stay in the hostel if you like it so much?"
My palms were itching to slap her for being so rude but the poor mother continued to _ her,hoping that gentle persuasion would work wonders.It did not.The last I heard,she had run away from home again.
The list goes on and on.Could it be that today's parents are softer and believe that they must not rod their children for fear of the bad result? Or do they actually believe that the children will get rid of the bad habits and behave well naturally as they grow older? I beg to disagree.I believe it is the parents' duty to discipline the children even at a young age.
My children who are now adults will prove the fact that I used the rod when I thought it necessary.Later when they went abroad,they related to their British university friends on how they were disciplined.Their friends abroad were filled with horror and told my daughter that I could be charged with child abuse .However,my daughter showed great respect for me when she told them that she would not be where she was today if not for my strict discipline. | high10821.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "economical"
},
"options": [
"convenient",
"economical",
"health-conscious",
"expensive"
],
"question": "Compared with a refrigerator, the cooling System invented by Mohammed Bah Abba is _ .",
"question_ty... | A few degrees can make a big difference when it comes to food storage.Foods can go bad if they get too warm.But for many of the world's poor, finding a good way to keep food cool is difficult.Refrigerators are costly and they need electricity.
Yet spoiled food not only creates health risks but also economic losses.Farmers lose money when they have to throw away products that they cannot sell quickly.
But in nineteen ninety-five a teacher in northern Nigeria named Mohammed Bah Abba found a solution.He developed the "Pot-in-Pot Preservation/Cooling System." It uses two round containers made of clay.A smaller pot is placed inside a larger one.The space between the two pots is filled with wet sand.The inner pot can be filled with fruit, vegetables or drinks.A wet cloth covers the whole cooling system.
Food stored in the smaller pot is kept from spoiling through a simple evaporation process.Water in the sand between the two pots evaporates through the surface of the larger pot, where drier outside air is moving.The evaporation process creates a drop in temperature of several degrees.This cools the inner pot and helps keep food safe from harmful bacteria.Some foods can be kept fresh this way for several weeks.
People throughout Nigeria began using the invention.And it became popular with farmers in other African countries.Mohammed Bah Abba personally financed the first 5,000 pot-in-pot systems for his own community and five villages nearby.
In 2000, the Rolex Watch Company of Switzerland honored him with the Rolex Award for Enterprise.This award recognizes people trying to develop projects aimed at improving human knowledge and well-being.A committee considers projects in science and medicine, technology, exploration and discovery, the environment and cultural history.Winners receive financial assistance to help develop and extend their projects.The award is given every two years.The most recent one was given last year. | high21424.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Cell phones."
},
"options": [
"House keys.",
"Cell phones.",
"Bank cards.",
"Sunglasses."
],
"question": "According to the survey, which do people lose most frequently?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"... | When was the last time you lost something? What was it?
According to a recent survey, we spend about ten minutes a day looking for lost things. Over an average lifetime, this adds up to an incredible 3,680 hours (or 153 days). Is there anything we can do about it?
The study of 3,000 adults was carried out by home insurance company Esure. They found that mobile phones and car keys were the most frequently lost items. Other things on the list included: house keys, bills, sunglasses, wallets, bank cards, watches, jewellery (particularly rings and earrings).
So, what's going on? "Most blame it on a busy lifestyle," says Nikki Sellers, the head of Esure. Others say it's the fault of spouses or children for not putting things back where they belong. A few admitted to untidiness, absent-mindedness and a poor memory, with some wishing they were more organized.
What's the solution? "You need to choose a particular place for something and always put it back there," said Nikki Sellers. "And you need to make sure everyone else in the house knows where to put it back too. You also need to keep your house tidy, label boxes clearly and find a place near the front door for all the items that you need in the morning. A good idea would be to have a shelf there with a bowl for your keys, purse, wallet and anything else." she added.
If you are still having trouble finding things, don't worry -- things could be a lot worse: fourteen people in the survey said they spent over an hour every day looking for lost items. Surely you can't be as bad as that! | high23233.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "at dusk"
},
"options": [
"in the morning",
"in the afternoon",
"at dusk",
"at midnight"
],
"question": "We know from the text that the story happened _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | One day, when old Jacob and little Jacoble were walking home, the sun began to go down. Old Jacob was thinking of his house and little Jacoble didn't know what to think. Then he thought of a wonderful idea, and he cried, "Jacob! Do you know what I saw yesterday? I saw a green rabbit. It was flying in the air and it was so big, even bigger than an elephant!"
"You saw that with your own eyes?" asked old Jacob. "Of course I did," said Jacoble proudly. "It's a good thing that you really saw that big, flying, green rabbit," said old Jacob, "because that old bridge we are going to walk over is a very strange one. As soon as anyone who hasn't told the truth comes on it, the bridge breaks in two." They continued walking.
"Jacob," said Jacoble a little later, "you know that big, green, flying rabbit I saw yesterday ... Well, it wasn't really flying, and ... it wasn't quite as big as an elephant ... but it was very big, about the size of a horse!" "Big as a horse?" asked Jacob as they got closer to the bridge and little Jacoble began not to feel so well.
"Jacob," said Jacoble. "That big, green rabbit I saw yesterday, well, I had something in my eye and so I couldn't see that well. It wasn't a very big rabbit but it was green. Yes, that's what it was -- all green!"
Old Jacob didn't say a word. He just walked over the bridge. But Jacoble didn't go after him because he was afraid and he knew why he was afraid. He stood at the bridge and said, "Oh, Jacob! You know that rabbit I saw yesterday. It wasn't green. No. It was just a little, brown rabbit."
Then he was not afraid of anything any more and he ran happily over the bridge. | high323.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Those who suffered from stress."
},
"options": [
"Those who blogged regularly.",
"Those who suffered from stress.",
"Those who had never blogged before.",
"Those who had poor social skills."
],
"question": "_ w... | According to a new study by Israel researchers from University of Haifa, posting blogs to express feelings and emotions is _ for children aged 13-17. Psychology professors Meyran Boniel-Nissim and Azy Barak have found that a teenager writing a publicly-viewed blog on the Internet is more effective for relieving stress rather than keeping a private diary. The study, published in the journalPsychological Services, supports that expressing oneself through writing can be therapeutic.
To conduct the research, Boniel-Nissim and Barak randomly selected Israeli high school students who displayed a certain degree of stress. The teenagers were then divided into six groups. Two groups were asked to post blogs twice a week about their social difficulties, but only one of them was asked to open the blogs for comments. The next set of groups were also asked to blog twice a week to post about whatever was going on in their mind, again with one group allowing comments. The two control groups were asked to keep an old-fashioned private diary.
The researchers then collected the blog posts and diaries to discuss the adolescents' emotional and social position. From the research, they saw that the greatest improvement in mood was with the bloggers who wrote about their personal troubles and allowed people to interact with their posts. The research also noted that the comments were mostly positive and constructive. Boniel-Nissim and Barak said that the commentators' interactions helped the bloggers while they were distressed. The conclusive research noted that expressing yourself on the Internet not only let others know what was personally going on with you, but also helped you figure out some things about yourself too. | high445.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Online Newspaper Readership Grows"
},
"options": [
"Online Newspaper Readership Grows",
"Convenient Way to Read Newspapers",
"rThe Internet Is Taking over in the World",
"Print Newspapers Have Lost Their Advantages"
... | NEW YORK (Reuters)-- The average number of monthly visitors to U. S. newspaper websites rose by nearly a third in the first half of 2006,a study released on Wednesday said,though print readership at some larger papers fell.
The study, released by the Newspaper Association of America, underlines the internet' s importance to papers beset by failing circulation and advertising income in their print editions.
The average number of unique visitors to online newspaper sites in the first half was more than 55.5 million a month ,the study said. That compares with 42.2 million a year earlier. "Newspaper websites have become a significant addition to the print product, and are driving large audience growth, " said John Kimball9the association' s chief marketing officer. The number of page views at newspaper sites rose by about 52 percent in the first half, the association added.
US Newspaper publishers have been fighting to hold on to advertisers as many of them lose readers to other media, including the Internet,
Key to the latest report is the finding that websites are bringing in more younger readers, the association said.
The Washington Post, s website increased its audience reachamong readers aged25 to 34 by more than 60 percent, the report said. Audience reach^combines the average weekly print audience and the net 30 - day website audience.
Overall, newspaper websites helped drive a 15 percent increase in the total newspaper audience for 25 - to - 34 - year olds and a 10 - percent increase for 18 - to 24 - year olds, the association said.
It did not provide comparisons to the same period last year for total print newspaper readership. Readership numbers, which were provided by Scarborough Research, include circulation, shared copies and any other way that someone could end up reading a newspaper.
Print readership fell, according to a comparison of figures from the two periods conducted by Renter,. '
The New York Times readership dropped 5. 8 percent, while the largest U. S. paper, USA Today, fell 3 percent. The Wall Street Journal saw readership remain nearly the same. | high22893.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They got punished"
},
"options": [
"They got punished",
"They eat the food",
"They get some advice",
"They get fired"
],
"question": "What will happen to assistants who overcook food?",
"question_type": "fac... | Top chefs aren't known for their friendly character. Assistants who overcook food by ten seconds usually struggle to get out of the kitchen alive. My father was a top chef. We'd had a stormy relationship for years, but I decided to follow in his footsteps anyway, and train as a chef. It was better than the dead-end I 'd reach with the job I'd been doing.
After three years, I became head chef in a restaurant called The Tortoise. As the boss, I made important decision but if anything went wrong, I was the one who should take the responsibility. Experiencing the sweaty kitchens, I learned why my father was the way he was. When I began, _ ---I just wanted a regular job--but soon I realized my career was taking off. The rich and famous started to visit the restaurant and eventually came the time when I had to decide about my future: I could either open my own restaurant or go and work for one of the big ones. Then life made the decision for me. My father tried and I got his job.
On my first day, I received an unfriendly welcome. No one would talk to me. What made it worse was that I was ill--I had a cold , and my hands were shaking as I went into the kitchen. I held my breath, stood up in front of everyone and said, My name is Leah Kleist. You all know my father. whether you loved him or hated him, I don't care. He is the past. Now let's get to work. And we did. | high13496.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "nothing"
},
"options": [
"PS43.00",
"PS36.00",
"PS89",
"nothing"
],
"question": "With a London pass, you are expected to spend _ when visiting Tower of London and Windsor Castle.",
"question_type": "cloz... | The London Pass is the final sightseeing package that has been specially tailor-made for visitors to the city. It allows holders to make the most out of their trip, saving them both time and money. With the London Pass you will get the following:
*Free entry to your choice of over 60 popular attractions, tours, sights and museums
*A useful 160 page guidebook about the attractions plus helpful tips about the city
*Ability to skip the lines at the selected attractions to save time
*Optional travel card to cover all of your transport needs
The London Pass Saves You Money
London can be an expensive city, and its tourist attractions are no exception. However, going sightseeing with a London Pass, you could make some great savings. Take a look at the normal gate price for some popular London attractions: Tower of London PS19.00; Thames River Cruise PS19.00; Windsor Castle PS17.00; London Bridge Experience PS23.00; St Paul's Cathedral PS15.00. Visiting those five attractions will cost well over PS89. With a London Pass, these and many more attractions won't cost you a penny.
The London Pass Saves You Time
London is a popular destination, therefore, attractions and sights do get very busy. Waiting in line can sometimes take hours from your sightseeing experience--that's why London Pass holders get to skip the queue at key attractions such as Tower of London, Windsor Castle and London Bridge Experience. Also, the map of London and the information about the city's public transportation system available in our guidebook help plan the perfect sightseeing _ to maximize your time in the city.
Practical Information
Adult ticket: PS43.00
Address: Charing Cross Road, London
Tel: 01664 485020 | high23555.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a mathematician couldn't earn a lot of money"
},
"options": [
"a mathematician needed a good memory",
"a mathematician couldn't earn a lot of money",
"Neumann has a gift for solving problems at a high speed",
"Neumann h... | Neumann was the oldest of 3 children of a banker, and his speed of learning new ideas and of solving problems stood out early.At 17, his father tried to persuade him not to become a mathematician because he may lead a poor life being a mathematician, and so Neumann agreed to study chemistry as well.In 1926, at 23, he received a degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D.in mathematics.From then on, mathematic provided well enough for him, and he never had to turn to chemistry.
In 1930, Neumann visited Princeton University for a year and then became a professor there.His first book was published in 1932.In 1933, the Institute for Advanced Study was formed, and he became one of the 6 full-time people in the School of Mathematics (Einstein was one of the others).
World War II hugely changed Neumann's areas of interest.Until 1940 he had been a great pure mathematician.During and after the war, he became one of the best mathematicians who put mathematics theories into practice.During the last part of the war he became interested in computing machines and made several contributions.After the war, Neumann continued his work with computers, and was generally very active in government service.He received many awards, was president of American Mathematical Society and was a member of the Atomic Energy Commission.He died in 1957 of cancer.
Neumann really was a legend in his own time, and there are a number of stories about him.His driving ability is a part of this legend.He reported one accident this way: "I was driving down the road.The trees on the right were passing me in an orderly fashion at 60 miles per hour.Suddenly one of them stepped in my path." | high12950.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Chocolate, a Healthy Food"
},
"options": [
"Chocolate, a Healthy Food",
"More Chocolate, Less Health",
"Chocolate and Blood Pressure",
"Advice on Eating Chocolate"
],
"question": "What's the best title for this ... | Chocolate is good for your heart, skin and brain. Usually, people think that chocolate is bad for their health. They describe chocolate as "something to die for" or say "death by chocolate". Now they should bite their tongues! Evidence is showing that some kinds of chocolate are actually good for you in the following ways:
A happier heart
Scientists at Harvard University recently examined 136 studies on cocoa-- the main ingredient in chocolate-- and found that it does seem to strengthen the heart. Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow. These benefits are the result of cocoa's chemicals, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation .
Better blood pressure
If yours is high, chocolate may help. Jeffrey Blumberg from Tufts University recently found that people with high blood pressure who ate 3.5ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks saw their blood pressure drop quickly.
Muscle magic
Chocolate milk may help you recover after a hard workout . _
Better for your skin
German researchers gave 24 women a half-cup of special cocoa every day. After three months, the women's skin was moister and smoother. The research shows that chocolate helps protect and increase blood flow to the skin, improving its appearance.
Brain gains.
It sounds almost too good to be true, but research suggests that chocolate may improve your memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving skills by increasing blood flow to the brain. | high8693.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "\"The Boxtrolls.\""
},
"options": [
"\"The Boxtrolls.\"",
"\"Awake and Sing!\"",
"\"Driving Miss Daisy.\"",
"\"On Paper: Alternate Realities.\""
],
"question": "Which of the following may attract kids most?",
... | "The Boxtrolls"
From Laika Entertainment, the animation house behind "Coraline" and "ParaNorman" comes, "The Boxtrolls," adapted from the children's book "Here Be Monsters!" by Alan Snow. The movie, about a boy who is raised by unusual creatures, features the voices of Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg and Elle Fanning. Opens Sept. 26. Area theatres.
"Awake and Sing!"
Olney presents the 1935 comic drama by Clifford Odets about a Brooklyn family struggling through the Great Depression. Step. 24 through Oct. 19. Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Rd., Olney. 301-924-3400.www.olneytheatre.org. $38.50-63.50.
Fiesta DC
Celebrate the city's Latino culture with a parade, dance, music and more. Sept. 21. Parade: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Constitution Avenue from Seventh Street NW to 14thStreet NW. Festival: Noon to 7 p.m. Pennsylvania Avenue, between Ninth and 14thstreets NW. 202-489-7141.www.fiestadc. org.
"On Paper: Alternate Realities"
The 26 pieces by American artists, including Raymond Pettibon and lona Rozeal Brown, take inspiration from popular culture, using art to explore dark themes. Through April 12. Baltimore Museum of Art, 10 Art Museum Dr., Baltimore. 443-573-17000. www. artma. org.
"Untitled: The Art of James Castle"
A self-taught artist from rural Idaho, Castle used whatever was available-newspaper, coal, sticks-to create buildings, landscapes, people and more. Sept.26 through Feb.1. American Art Museum, Eighth and F streets NW. 202-633-1000. www. americanart. si. edu.
Neo-impressionism at the Phillips
"Neo-impressionism and the Dream of Realities: Painting, Poetry, Music" displays works by artists such as Georges Seurat, who presented stylized landscapes and people. Sept. 27 through Jan. 11. Phillips Collection, 1600 21stSt. NW. 202-387-2151. www. phillipscollection. org. $ 12; $ 10 for students and senitors; free for age 18 and younger.
"Driving Miss Daisy"
Ford's Theatre starts its season with the Pulitzer Prize winner about the decades-long relationship between an aging woman and her black driver in Atlanta. Washington stage actors Nancy Robinette and Craig Wallace perform in this beloved classic. Sept. 26 through Oct. 26. Ford's Theatre, 511 10thSt. NW. 202-347-4833. www. fordstheatre. org. $20-$62. | high12788.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "increased"
},
"options": [
"stayed the same",
"began to drop",
"increased",
"increased a little at first and kept drop"
],
"question": "After the IMF ended the official gold price, the gold prices _ .",
"q... | The best example of something is often called the "gold standard." It sets the standard against which other things are measured. In economics, the term describes how major trading nations once used gold to set currency values and exchange rates. Many nations continued to use the gold standard until the last century.
In the United States, people could exchange paper money for gold from the eighteen seventies until nineteen thirty-three. Then-President Richard Nixon finally disconnected the dollar from the value of gold in nineteen seventy-one. From time to time, some politicians call for a return to the gold standard.
In 1978, the International Monetary Fund ended an official gold price. The IMF also ended the required use of gold in _ with its member countries. Since that time, gold prices have grown and continued to be high. But people keep buying. Some people are "gold bugs." These are investors who say people should buy gold to protect against inflation .
People have valued gold for thousands of years. The soft, dense metal polishes to a bright yellow shine and resists most chemical reactions. It makes a good material for money, political power -- and, more recently, electrical power. If you own a device like a mobile phone or a computer, you might own a little gold in the wiring.
The gold standard was the subject of one of the best-known speeches in American political history. William Bryan wanted the country to use both gold and silver as money. The idea was to devalue the dollar and make it easier for farmers to pay their debts. So he delivered a speech, which made him famous. He was a presidential candidate three times. But he never won. | high6866.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "satisfying"
},
"options": [
"boring",
"meaningless",
"tough",
"satisfying"
],
"question": "According to the author, Zoe lived a _ life as a PE consultant in London.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Zoe Chambers was a successful PR(Public Relations) consultant and life was going well--she had a great job, a beautiful life in London. Then one evening in June last year, she received a text message telling her she was out of work. "The first two weeks were the most difficult to live through," she said. "After everything I'd done for the company, they dismiss me by text! I was so angry and I just didn't feel like looking for another job. I hated everything about the city and my life."
Then, Zoe received an invitation from an old school friend, Kathy, to come and stay. Kathy and her husband, Huw, had just bought a farm in north west Wales. Zoe jumped at the chance to spend a weekend away from London, and now, then months later, she is still on the farm.
"The moment I arrived at Kathy's farm, I loved it and I knew I wanted to stay." said Zoe. "Everything about my past life suddenly seemed meaningless."
Zoe has been working on the farm since October of last year and says she has no regrets. "It's a hard life, physically very tiring." she says. "In London I was stressed and often mentally exhausted. But this is a good, healthy tiredness. Here, all I need to put me in a good mood is a hot bath and on of Kathy's wonderful dinners."
Zoe says she has never bored on the farm. Every day brings a new experience. Kathy has been teaching her how to ride a horse and she has learnt to drive a tractor. Since Christmas, she has been helping with the lambing-watching a lamb being born is unbelievable. She says, "It's one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I could never go back to city life now " | high17828.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "find your stolen bicycle"
},
"options": [
"find your stolen bicycle",
"get your serial number",
"receive free repair services",
"settle conflicts with walkers"
],
"question": "Registration of your bicycle may he... | Bicycle Safety
Operation Always ride your bike in a safe, controlled manner on campus. Obey rules and regulations. Watch out for walkers and other bicyclists, and always use your lights in dark conditions.
Theft Prevention Always securely lock your bicycle to a bicycle rack ---even if you are only away for a minute. Register your bike with the University Department of Public Safety. It's fast, easy, and free. Registration permanently records your serial number, which is useful in the possible recovery of the bike stolen.
Equipment
Brakes Make sure that they are in good working order and adjusted properly.
Helmet A necessity, make sure your helmet meets current safety standards and fit properly.
Lights Always have a front headlight---visible at least 500 feet in front of the bike. A taillight is a good idea.
Rules of the Road
Riding on Campus As a bicycle rider, you have a responsibility to ride only on streets and posted bicycle paths. Riding on sidewalks or other walkways can lead to a fine. The speed limit for bicycles on campus is 15mph, unless otherwise posted. Always give the right of ways to walkers. If you are involved in an accident, you are required to offer appropriate aid, call the Department of Public Safety and remain at the scene until the officer lets you go.
Bicycle Parking Only park in areas reserved for bikes. Trees, handrails, hallways, and sign posts are not for bicycle parking, and parking in such posts can result in a fine.
If Things Go Wrong
If you break the rules, you will be fined. Besides violating rules while riding bicycles on campus, you could be fined for:
No bicycle registration-----------------------------------------------------$25
Bicycle parking banned---------------------------------------------------$30
Blocking path with bicycle ----------------------------------------------$40
Violation of bicycle equipment requirement -------------------------$35 | high21342.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "win his kindness"
},
"options": [
"win his kindness",
"distract his attention",
"show his respect",
"express his thanks"
],
"question": "The author commented on the clerk's hair to_.",
"question_type": "cloz... | I was waiting in line to register a letter in the post office at Thirty-third Street and Eighth Avenue in New York. I noticed that the clerk appeared to be bored with the job--weighing envelopes, handing out stamps, and issuing receipts--the same dull work year after year.
So I said to myself, "I am going to try to make that clerk like me. Obviously, to make him like me, I must say something nice, not about myself, but about him." So I asked myself, "What is there about him that I can honestly admire?" That is sometimes a hard question to answer, especially with strangers. However, in this case, it happened to be easy. I instantly saw something I admired very much.
So while he was weighing my envelope, I remarked with enthusiasm, "I certainly wish I had your hair."
He looked up and his face was full of smiles. "Well, it isn't as good as it used to be," he said modestly. We carried on a pleasant conversation and the last thing he said to me was, "Many people have admired my hair."
I'll bet that person went out to lunch that day walking on air. I'll bet he went home that night and told his wife about it. I'll bet he looked in the mirror and said, "It is a beautiful head of hair."
There is one all--important law of human conduct. If we obey that law, we shall almost never get into trouble. In fact, that law, if obeyed, will bring us countless friends and constant happiness. But the very instant we break the law, we shall get into endless trouble. The law is this: Always make the other person feel important. | high19805.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in the back country"
},
"options": [
"near the ocean",
"in the back country",
"in the Cascade Mountains",
"in northeast Washington"
],
"question": "If you are going on one of the trips for the first time, you ca... | Are you a high school student who loves to be outdoors and is eager to experience new challenges, learn new skills and meet new people? Learn all about the world of building and maintaining hiking trails, and experience it in a safe, teamwork-oriented environment in various locations across the state. WTA offers first-time participants country trips and returning students have the option to go on trips in the back country .
Front Country Trips
Our front country trips provide opportunities for people to experience projects near the ocean, in the scenic Cascade Mountains and in northeast Washington. All our trips provide you with experienced crew leaders, a great project, some camping tents, sleeping bags and all your meals for the week.
Advanced Back Country Trips
On these trips you will be backpacking to the work site and will have a chance to advance your trail and leadership skills under the supervision of a WTA crew leader. Approval from a previous crew leader is necessary.
Trip Details
In 2014, trip fees for WTA members will be $195 for the first trip and $145 for each additional trip. Non-members will pay an additional $40 for their first trip and can be qualified to be members in the second trip. There will be a $30 cancellation fee for cancellations more than 30 days prior to the trip, and no refund for cancellations less than 30 days prior to the trip. Due to the popularity of our trips, please submit your payment and application within two weeks of signing up for a trip. If a trip is full and you would like to be added to the waiting list, please call us at 206/625-1367 or email trail _ teams@wta.org.
Scholarships
We believe no student should have to stay at home this summer because he or she can't afford to go outside. Thanks to donations from members and supporters, WTA is proud to announce that we are able to offer a limited number of scholarships. Application deadline: March 1, 2014.
2014 Youth Volunteer Vacation
You must be 14 to 18 years old to go on one of our Youth Volunteer Vacations. We always recommend that volunteers go on a one-day trip before attending a Youth Vacation to understand what the work will be like for a week. | high8863.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It's hard to finish a perfect job."
},
"options": [
"It's hard to finish a perfect job.",
"you can't stop half way",
"you may miss the photos somewhere",
"you have to finish it at a time"
],
"question": "While p... | When Kathryn was 6 years old, she sat outside for three hours at her home and did not make a sound.Her parents wondered why she was so quiet, only to discover that she was drawing a picture of a flag outside. She recalled. "That's what I wanted to do that day," said Kathryn, who is now 23 years old. And in the future, she continued to do art as a hobby.
Recently, Kathryn was named Lake Placid's first artist in the neighborhood. She will be there for at least four weeks and possibly more. During that time, she will teach an art class and focus on her own art. Much of her work includes creating photos. She said: "There is always something there that you haven't included, so you can never stop when painting a photo."
Kathryn ended up as the first artist just by chance. She said her sister was on vacation in Florida and looking for a job in Lake Placid. The sister got the job and moved there.
Kathryn said she visited her sister and was ordered to do wall paintings inside a building. Later, her sister saw a demand for an artist on line and suggested she should apply.
Kathryn said she's the first artist in her family, but added that her parents are creative. Her father loves to create things from wood, she said. "Anything you can make out of wood, he has made it," she said.
Her own creativity with art continued through college. While at college, she was once employed to recreate a photo of a couple on a vacation to Florida and one of a sunset in either North Carolina or South Carolina.
Kathryn said she's looking at other forms of art. The time she spends here will help her to "figure out who I am as an artist," she said. | high12978.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The fishery is balanced well there."
},
"options": [
"There is too much waste in fishery.",
"The fishery is balanced well there.",
"Many local fishermen liked the fishery laws before.",
"The government is not doing thei... | I'm a commercial fisherman in prefix = st1 /Alaska. It was an eye-opener to see the destruction and waste popular in the world's fisheries. TheAlaskafishery is very well managed and we do not see the damage occurring elsewhere. Many local people complain of the many restrictive laws in the fishery, but after reading these articles, I'm in favor of even stricter regulation. The sea is the basis for life on Earth, and we must take care of it.
Tom Hagen
Craig, Alaska
Your report presents an overly hopeless future. Here in New England where I have fished commercially for 45 years, we are beginning a recovery from years of over fishing. Under the newly authorized Magnuson-Stevens Act, fishermen are forming partnerships with scientists for the purpose of developing fishing-gear modifications to reduce by-catch and reduce impacts to fish habitat. Additionally, we are collecting information on fish stock abundance, population, and ecosystems. The New England Regional Fishery Management Council is supporting the formation of harvest districts, which enables fishermen to have changing market conditions.
Frank Mirarchi
Scituate,Massachusetts
You described fishing around the world, but not here in the United States. There is no support for the American fisherman who is working under the harshest regulations on Earth and the strictest restrictions. We are fishing in a fashion that is completely suitable as required in the Magnuson-Stevens Act. TheU.S.keeps importing more fish from countries that have no requirements on gear or on their catch.U.S.fishermen cannot compete with foreign prices, so the fishermen's numbers have been reduced. There are no young people who will take our place.
Jeremiah O'Brien
MorroBay,California | high22663.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "outdoor activities"
},
"options": [
"industrial activities",
"fireworks",
"outdoor activities",
"vehicles"
],
"question": "These are the reasons for smog except _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Smog has affected Beijing for at least a week and the Great Hall of the People, where lawmakers will meet next week for the country's parliamentary session , is hardly visible. Much of north and central China, or one-seventh of the country, was covered in it over the weekend.
Responses have included reduced industrial activities, a ban on fireworks and barbecues, raised pollution alerts and reduced vehicles travelling on the roads. Citizens are advised to stay indoors while schools have either stopped classes or suspended outdoor activities.
And Chinese officials, after a long period of prioritizing economic development over environmental protection, are now likely to see their future career shaped by how effectively they handle the serious pollution.
"Even as a foreigner, I know the pollution has a lot to do with too much focus on economic indicators in evaluating Chinese officials," said Florian Kessler, an executive director with German law firm WZR Consulting. The German executive speaks fluent Chinese, loves Beijing food and is a big fan of Beijing Guo'an Football Club, but after staying in the city for eight years, he now wants to leave. "Since I smoke, I'm okay with the pollution, but I can't let my kid breathe in the polluted air. That's why I'm leaving," Kessler explained.
He also said that German companies operating in Beijing, such as BMW, Benz and Volkswagen, have all had a hard time finding staff willing to work here.
China has repeated in the past that we would not follow the old path of industrialized nations to develop first and deal with pollution afterward. But the smog is an awkward reminder that our country is already on that path. Whether we can change route depends on the choice Chinese officials make between environment and growth in the years ahead. | high17800.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Thanksgiving had Hindus roots"
},
"options": [
"Hindus started the holiday of Thanksgiving",
"the Americans copied Thanksgiving from Hindus",
"Charles Lindbergh had been a Himalayan yogi",
"Thanksgiving had Hindus roots... | A yoga master made a shocking statement that Abraham Lincoln had been a Himalayan yogi in a past life.Lincoln delivered a proclamation setting up Thanksgiving as an American holiday in 1863.Research throws light on a possible Hindu origin for the American celebration of Thanksgiving.
"The holiday of Thanksgiving has a Hindu origin," says Richard Salva, author of a book on the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln entitled Soul Journey: From Lincoln to Lindbergh which is based on a statement by the great master of yoga, Paramhamsa Yogananda, who declared that Abraham Lincoln had been a Himalayan yogi in a past life, and that he was reborn as the famous pilot, Charles Lindbergh.
"During my search for signs of a past-life yoga practice," SaIva said, "I noticed that President Lincoln repeatedly chose Thursdays as national days of prayer, fasting ,and thanksgiving.This was interesting, because Thursday is considered a holy day -- a day for prayer, fasting, and spiritual reflection -- among Hindus, who call it "guru day"."
"Lincoln also set aside time on Thursdays to grieve for his son,Willie, who died in Washington.Clearly, Thursdays had a spiritual significance in Lincoln's mind.
In his book, Richard Salva presents more than 500 connections between Lincoln, Lindergh, and the ancient spiritual science of yoga. The connections run through every aspect of the human condition and provide convincing evidence that Lincoln had had a Hindu past life.
More than one out of every five Americans today believes in reincarnation--yet few are aware of how past-life patterns affect them. Soul Journey tries to fill this gap, by offering a substitute experience of reincarnation. Through clear and persuasive similarities between the lives of Lincoln and Lindbergh, the book discovers how the hidden laws of fate and reincarnation impact the events of his or her daily life. It addresses other issues, such as the secret spiritual history of America's greatest president, including his past life as a Himalayan yogi; the hidden clues that reveal past lives; the greatness he achieved; and the spiritual principles behind the yoga postures that millions now practice. | high3936.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The passage doesn't tell."
},
"options": [
"Because she was very poor.",
"Because she didn't want to buy new shoes.",
"Because she knew the shoemaker well.",
"The passage doesn't tell."
],
"question": "Why did t... | After moving to a small town, I took several pairs of shoes to the shoemaker to be fixed. Within a week I picked them up and put them away in my closet.
Four months later my husband and I were invited out to dinner. I unboxed a pair of high heels . I hadn't worn them since they were repaired. I put one shoe on my right foot, and then I put the other on my left. I took both shoes off for a closer look. They were exactly the same style, color1 and size, but each was for the right foot.
I was puzzled, since I had worn the shoes on several occasions and knew I hadn't worn two right shoes. Then I thought of the shoemaker. Although I was sure he wouldn't remember me after such a long time, I telephoned him and explained to him the trouble I had.
"Thank goodness you finally called!" he was nearly shouting, "An angry woman with two left shoes has been bothering for months!" | high20712.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "eat more fruit and vegetables"
},
"options": [
"eat more fruit and vegetables",
"do more research on food",
"pay attention to their health",
"protect the environment"
],
"question": "The government is encouragin... | Families should not waste their money on organic food,the government has warned.They should instead spend their money on whatever they can afford,even if it means eating frozen vegetables.The government now faces calls to endPS20 million of subsidies to organic farming.
A recent study in the British Journal of Nutrition found organic crops have up to 60 percent more antioxidants than non-organic crops.But critics claim there is still no evidence that organic food is a healthier option.Amid growing concern that too few people are eating enough fruit and vegetables,the government is at pains to stress that families should not waste their money on organic food.Just 30 percent of people meet the recommendation to eat five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Government frontbencher Baroness Jolly said,"Organic products provide a useful extension of consumer choice,but it is worth emphasizing that,nutritionally,they are no better and no worse than conventional products.The only benefit of organic farming was enjoyed by birds,insects,mammals and plants.""It is up to the consumers to decide how they spend their money on their fruit and vegetables.There are many reasons why an individual might wish to choose organic products but nutritional benefit should not be one of them,"she added.
Chief Executive Helen Browning said,"We know that people choose organic food because they believe it is better for them,also well as for wildlife,animal welfare and the environment,and this research backs up what people think about organic food." | high19193.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A woman carrying a bright colored handbag."
},
"options": [
"A woman with her handbag carried under the shoulder.",
"A woman carrying an oversized handbag.",
"A woman carrying a bright colored handbag.",
"A woman who ch... | You can tell a lot about a person from the clothes they wear, but you can also tell a lot about a person simply from the handbags they carry. It's hard to believe, but you can find out a number of things about a woman's personality just by looking at the type of handbag she carries. Below you will find a number of handbag styles and colors as well as what each specific type of handbag says about the owner.
Styles:
Under-the Shoulder - handbags which are smaller and fit tightly underneath the shoulder indicate class and sophistication. A women working in an upscale office or someone of high status would choose this form of handbag.
Big and Bulky - Big, bulky and oversized bags are casual and are often associated with younger individuals. These are used for individuals who carry a number of things (binders, books etc) and require a lot of space. Down-to-earth, lower-maintenance women would carry this type of handbag.
Designer - Designer handbags often cost an arm and a leg and therefore are usually associated with high-maintenance females. Females who are confident and require top of the line accessories will settle for nothing less than a name-brand designer purse. Guys watch out for these girls, they tend to be a handful.
Cigar Box Purses - A women who carries a cigar box purse likes to be unique and stand out from the crowd. These women have minds of their own and cannot be told what to do. They are comfortable in their own skin and tend to be very independent.
Leather with Buckles and Zippers - women who choose leather purses with lots of buckles and zippers are leashing out their wild sides. These women tend to act before they think and are always ready for a good time. The extra buckles and zippers tend to signify a "bad girl" image.
Colors:
Bright Colors - Bright colored handbags like pink, purple, bright blue and green indicate that the woman is fun, friendly and approachable. Women who are out-going and sociable will tend to choose these colors. This is the type of woman who will strike up a conversation with a complete stranger.
Black and Brown - women who choose black or brown handbags tend to be more formal in manners and are often mistaken as being snobby or restricted. These types of handbags are often associated with down-to-earth women, who are shy at first, but open up after a while. They tend to exude a shy confidence, which is sometimes mistaken as someone who thinks she's better than others.
The style and color of your handbag says a lot about you. Choose your handbag very carefully and remember you can choose more than one style. You may feel like being reserved one day and the center of attention another...it's natural to want different things in life. | high1847.txt |
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