questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "hard"
},
"options": [
"1ucky",
"natural",
"hard",
"pleasant"
],
"question": "The writer felt it _ to be the son of a famous person.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answ... | It's not easy to be an astronaut's son.Everybody expects you to be special or perfect. I often wonder how my father ever had a son like me. I mean he's so special and so good at everything he does. Even in middle school he was monitor and captain of the football team.
Well, to be honest, I often dream about being some kind of hero or doing something special--like saving a child from a burning building One morning my teacher said there would be a Father's Day writing competition for the whole school."I hope we have a winner right here in my class."
When I got home,I started to think about what to write.My father is an astronaut. No, I wouldn't start like that. That was the way others saw him.How did I see my father?
Hmm...I saw him sitting with me in the dark when I had a terrible dream.I remembered how he hugged me for hours when my dog Spotty was killed by a car. Yes, these were the things I was going to write. To me,he wasn't just a famous astronaut. He was my dad.
My parents and l went to school Thursday night. There were so many people in the big hall! My dad looked at me, and I shrugged .
The third prize was announced and it was not me.1 was relieved and disappointed at the same time. The second prize was announced. it was me. I went up to the stage and read what I had written,"My father's son".When I finished,Dad put his hand on my shoulder."Son,this is the proudest moment of my life.''
It was the proudest moment of my life, too. Maybe I'll never be a great hero or win a Nobel Prize, but it was enough just to be my father's son. | middle1185.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Mr. Smith drank too much"
},
"options": [
"Mr. Smith was not careful",
"Mr. Smith drank too much",
"Mr. Smith, forgot they were on the bridge",
"Mr. Smith couldn't work in the evening"
],
"question": "_ , so h... | Mr. Smith was in trouble those days. He drove a car for Mr. Black, a rich businessman. He worked hard and the shopkeeper liked him. But he couldn't work when he drank too much. Once he almost fell into the river when he drove along the bridge. Mr. Black became angry and was going to send him away. Mr. Smith had a big family and was afraid of it and promised he would stop drinking at once. The man told him to wait to be dealt with.
One Monday morning Mr. Smith came into the office with two badly burnt ears. "What happened to your ears?" asked Mr. Black.
"Well, "said the man," I went to watch a football match yesterday while my wife was ironing clothes. She had put the iron near the telephone before she went to cook supper. Our team lost the game and I felt sorry for it. As soon as I went in the sitting -room, the phone rang and I answered the iron!" "And what happened to the other ear?" "When I put the iron down on the table, the telephone rang again!" | middle3792.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "lazier"
},
"options": [
"happier",
"lazier",
"busier",
"healthier"
],
"question": "Everywhere around the world people are _ than the past.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | It seems that everywhere around the world, people are spending more time at work and less time with their families and friends.People are busier than ever before.
In the past in many countries,the father worked and the mother stayed at home, took care of the children, and did the food shopping,cooking,and cleaning.At present in most of the families,parents need to work on weekends,so they both have to do the shopping,cooking,and cleaning in their free time.Parents don't have much time with their children,however,they often had time in the past.There are also many single parent families.In these families,the single parent has to do everything.
These days,many children come home from school to an empty apartment or house.A lot of children spend many hours each day in front of the television.Even when families are together,it is common for family members to do things by themselves.For example,they watch programs on their own TVs in different rooms,they use the Internet,they talk with friends on the telephone,and they do other things by themselves.
Isn't it strange?Thanks to technology,people are able to communicate so easily with people far away,but sometimes they don't communicate with people in their own homes. | middle5485.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "email \n _"
},
"options": [
"call 021-58609228",
"fax 021-58609728",
"email \n _",
"telephone 010-69191617"
],
"question": "If an Australian student wants to learn Chinese, he or she can _ .",
"question_t... | House For Sale
Red Rose Garden, Pudong
3-story home, 509 sqm total land area, 428.8 sqm built-in, 312.2 sqm garden. Asking RMB 13 million (USD 1.57 million).
MP: 13761973547 Tel: 021-58609228 Fax: 021-58609728
Job Wanted
Cherry, 24, a shining girl, good at oral English and Putonghua. Now I am working at an international trade company in Guangzhou. I am kind-hearted, hard-working and healthy, and would like part-time weekend work offering Putonghua lessons to foreign friends. If you are interested, please email me at _ .
Beijing Snow World Ski Park
Price: 18 yuan (ticket), 50 yuan/hour on weekdays and 70 yuan/hour on weekends, 120 yuan/four hours on weekdays and 190 yuan/four hours on weekends.
Tel : 010-69191617 | middle4943.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "they want cockroaches to do things people can't in the future"
},
"options": [
"they want cockroaches to do things people can't in the future",
"they want to control the movements of the cockroaches",
"they want cockroaches t... | TOKYO, JAPAN--What do you do when you see a cockroach ? Do you hit it with a newspaper? Do you step on it?
When researchers at Tokyo University see a cockroach, they take the remote control and make the cockroach turn around, run left or right, or go forward. These scientists are changing the cockroaches into robots. Each cockroach has a very small pack that has in it a microprocessor .Then researchers can send signals from the remote control to the pack. The signals control the movements of the cockroaches.
Why does anyone want to control a cockroach? "Insects can do many things that people can't," says Isao Shimoyama, head of robot research at Tokyo University. In a few years, he says, these robot insects will carry very small cameras. They will be able to move through earthquake rubble to look for people or move under doors to find information about someone.
This may seem strange, but the Japanese government thinks the research is very important. The government is giving the scientists $ 5 million for this research.
First, the researchers breed hundreds of cockroaches. They use only the American cockroach because it is bigger and stronger than other cockroaches. Then they choose the best cockroaches and remove their wings and antennae . They put small packs where the antennae were. The packs weigh about three grams, or about two times the weight of the cockroaches themselves. "Cockroaches are very strong," says Ralph Holzer, who is a researcher at Tokyo University. "They can lift 20 times their own weight. "
With a remote control, the scientists send signals to the packs. When a cockroach gets the signal, it moves. The problem is that the cockroaches don't always move in the right direction. | middle377.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A special education teacher."
},
"options": [
"A special doctor.",
"A special education teacher.",
"A special singer",
"A special designer."
],
"question": "What's McCarty?",
"question_type": "factiod_questi... | Word travelled quickly in the small fishing village of Port Washington, Wisconsin. So when McCarty wanted to build a playground for kids with special needs. 2,800 people - a third of the town - rolled up their sleeves and helped her.
"A lot of learning comes through play," said McCarty, 52, a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She'd seen the traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks.
On September 16, 2008, the first day of the project, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s took part in the job. Children came and gave a helpful hand. Many were volunteers. They all worked very hard.
Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular _ in Ozaukee County. All children can play shoulder to shoulder. There is special equipment in different parts. Here, you see all the kids on the same playground having fun.
"People used to ask. 'Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?' " McCarty said. "They didn't get it. It's only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children." | middle363.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Her father."
},
"options": [
"Her mother.",
"Her father.",
"Her friend.",
"Her pet."
],
"question": "Whom does the girl get her journal ready for?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer"... | Let's Go See Papa is a lovely children's book. In this book, a little girl tells about her life while her dad is working far away from her.
"I haven't seen my dad for one year, eight months and twenty-two days," the girl writes in her journal. She writes everything she has done so that her father will never miss a day.
Sunday is the cheapest day for long-distance phone calls, so that day is special to the girl and her mother. One Sunday phone call brings surprising news. Dad tells his daughter that she and Mom will finally be able to come and live with him in the United States. The girl feels happy, because she can see her father again. But she has to leave her dog and her best friend Rocio behind. A few days later, Mom and the little girl go to the airport. They have to say goodbye to the happy days they spent here. | middle6198.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Twenty years old."
},
"options": [
"Eleven years old.",
"Twelve years old.",
"Twenty years old.",
"Thirty years old."
],
"question": "How old is Jack's brother?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
... | Dear Mr Han,
I just turned 12 years old, but I am very thin and not as tall as my classmates. My brother is 20 and is very tall. My father is also very tall. I eat lots of vegetables every day. I like eating fruit, but I don't like eating meat. I sleep for eight hours a day. I want to be tall. I am taking medicine. I think that medicine can make me grow tall. My head teacher tells me that you are a great Chinese doctor. Can I grow tall? Do I need to take the medicine?
Yours,
Jack
Dear Jack,
I think that you can grow tall, because your father and brother are both very tall. You are still growing. As for the medicine, you should stop taking it. It is not good for your health. You should eat more meat. I am happy that you like eating vegetables and fruit. A balanced diet is very important for your health --and it can make you grow tall.
Yours,
Mr Han
,. | middle7286.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because they must arrive at the airport before 11:40."
},
"options": [
"Because they were going to a party.",
"Because they didn't go to the airport.",
"Because they had to go to the airport by bus.",
"Because they must... | Mr. and Mrs. Green were going on their vacation with their children, and they had to arrive at the airport before 11:40 the next morning. "It takes us thirty minutes to get there in a car," Mr. Green said, "so we must get ready before eleven o'clock. Don't be late."
At ten fifty, all of them were busy doing something, but Mrs. Green wasn't. She sat quietly in a chair in the garden and enjoyed the good weather.
Mr. Green and the children were surprised, but Mrs. Green said, "Don't worry! Before I went to bed last night. I made all our clocks and watches twenty minutes ahead . Now we can get to the airport early." | middle5491.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "because he could get help from his father at once"
},
"options": [
"because he didn't live together with his mother",
"because he could get help from his father at once",
"because his father could deal with any emergency",
... | I don't like talking openly about my feelings. That's probably why I am writing this, because it seems an easier way of telling you how thankful I am to you.
When I first got ill two years ago and had to be taken to hospital, you were the first person I called to tell, maybe because I knew Mum wasn't going to answer her phone, but probably because you are the first person I call in an emergency.
As one illness turned into another and I was stuck in hospital for weeks, feeling sorry for myself, you were still at my beside trying to talk to me to cheer me up. The illness hit my kidney and we then realized that I was going to need a transport sooner or later. You put yourself forward to be tested as soon as possible and it turned out you were a perfect match.
Then last year, in March, we both went down for the operation. I woke a few hours afterwards and felt better. It wasn't until the following day that we got to see each other again. We hugged silently and asked one another how we were. But I never said the words I should have--- thank you. To this day, I still haven't said those words to you for my kidney.
In the month after the operation, when we were both at home recovering, I made you lunch, went for walks with you. It's my way of saying that I care for you a great deal and that I am truly thankful for what you did for me.
I want you to know that my silence towards you and the times you tried to talk to me and got nothing weren't because of you. Maybe one day when you will read this, I hope you know that in my own silent way, I am for ever thankful. | middle4957.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "September"
},
"options": [
"July",
"September",
"May",
"February"
],
"question": "In America, schools begin in _ after summer holiday.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"... | American schools begin in September after a long summer holiday. There're two terms in a school year. The first term is from September to January, and the second term is from February to June. Most American children begin to go to school when they're five years old. Most students are seventeen or eighteen years old when they finish high school.
High school students take only five or six subjects each term. They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have homework for every class. After class, they do a lot of interesting things.
After high school, many students go to college . They usually have to pay a lot of money. So, many college students work after class to get money for their studies. | middle2498.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They went to strange places and finished interesting tasks."
},
"options": [
"They went to other cities and made friends with others.",
"They went to the countryside and helped the farmers.",
"They went to strange places and ... | Where Are We Going, Dad? Is a popular reality show from Hunan TV station. In the show, five pairs of fathers and kids went to strange places and finished interesting tasks . They had some interesting experiences while they were staying in different places.
The show is about growing up. Five fathers said that they grew up with their kids. They learned to take good care of their kids. The kids learned about teamwork and being independent.
For Kimi, a 4-year-old boy, need _ In the show, Kimi got the most fans(,). People fell in love with him because of his cute face and a good personality. At the beginning of the show, Kimi was a little shy. He found it's hard to finish his task alone. Sometimes he refused to accept the tasks, His father Jimmy Lin encouraged him to be brave. Soon Kimi learned to communicate with other kids. He learned to finish the tasks by himself. He grew up and changed a lot.
,. | middle6826.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "didn't want to be refused"
},
"options": [
"had never been invited",
"didn't like making friends",
"didn't want to be refused",
"was afraid of making mistakes"
],
"question": "Sparky never asked a classmate to g... | For Sparky, school was all but impossible. He failed every subject in the eighth grade. He didn't do much better in sports. Although he played for the school's golf team, he lost the only important match of the season.
Sparky was a loser. He, his classmates...everyone knew it. Sparky never asked a classmate to go out in high school. He was too afraid of being refused.
However, one thing was important to Sparky - drawing. He was proud of his artwork. Of course, no one else appreciated it. In his senior year of high school, he sent some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook. Although the cartoons were turned down, Sparky was so confident about his ability that he decided to become an artist.
After completing high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios. He was told to send some samples of his artwork, and the subject for a cartoon was suggested. Sparky spent a great deal of time on it. Finally, the reply came from Disney Studios. He had been rejected once again. Another loss for the loser.
So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography in cartoons. He described his childhood - a little boy loser and underachiever. The cartoon character would soon become famous worldwide. For Sparky, the boy who had little success in school and whose work was rejected again and again was Charles Schulz. He created the Peanuts comic strip and little cartoon character - Charlie Brown. | middle405.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "More than 100years"
},
"options": [
"1000years",
"Less than 100years",
"1100years",
"More than 100years"
],
"question": "How long is it since basketball was invented?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
... | Basketball is still a young game. It's over a hundred years old . In the winter of 1891, a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students. The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors . As they couldn't play outdoors , they were unhappy ,and some even got into fights from time to time .
Some of the teachers at the college asked Dr Naismith to invent a game so that the students might have something to play with. It was ont easy to invent such a game, because it had to played indoors , and the court was not very large.
Dr.Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game .It is a wonderful game with much moving and passing of the ball .It was played between two teams .To make a score, the ball had to be thrown into the basket ten feet above the floor on the wall. At each end of the court there was such a basket .At first, Dr.Naismith wanted to throw the ball into a box, As he could not find boxes of the right size, he had to use fruit baskets instead. That is how the game got its name . | middle1191.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "join the Summer Camp"
},
"options": [
"help with sports, music and computers",
"be good with children",
"join the Summer Camp",
"get help from the Camp"
],
"question": "Tom and Mike want to _ .",
"questio... | Tom and Mike are good friends. They are kind to children. They want to find summer jobs. One day Tom tells Mike that Beidaihe Kids Summer Camp needs help with sports, music and computers. They are both very
glad to hear this. Tom can play basketball and volleyball, and he can
swim, too. Mike can play the violin, the trumpet, the drums and the guitar. Tom and Mike like computers very much. Can they join the Summer Camp?
. | middle6615.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "twice a month"
},
"options": [
"once a week",
"sometimes",
"twice a month",
"twice a week"
],
"question": "The best way to exercise is do it _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": ... | Everyone knows that exercise is important.We all need to _ .Doctors say it is good for us.it makes your heart and body _ .When the daytime comes, we must get up. This is the time for exercise. Exercise means doing things with the body. Children who often exercise are more alert .This means they do better in tests and schoolwork than those who don't exercise.
There are _ ways to exercise.You can walk, run, swim, skate, or play ball games, Make sure you exercise in the following ways:you have to like what you're doing. Exercise enough but not too much.it's best to exercise _ each week .Thirty minutes each time is enough.Try all kinds of thing until you find one, two or even three sports that feel right for you.
You can exercise at _ .They have a lot of equipment there. The equipment will help exercise your arms, legs and other parts of body to make you fit.Some people buy equipment for their homes.But it is very expensive.
Exercising can be fun.Friends can exercise together at a fitness center, or they can Play sports together.How do you exercise? | middle4002.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He thinks the life now is worse than it used to be."
},
"options": [
"He thinks the life now is very good.",
"He thinks the life now is worse than it used to be.",
"He thinks the life now is better than it used to be.",
... | My grandfather is eighty years old now. He always complains about how fast things have changed, and he often says that life used to be better.
Families aren't families they used to be. A lot of families have broken up. If husband and wife have problems with their _ , they no longer stay together. And mothers used to stay at home and take care of their children, but now not any more. Everyone is busy working. Mother used to spend all day cooking in the kitchen. But now the family don't eat home-cooked food any more.
And the cars! No one walks any more. More and more people drive. Students used to walk 5 miles to school every day, even in winter. But nowadays students don't. And in school, children don't have to think any more.. In math class, for example, they used to add, subtract, multiply and divide in their heads. Instead, they use calculators.
And people today have TV and computers, and they don't talk to each other any more. They are too busy to talk, too busy to eat, too busy to think.
Life used to be simple, but it isn't any more. | middle2315.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "B&C"
},
"options": [
"write stories",
"sing or dance",
"act in movies",
"B&C"
],
"question": "What can't Xiao Ming do? He can't",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | Dear Nancy,
My name is Xiao Ming. I want to be in a club in our school. I'm not famous now. But maybe I can be famous someday! I can't sing or dance or act in movies, but I can do many other things. I can play three instruments: the guitar, the violin and the drums. I think I can be in the music club. Maybe I can be a famous musician. I like to read story books and I can write stories. Maybe I can be a famous writer. I like sports, too, but I don't think I can be a famous and successful sports man. Can I join you?
Love
Xiao Ming | middle4764.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "long and difficult"
},
"options": [
"long but easy",
"short but difficult",
"short and easy",
"long and difficult"
],
"question": "The journeys for these animals are usually _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_q... | Many animals go on long and difficult journeys to find food or places for their young to start life. They often travel very far, sometimes even halfway around the world.
Some animals make one of these amazing journeys every year, while others make only one amazing journey in their lives. Some animals travel over land, some through water and others in the air.
Green turtles spend most of their lives in the sea, but they come to the shore to lay their eggs. Every two or three years, fully-grown female turtles swim a long way to the same beach where they were hatched and lay their eggs there. Some turtles may travel over 1240 miles to reach the same beach. No one knows how these turtles are able to find the same beach again.
Monarch butterflies live in North America. At the end of summer, they fly south to Mexico. In spring, they fly back north. During this journey, the adults lay their eggs and then they die. When the young butterflies hatch, they continue the journey north. No one knows how the young butterflies know where to go. | middle6173.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "How to be green."
},
"options": [
"How to produce things.",
"How to burn things.",
"How to help others.",
"How to be green."
],
"question": "What is the passage about?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"a... | How green are you? Do you know how to be green?
We all need a healthy environment, but we produce waste every day and it does harm to our environment. Though we are young,we can still do something to help. In fact, even the simplest everyday activities can make a real difference to the environment. Here are some ideas for you.
Reduce
Reduce means "use less",Don't waste things. This saves money and reduces pollution and waste going into the environment. Before we buy something new, think whether it is really necessary--or maybe the old one will be just as good! When we do buy things, choose local products if possible, and try not to buy too many things from abroad.
Reuse
Reuse means "use again". Use things for as long as possible. When we buy things,make sure that they last a long time. We should look after them so that they will last, and we should repair them if we can instead of throwing them away and buying new ones. Don't use a paper cup or a paper bag. It's better to use a china cup and a lunch box because you can use them again.
Recycle
Recycle means "change things into something else". Though it takes energy to change something into something else, it's better than throwing things away or burning them. Find out what can be recycled in your neighbourhood and take part in recycling programmes. We should also buy products made from recycled materials,such as recycled paper, to help save trees.
So please remember these three words:reduce, reuse and recycle. | middle7279.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "air pollution is caused"
},
"options": [
"acid rain form",
"air pollution is caused",
"noise pollution is caused",
"acid rain gets heavier"
],
"question": "When power stations burn fuel, _ .",
"question_t... | Every time you turn on the television or take a ride in a car ,you could be adding to a problem called acid rain . In this article, you'll learn how acid is created, and how it affects us, and more importantly, what we all can do to prevent it.
How is acid rain created?
When people use fuels , such as coal and gasoline, poisonous gases are given off. When these gases mix with rain, acid rain forms. Many power stations burn fuels in order to create the electricity that we use in our homes and offices every day. Cars and trucks also send these gases into the air when they burn gasoline .When rain mixes with these gases, harmful things called acids form. This is acid rain.
How does acid rain affect us?
Acid rain damages everything that it touches. It poisons our rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans along with all the life in them. It pollutes our soil and crops, harms trees, and can even kill fish and plants. Acid rain also eats away at buildings.
How can we prevent acid rain?
We need to cut down on the pollution that gets into our air. Turn off lights, television, and other electrical appliances if you are not using them, Walk or take a bike whenever possible. If you are travelling a long distance, take a bus or train to save fuel.
As research shows, acid rain harms our environment. But people everywhere can take small steps now to help protect our environment for future generations. | middle1608.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "red"
},
"options": [
"red",
"green",
"brown",
"white"
],
"question": "Alice likes _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Helen' s"
... | Alice: Good afternoon, Helen!
Helen: Good afternoon, Alice! How are you?
Alice: I'm fine, thanks. How are you?
Helen: I'm OK.
Alice: Helen, what' s this in English?
Helen: It's a cup. And it's my cup.
Alice: Oh, it' s red. I like the color. Is that a pencil?
Helen: No, it' s a pen and it' s brown.
Alice: Is it your pen?
Helen: No, it s Bill's. My pen is green. | middle6167.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "stay in one place and make signals"
},
"options": [
"try to find your friends",
"stay in one place and make signals",
"walk around the forest",
"shout as loudly as possible"
],
"question": "If you get lost in th... | If you go into the forest with friends, stay with them. If you don't, you may get lost. Sit down and stay where you are. Don't try to find your friends, but let them find you instead . You can help them find you by staying in one place. There is another way to help your friends or other people to find you. You can shout or whistle three times. Stop for a while. Then shout or whistle three times again. Any signal given three times is a help.
Keep up shouting or whistling. Always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making a noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They will give you two shouts or two whistles. When a signal is given twice, it is an answer to a call for help.
If you don't think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house with branches . Make yourself a bed with leaves and grass.
When you need some water, you have to leave your little branch house to look for it. Don't just walk away. _ When you are lost, the most important thing to do is stay in one place. | middle2301.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a very good team"
},
"options": [
"Many soccer fans",
"a very good team",
"many soccer player",
"a big playground"
],
"question": "If a country wants to take part in the World Cup ,she must have _ .",
"que... | In the world ,soccer is the most popular sport. This is because many countries have wonderful teams for the World Cup. The World Cup is held every four years.
To remember 2002 FIFA World Cup ,children from different countries and more than 60 children from Japanese schools came together and spent three weekends drawing a big picture called "Dream World Cups "in Japan .The children drew animals, flowers and people playing soccer under a blue bright sky. They wished each soccer team good luck by drawing the flags of all the countries that would take part in the World Cup in Japan and South Korea.The picture was put up in a park near a playground in Yokohama .Some soccer teams would have games there.
Are you a soccer fan ?The World Cup makes more and more people interested in soccer. Teenagers like playing and watching soccer .Many of them love some soccer stars so much that they get the pictures of their favourite players on the walls of their rooms. That is the way to show their love for the World Cup as children in Japan.As Chinese teenagers,if we stick on to our soccer dream,it will come true.Let's take action now. | middle4770.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "3D printers will be the key to ending world hunger."
},
"options": [
"3D printers are used to create model cars.",
"3D printer are used for architectural models.",
"3D printers will be the key to ending world hunger.",
... | 3D printers are certainly the superstar today---they are being put to all kinds of uses, including creating model cars for movies. However, none of these ideas are as crazy as the one suggested by Anjan Contractor, who believes that they will be the key to ending world hunger .
If you think that sounds a little crazy, you are not the only one, but after hearing scientists, the idea seems to become true.
According to scientists, food will become _ expensive and possibly, even out of reach, for billions of people in the future. It means billions of people won't have enough food.
This is where 3D printers may save the day. Anjan, an engineer says that the only way to support the large population will be to provide every kitchen with a 3D printer and print out meals.
More importantly, it would be to make the basic food from things that we now do not think can be eaten. Anjan thinks that we could easily get the meat protein from insects . Similarly, the vegetable nutrition could be made from greens like grass. Would you want to try 3D printed food? | middle4016.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Paris."
},
"options": [
"New York.",
"London.",
"Paris.",
"Beijing."
],
"question": "Where did Robert go last weekend?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,... | Robert went to visit his friends in Paris last weekend.His friends met him at the airport on Friday afternoon and drove him to the hotel.They ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant and went to see a film after that.
Robert and his friends set out early on Saturday morning for a farm and stayed there until Sunday morning.During their stay,they played football in the field and enjoyed a big meal around a camp fire ,singing and dancing till late into the night.
Nobody could get up early on Sunday morning.So when they got back to Paris,it was about three o'clock in the afternoon.They drove right to the airport because Robert didn't want to miss his plane back home.Robert only stayed in Paris for two nights but he had a great time with his friends. | middle5308.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "there were only three parachutes,but there were four people in the plane."
},
"options": [
"they couldn't find the parachutes",
"there were only three parachutes,but there were four people in the plane.",
"There was too much ... | One day a pilot and three people were in a plane. When the plane was flying in the sky, there was something wrong with it. The smoke was everywhere in the plane. The pilot told the people there were only three parachutes . They all became worried.
"I must go because I'm the best pilot in the world." said the pilot, then he jumped out with one parachute.
The next person said, "I must have a parachute. I am a very clever person, and I have to take part in an important meeting." he jumped out with another parachute.
Two men were left, an old businessman and a young mountain climber. By this time the plane was going down faster and faster.
The businessman said, "Young man, I am old but you're still young. You take the last parachute. "
The young mountain climber smiled, "Don't worry, we are both safe, because there are still two parachutes. The clever person jumped out with my backpack." | middle6601.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "From April 19 to 25."
},
"options": [
"Any week in April.",
"It doesn't tell us.",
"The first week in April.",
"From April 19 to 25."
],
"question": "When is TV-Turnoff week?",
"question_type": "factiod_que... | Are you a TV lover? Can you imagine living without TV? Well, you could give it a try.
A group of Americans, TV-Turnoff Networks , have an idea. From April 19 to 25, they are asking children all over the world to turn off their TVs for one week. They hope children will find more interesting things to do. Maybe they can read some books, or learn to swim, or paint a picture. Since 1995, about 24 million people in America have taken part in TV-Turnoff Week.
TV-Turnoff Network says watching TV too much can bring children big problems; with school, health and family. They want kids to watch less TV. What do you think?
Bad for your studies
American scientists did a study of 1300 children .They watched the children for four years .They say that if children watch lots of TV, they don't do well in school.
Bad for your health
Studies show that when children watch lots of TV , they eat more unhealthy food . Most children are getting overweight .overweight children become ill more easily .Watching too much TV is also bad for their eyes .
Bad for family life
About 40%of America families watch TV at dinner time .That means that they don't talk very much when they eat together .
Also ,too many violent things
An American study says that before a child turns 18 years old ,the child will see 20 000 violent things on TV .Some kids become violent in real life .
If you want to learn more about this unusual week ,you can go to this Website, www.tvturnoff. org .
,. (10) | middle3989.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The popular drinks in Americans."
},
"options": [
"The popular drinks in Americans.",
"Soda is not a good drink for sports.",
"Americans drink more soda every year.",
"Americans like drink fizzy soda with friends."
... | As summer arrives, it's important to drink more, to keep us cool. Let's look to see what drinks are popular in the US.
Sports drinks and fruit drinks are quite popular. But there are two main drinks that Americans enjoy most: water and soda. Around 10.9 billion gallons of water is drunk each year, and 12.8 billion gallons of soda. Soda is the most popular drink. It's fizzy and enjoyed with friends. Perhaps it is the drink of choice for parties.
However, if you are playing sports, soda is not a good drink. The fizzy and sweet drinks may make you uncomfortable while exercising. The best drink for sports is water. That's because it has no calories and keeps you fresh during sports. Besides, doctors tell us that drinking water each day is healthy.
For many kids, juice or milk are their favorites. These drinks are healthy and give kids vitamins and energy during the day. Adults usually choose between tea or coffee. | middle5320.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "easy"
},
"options": [
"easy",
"busy",
"careful",
"good"
],
"question": "About 40 percent of passwords are easily stolen because the users often do _ things.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Better think twice before choosing a password for e-mail, online bank or shopping. Simple passwords are easy to be stolen .
A password is like a key to your home. If someone steals it, he'll get chances to steal something else. We use passwords everywhere in our life. We are so used to passwords that we don't pay any attention to them until we lose or forget one.
A study of 28,000 passwords recently stolen from a popular website showed that people often do the easy thing. It found that 16 percent took a first name as a password. Another 14 percent used the easiest keyboard combinations such as 12345678 or QWERTY. 5 percent of the stolen passwords were names of television shows or stars popular with young people. 3 percent of the passwords expressed feelings like "I don't care", "whatever", "I love you", or their opposite , "I hate you".
Robert Graham, who did the study, advises people to choose a password that is longer than eight characters with one capital letter and one symbol .
Of course, safe passwords don't mean those hard to remember. Forgetting your password is sometimes a big headache for you. Maybe, the best password is easy for you and hard for others. | middle6629.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "city"
},
"options": [
"town",
"city",
"field",
"country"
],
"question": "Mary maybe lives in the _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_te... | Spring is coming.People in different countries like different outdoor activities.Leo,a reporter from Learning English in interviewing some students.Here is what they have said.
Mary (13, America)
I want to go out of the city to a beautiful field. It's happy to smell beautiful flowers, touch green grass and take some photos. And I like to have a picnic in the field, It's interesting!
Jim (14, Canada)
The weather turns warmer and they days become longer in spring. It's a good time to go camping. It would be fun to sleep in a tent. I enjoy the comfortable weather too.
Tony (13, England)
In spring, I like going cycling alone. It can not only make me enjoy the beautiful season but also help me became stronger. I can write something about what I see on the way.
Wang Fang (12, China)
I'm good at making all kinds of kites. And in spring. I like flying kites with my family or my friends in the park. One of us holds the kite. and another one catches the line. It's exciting to see the kite flying high in the sky. | middle1146.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She kept silent."
},
"options": [
"She was active.",
"She was upset.",
"She smiled a lot.",
"She kept silent."
],
"question": "What was Katherine like when the writer first saw her?",
"question_type": "facti... | One day a family visited the school where I taught deaf children. They said they would move here and planned to send their deaf daughter to my school as a first grader. They were upset that their child's kindergarten teacher told them not to have high hopes for her. Standing behind them was Katherine, a beautiful five-year-old with long hair and dark eyes. The whole time her parents were there, she didn't make a sound or use sign language, even when her parents asked her to do so.
After a few weeks with Katherine, I discovered she was a very smart child. Although she joined in different learning activities, writing was always a problem . I tried all kinds of ways to get her interested in writing, but she always refused to write.
One day Katherine got off the school bus and stood in front of the school crying. The teachers there did not know enough sign language to ask her what happened. Finally they led her into the office and gave her a pen and a piece of paper. Katherine wrote:"PACBAK". Then the teachers realized she had left her backpack on the bus. They called the bus driver back to school and soon Katherine got her backpack back.
That day _ . From then on she fell in love with writing. She is a young woman now and has become an excellent writer, public speaker and student leader. | middle7537.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "England"
},
"options": [
"America",
"England",
"Germany",
"France"
],
"question": "The story happened in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"an... | There was a famous church in London. It was 110 meters high. The center of the church was like a bell. The ceiling of the church was painted by a famous artist. They built a platform so that the artist could put up a ladder on it and paint the ceiling. The platform was about 70 meters over the ground.
One day the artist was working hard and nearly finished one popular corner of the ceiling. Also on the platform was his assistant , who was mixing paints. The artist stepped back so that he could see how his work was doing. To have a better look at his painting, he stepped back again. _
"What do you think you are doing?" he shouted angrily. "Are you mad ?" His assistant replied, "I saw you walking backwards to have a better look at your painting. But you didn't notice that you reached the very edge of the platform. You were in great danger. I wanted to make you move forwards. If I had not made you run forwards, you would have fallen backwards off the edge of the platform." | middle7251.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "on June 11, 2013"
},
"options": [
"on June 11, 2013",
"on June 13, 2013",
"on June 11, 2011",
"on June 13, 2011"
],
"question": "Shenzhou X, China's fifth manned spacecraft was sent into space _ .",
"qu... | June 11,2013 was another big day for Chinese space exploration. Shenzhou X, China's fifth manned spacecraft, was sent into space. Three astronauts, Nie Haisheng, 49, Zhang Xiaoguang, 47, and Wang Yaping, 33, stayed in space for 15 days.
Tiangong-1 is China's first space module . It was sent into space in 2011. It will be developed into a large space station around 2020. A space station is a lab for scientific studies.Shenzhou X performed its first docking with Tangong-1 on June 13. It docked twice during the 15 days.
The US, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe are working together on the International Space Station (ISS).China wanted to join the ISS but was refused by the US. China decided to build its own space station.
Shenzhou X flew around the Tianggong-1 lab for the first time. This was to make sure that spacecraft could dock from more than just one direction. The astronauts carried out repair work and did experiments on the Tiangong-1.
Teaching from space
Wang Yaping, China's second woman astronaut, taught high school and primary school students about space science. Wang talked about how things move in a micro-gravity environment. This helped the students better understand some physics ideas, like Newton's Law. The lessons aimed to encourage more students to learn about the universe and science.
Life up in space
The three astronauts followed a work and rest schedule that is similar on the Earth. They had Chinese dishes, such as Kung Pao Chicken and fried rice. The food was kept in special bags. At the time of the Dragon Boat Festival, they had Zongzi. | middle8162.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "More than a month"
},
"options": [
"More than a month",
"More than two months",
"More than three months",
"It's been back."
],
"question": "How long has the cat been missing?",
"question_type": "factiod_ques... | The owner of a missing cat is asking for help. "My baby has been missing for over a month now, and I want him back so badly," said Mrs. Brown, a 56-year-old woman. Mrs. Brown lives by herself in a trailer park near Clovis. She said that Clyde, her 7-year-old cat, didn't come home for dinner more than a month ago. The next morning he didn't appear for breakfast either. After Clyde missed an extra-special lunch, she called the police.
When the policeman asked her to describe Clyde, she told him that Clyde had beautiful green eyes, had all his teeth but was missing half of his left ear, and was seven years old and completely white. She then told the officer that Clyde was about a foot high.
A bell went off. "Is Clyde your child or your pet?" the officer suspiciously asked. "Well, he's my cat, of course," Mrs. Brown replied. "Lady, you're supposed to report missing PERSONS, not missing CATS," said the _ policeman. "Well, who can I report this to?" she asked. "You can't. You have to ask around your neighborhood or put up flyers," replied the officer.
Mrs. Brown figured that a billboard would work a lot better than an 8"x11" piece of paper on a telephone pole. There was an empty billboard at the end of her street just off the interstate highway. The billboard had a phone number on it. She called that number, and they told her they could blow up a picture of Clyde (from Mrs. Brown's family album) and put it on the billboard for all to see.
"But how can people see it when they whiz by on the interstate?" she asked. "Oh, don't worry, ma'am, they only whiz by between 2 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. The rest of the day, the interstate is so full of commuters that no one moves." They told her it would cost only $3,000 a month. So she took most of the money out of her savings account and rented the billboard for a month.
The month has passed, but Clyde has not appeared. Because she has almost no money in savings, Mrs. Brown called the local newspaper to see if anyone could help her rent the billboard for just one more month. She is waiting but, so far, no one has stepped forward. | middle1620.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "What has made Germany a successful soccer team."
},
"options": [
"Why soccer is so popular in Germany?",
"What has made Germany a successful soccer team.",
"The failures and successes of the German soccer team.",
"How t... | Who could forget those sleepless nights last summer watching Germany beat Brazil and Argentina to win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil?
It was their fourth World Cup, and it gave them the No.1 position in FIFA . Germany is becoming the most important soccer team in the world. But how has this change happened? A newspaper offers a clue: "For over 10 years, German teams have been building in the right way."
After Germany scored only one goal at the 2000 European Championships, Germans wondered why the country no longer produced good young players. So in 2001, the German Football League required that all Bundesliga clubs set up schools with youth teams from Under-12s to Under-23s.
The clubs now spend over EUR100 million (764 million yuan) on youth development every year. And they have improved young German players enough to put them among the best in Europe. For example, Bayern Munich player Thomas Mueller, 25, who scored five times at the 2014 World Cup, was educated in one of the schools.
More than anything, though, it is team work that has pushed the Bundesliga forward. Bayern is the richest team in Germany, but the team helps its rivals when needed.
Through the country's World Cup performances , the German soccer tradition is doing better than ever. Germany can play on top of the world for a few years yet. | middle5446.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "his son"
},
"options": [
"Mrs green",
"his son",
"his daughter",
"his father"
],
"question": "Mr Green goes to the shop with _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer... | One Sunday morning Mr Green and his child , Bill ,are in a big shop . Mr Green wants to
buy a new blouse for Mrs Green . Bill likes oranges , so his father buys two kilos of
oranges for him , too . Bill wants to buy some picture--books and colour pencils , too . There
are many people in the shop . They are men and women , old and young . They all want to buy
something there . | middle2329.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Children should start reading at a young age."
},
"options": [
"Children should start reading at a young age.",
"Parents should tell their children stories every day.",
"Teenagers should think and act differently from others.... | You eat to stay fit and keep your body working, right? Then reading is food for your mind and soul. Reading informs you of what's happening around. Reading encourages you to think and imagine, think out of the box and imagine the impossible.
In the past, people just read books, only books. Today, we have books online, which makes reading easy. The web, our new storehouse of information is just a click away. _ .You can lie in bed with a book, but with a computer you possibly can't. No matter how you read, reading is important.
Remember those bedtime stories? We read fun facts about animals, plants and the universe. We ask "whys" and "hows". In books, we find their answers. Children who are introduced to reading at an early age are seen to have a better understanding of phonics . They master language skills easily, have a richer vocabulary and have greater reading abilities. Children, who grow up reading good books, mostly stand out. The way they think and act is very different from those who have never been introduced to reading. Reading not only adds to their knowledge but also shapes their personalities. Reading has a great influence on one's life. Teenagers are easily influenced by whatever they read. If inspirational stories and life experiences are read in one's teens, they can change a person for the better. They stay with him and keep encouraging him to achieve his goals and choose the right against the wrong.
The more you read, the more creative and imaginative you will become. Reading develops vocabulary, improves language skills and sharpens your problem-solving abilities. It leads to a better understanding of self. Reading gives you knowledge, it makes you more confident. The more you read about others' lives and experiences, a better decision-maker you will become.
Reading about the importance of reading should lead you to read more, and more, and more. So choose a book you like and don't stop reading until you reach the end. And even after that read as much as you can. | middle4980.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "on a crowded shopping street"
},
"options": [
"on a crowded shopping street",
"in a public toilet",
"at home",
"in a restaurant"
],
"question": "The child peed _ in HK.",
"question_type": "cloze_question... | It's something familiar to all parents of young children: you're in a busy shopping street and your child wants to pee and he just can't hold it any longer. But two parents' decision to let their child relieve himself has caused much attention in China.
By now, it seems, the whole Chinese Internet is familiar with what happened on a crowded Hong Kong shopping street. A mother holds a nappy while her two-year-old pees. A passerby took pictures which then were put online. The woman explained that they had found a public toilet but saw there was a long queue, so she had no other choice but to let their child to relieve himself on the street instead.
Why has this one child's act caused so much upset? Allowing a child under 12 to " _ in any public street" is against the law in Hong Kong and the parents will face a 2,000 Hong Kong Dollar ($250) fine . But the on-line chatter has put all the attention on the fact that this family were tourists from mainland China, rather than being locals. "For Hong Kongers, people might think from time to time that mainlanders are not so polite and often break the public rules," says Martin Yip of BBC. Charmaine Chui, who was born in Hong Kong, told BBC she feels angry to have seen mainland tourists peeing in shopping centers and restaurants. "Hong Kong is a beautiful, modern city. What do these people think of it?" she says.
In mainland China, there has also been criticism of the parents' behavior. But most of the people say they find the parents' behavior understandable as they had tried to find a toilet for their child and the mother used a paper nappy rather than simply allowing the baby to pee on the ground. | middle3037.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "In 2009."
},
"options": [
"In 2008.",
"In 2009.",
"In 2010.",
"In 2011."
],
"question": "When did Chen's grandma begin to go to school with him?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": ... | Chen Zhengshan has a special classmate, his 63-year-old grandma.
His grandma began to look after him 10 years ago. Chen got a bad illness when he was three. His mother left the family. His father couldn't work. So his grandparents began to look after him. Chen had to take five kinds of medicine every day and it cost the family more than 1,200 yuan every month.
Chen couldn't speak well. Some boys often laughed at him at school. He was very sad. In 2008, his grandma decided to go to school with him. She asked the school to let her do so, but the teachers didn't agree. In 2009, she made it,because the teachers were moved by her love. The teachers also asked students to help the boy and collected more than 600 yuan for him.
The grandma planned to go to school with her grandson until he got well. She said,"My boy who likes playing the piano is as clever as the other children."
,. | middle4758.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "greet the new day"
},
"options": [
"meet his friends",
"greet the new day",
"1ook for the starfish",
"dance to the wind"
],
"question": "The old man walked by the beach as usual to _",
"question_type": "clo... | The old man woke up before sunrise, as he often did, to walk by the beach and greet the new day. As he moved through the early morning, he saw a young man , bending and reaching and throwing, in celebration of the perfect day soon to begin
As he came near, he realized that the young man was not dancing to the day, , but rather bending to check the debris (, ) left by the night's tide , stopping now and then to take starfish and then standing, to throw it back into the sea.
He asked the young man the purpose of the effort."The tide has washed the starfish onto the beach and they cannot return to the sea by themselves ," the young man repied."when the sun rises, they will die, unless I throw them back into the sea."
As the young man explained, the old man looked at the beach ."But there are more starflish on this beach than you can ever save before the sun is up. Surely you cannot expect to make a difference."
The young man listened politely. Then he bent down to take another starfish, threw it into the sea and said,"It made a difference for that one."
There is something very special in each and every one of us. | middle5452.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "grandma"
},
"options": [
"father",
"mother",
"grandma",
"uncle"
],
"question": "Jim stays with his _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_t... | Jim is a little boy. He stays with his grandma. He likes sweets and cakes. He always eats some food with sweets before he goes to bed. And as soon as he gets up in the morning, he can find some cakes on the table in his bedroom.
One morning, before Jim got up, his grandma took some cakes to his bedroom. She saw Jim crying in bed.
"What's the matter, dear?" his grandma asked in a hurry.
"I've a bad toothache," said Jim.
So his grandma had to take him to the dentist's. The dentist pulled out the bad tooth for him at last.
Two days later Jim felt better and was at school again. Mrs. Hunt asked, "What was the matter with you those days, Jim?"
"I had a bad toothache, madam," answered Jim.
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," said Mrs. Hunt. "Is it better now?"
"I don't know, madam. I left it with the dentist." | middle4994.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "stop running"
},
"options": [
"run faster",
"keep running",
"stop running",
"drink water"
],
"question": "If you're not well in the joints while running, you should _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | Running
Running is good for people with too much fat because it can help them become slim. It also makes people strong. But it may be bad for joints . If we don't feel comfortable in our joints, we should stop for another activity.
Walking
Walking makes our bodies relaxed . It can also help people to be slim.
Swimming
Swimming is a great way to make different places of your body strong. But it is not a good way to keep slim. The water in a swimming pool is cooler than our body. The body protects itself from the cold by keeping fat.
Cycling
Riding a bike will help us be slim and make our legs strong, too. But be careful! If you live in the city, you should ride on the bike road and be away from the busy traffic. | middle3023.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "By using internet."
},
"options": [
"By walking.",
"By using internet.",
"By writing letters.",
"By talking to people."
],
"question": "How do you leave a digital footprint?",
"question_type": "factiod_quest... | Every time you go online you leave a digital footprint. This is just like a real footprint. It tells where you have been, how long you stayed on line and what you have been doing there. It's easy to get the information and show your digital footprint every time when you send an email, messages and photos. You shouldn't worry about it too much but it is better to be careful about your digital footprint when you are online. There are five tips for taking care of your digital footprint.
Don't forget to close the pages with your information when you leave a website, especially if you are using a shared computer.
Don't tell anyone your password and don't write them down in a place that everybody can see. Make them more difficult by using both letters and numbers.
Remember your favourite websites by looking over the history and the bookmark on your computer or your mobile phone. This is a way that your digital footprint can work in your favour, remember to clear your history from time to time.
If you want to post some words on line, you don't have to use your own name. You can use a nickname instead. You can also use a picture instead of a real photo.
Protect your personal information online. Be careful about who you share your own information with and always think twice before sharing email, home address, school or phone number with someone.
All kinds of people are interested in your digital footprint. It's now quite common for people to look over some personal information online before they offer someone a job. There are cases of people having missed out on jobs and places because their digital footprint didn't make them look good. So remember: keep safe, don't put too much personal information online and always think carefully before you post something. Ask yourself, 'would I be happy for everyone to see this?' | middle7245.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Science"
},
"options": [
"English",
"Science",
"Math",
"History"
],
"question": "What does Mr. Jackson teach?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"a... | Mr. Jackson is a teacher of science in a middle school. His students like his classes because his classes are very interesting. They can learn a lot in his class. The students can make many things. His little son Val also likes making things. He makes lots of machines , such as a machine like a man. It can do the job that is dangerous for people to do. He says, "I want to be a scientist."
,. | middle1634.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because he wore the wrong boots."
},
"options": [
"Because the road was too bad.",
"Because he didn't know the way",
"Because he wore the wrong boots.",
"Because he had no boots."
],
"question": "Why did the man... | A man went out with the wrong boots, one with a thick sole and the other with a thin one. As he began to walk, he felt uncomfortable, for one foot was higher than the other. He felt very strange and said, " Is there anything wrong with my legs today? Why is one of my legs long, and the other short? "
A _ told him that he was wearing the wrong boots. He look down and found that it was really so. At once he asked his servant to go back home and get another pair.
After a while the servant ran back to him. There was nothing in his hand. So he was angry and shouted at him, "Why didn't you get me the right boots?" "There's no need to change them," the servant said. "The pair at home is the same, one with a thick sole and the other with a thin one." | middle1152.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the bookstore"
},
"options": [
"the bookstore",
"her aunt's",
"the park",
"her maths teacher's home"
],
"question": "Lily isn't going to _ on Sunday.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"an... | Hello! I'm Lily. I'm going to have a busy weekend. On Saturday morning, I 'm going to the Beach Park with my friends. We are going to ride bikes there because we can do some sightseeing on the way. We are going to play on the beach. At noon, we are going to have a picnic in the park. In the afternoon, we are going to visit our maths teacher. She wants us to go to her room and help us with our maths. In the evening, I'm going to visit my aunt with my mother, because it's my cousin's birthday. There is going to be a party in her house. On Sunday morning, I'm going to the bookstore with my good friends. I'm going to buy some storybooks. After lunch, I'm going to do sports with my brother. In the evening, I'm going to watch TV and clean my room. How busy I am!
,,. | middle7523.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Dave's ESL Cafe"
},
"options": [
"About.com",
"YouTube",
"Dave's ESL Cafe",
"the Classroom by Voice of America"
],
"question": "If you want to do English exercises and test yourself, you can go to _ .",
"q... | Are you learning English and do you need help with grammar? Do you want to learn new vocabulary or slang ? Well, you can find help online with these top 5 free English as a Second Language websites.
Dave's ESL Cafe
This is a complete website that can help you learn and practice English. You can read many stories and do a lot of exercises to test your self. You c an also post questions and answers onto the help center.
About.com
You can get free English courses from About.com and you'll get regular e-mails that will help you learn English.
The Classroom by Voice of America
You can watch videos and listen to news stories to improve your listening and vocabulary skills. You can also hear English words and their meanings.
Heinle's Newbury House Dictionary of American English
Do you need to find the definition of a word? Use this online dictionary to find simple and clear definitions, as well as example sentences and idioms . You can also find different cultural facts.
Perso nal English Portal on YouTube
You can watch this series of videos on YouTube to develop your listening skills. You can also do a search for "learn English" on YouTube to find other videos. This is a good way to practice English and have fun. | middle3745.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "go to see movies"
},
"options": [
"go to school",
"go to the park",
"are good friends",
"go to see movies"
],
"question": "Bob and Frank often _ together on weekends.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Bob and Frank are good friends.They often go to the movies together on weekends.Bob's favorite actor is Jackie Chan.He has an action movie,Who Am I.It's very exciting.Frank likes the actor Rick Smith.He really likes his movie Black September.Frank thinks it's a very success ful thriller .Bob and Frank are Americans,but they both like Beijing Opera.They think they can learn about Chinese history from it. | middle5334.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "are very helpful"
},
"options": [
"are difficult to make",
"are expensive",
"are important but not necessary",
"are very helpful"
],
"question": "Machines can help us to do things better and faster, so they _ ... | Now machines are widely used all over the world. Why are machines so important and necessary for us? Because they can help us to do things better and faster.
A washing machine helps us to wash clothes fast. A printing machine helps us to print a lot of books, newspapers, magazines and many other things fast. Bikes, cars, trains and planes are all machines. They help us to travel faster than on foot.
The computer is a wonderful machine. It was invented not long ago. It not only stores information but also stores numbers millions of times as fast as a scientist does.
Let's study hard and try to use all kinds of machines to build China into a modern country. | middle5863.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "technology never stops changing our everyday lives"
},
"options": [
"technology never stops changing our everyday lives",
"with computers each of us can live a comfortable life",
"people can do more activities with computers"... | People cannot reach an agreement on the use of science and technology. For example, will radiation from electronic equipment destroy the environment? Should medical scientists change gene structures to prevent genetic disease or to create "more perfect" human beings? While people are arguing about these and others, technology continues to influence our everyday lives--the home, health and education, entertainment and communication, and so on.
Some people carry on active social lives with computers --their own or the ones in public places like cafes, social centers, libraries, and so on. Communicating with others in chat rooms, computer users can get to know people they might never meet in traditional ways. With live online video connections, two people with cameras in their computers can see and talk to each other from separate places.
With modern telephone technology, most people stopped writing lettters--especially personal letters and notes. But now, writing to communicate has returned in electronic form, or e-mail, which is a way of sending messages from one computer to another. For some computer users, the wish to communicate intelligently or creatively with others makes them want to write better.
Computer technology has also made it possible to run a house electronically. From turning lights on and off to starting the coffee and cooking the hot meal, computers are taking care of people at home. Many modern machines have computer chips that allow their owners to program them. For instance, you can "instruct" a microwave oven how to cook a dish. Most entertainment equipment operates with computer technology too. Computers can even start cars automatically so that on cold winter mornings you can get into a warmed-up vehicle and drive off.
Although much of the technology in our everyday lives has good effects, there are some uses that raise questions. For example, are interactive media ( i.e., a combination of television, telephone, and computer) going to control minds, cause people to forget about family life and personal relationships? What effects will the genentic engineering of food have on people's health? High-tech medical treatments can make a person live a much longer life, but can they improve the health and happiness of human beings? Only time will tell, but, in the meantime, science and technology will continue to move forward. | middle7912.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A good teacher should sit still before his class and speak with his body language."
},
"options": [
"A good teacher should speak clearly.",
"A good teacher should sit still before his class and speak with his body language.",
... | To be a good teacher, you need some of the _ of a good actor; you must be able to hold the attention and interest of your audience; you must be a clear speaker, with a good, strong, pleasant voice which is fully under your control; and you must be able to act what you are teaching, in order to make its meaning clear.
Watch a good teacher, and you will see that he doesn't sit still before his class; he stands the whole time he is teaching; he walks about, using his arms, hands and fingers to help him in his explanations, and his face to express feelings.
There are very important differences between the teacher's work and the actor's.
The actor has to speak words which he has learnt by heart; he has to repeat exactly the same words each time he plays a certain part, even his movements and the ways in which he uses his voice are usually fixed beforehand .What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words and actions seem natural on the stage. A good teacher works in quite a different way. His audience take an active part in his play: they ask and answer questions, they obey orders, and if they don't understand anything, they say so. The teacher can't learn his part by heart, but must invent it as he goes along.
I have known many teachers who are fine actors in class but are unable to take part in a stage-play because they can't keep strictly to what another has written. | middle7906.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a girl"
},
"options": [
"a Chinese girl",
"a girl",
"A Chinese boy",
"a boy"
],
"question": "Kate is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answe... | Kate Green is a girl. She is my good friend . She is English. Kate is her first name.Green is her family name. Mr Green is her father .His first name is John. Mrs Green is her mother . Her first name is Helen. Kate is eleven years old. Her home telephone number is 865---64108.
(10) | middle5877.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "cold"
},
"options": [
"sad",
"hungry",
"happy",
"cold"
],
"question": "The tourists took the baby bison to a park ranger station because they thought it looked _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
}... | A wild baby bison at Yellowstone National Park had to be killed because of tourists.
The tourists thought that the baby bison looked cold. They put it in their car and drove to a park ranger station.
A ranger described the action of the tourists as a "dangerous move" because adult bisons can look after their babies very well and they will attack to protect their young.
Park rangers took the animal from the car and set it free. But, sadly, the baby was refused by its family because it had the smell from humans.
Yellowstone National Park explained on Facebook that the smell from people can cause parent animals to refuse to accept their young. The park tried again and again to make the baby bison lives with its parents. After several times they had to give up.
Many people expressed anger at both the tourists and the park.
The park said that they did not have the ability to care for a young bison. They also said that it is "not the task of the park to save animals".
The tourists were fined $110 for touching park wildlife. Park rules say that visitors to Yellowstone should stay at least 22 meters away from all wildlife, and at least 90 meters away from bears and wolves.
One ranger said that Yellowstone recently added many safety signs that say staying near the wildlife there is dangerous to humans and animals as well. Those signs are written in English and other languages. | middle7090.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "small"
},
"options": [
"poor",
"rich",
"small",
"big"
],
"question": "Liugang Village Middle School is very _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | When we talk about village teachers, we often think of difficult conditions, heavy teaching tasks and little income. But there is a village teacher who makes his teaching jobso interesting. His name is Liu Yuesheng who is now called "the most beautiful teacher", Liu comes from Liugang Village Middle School in Dagang, Tianjin. The school is a rural area middle school. It has only about more than 300 students and teachers. Though the school is small, it is only a village school that takes the municipal scientific research projects in Tianjin. Since Liu started to work at Liugang Village Middle School in 1999, he has led his students completing the 300 designs and reportings of national patents .
Liu spent three years writing a book called Practice and Invention. In this book, he mostly tells people his teaching experience. The inventions of his students won the silver medal in the national youth science and technology competition. The rural students improve their living skills while they are inventing. Many of the students start their own business after graduation .
Liu also guided his students to make a big 260 Model Airplane. He often takes his students to go to the wetlands and take photos during holidays. In order to call on people to pay more attention to protecting environment, he further watches the number of the birds with his students. Today , the wetland aerial of his school of has reached the UAV level. | middle5687.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "unhappy"
},
"options": [
"lucky",
"Unkind",
"clever",
"unhappy"
],
"question": "From the letter we know that Alice was very _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | Dear Alice
You really have two different questions here, so we'll discuss them one at a time. Your problems at school may be a result of a number of things. You don't say much about how these classmates get along with each other. It's possible that all the students are feeling a little cautious in the first term. It's also possible that the others are unkind. If this is not so, you have to find out why you are the class "outsider".In your letter you say you often offer to help others with their work. Is it possible that your classmates don't understand your offers? Could it seem that you were trying to "buy" friends with these offers, Is it possible that you took no notice of your classmates when you had your good friend near you? They may have felt hurt at that time. It may take a time for them to believe in you if so. Try to ask one classmate directly what the problem is. If you hear a negative answer, at least you'll know what to do
Yours truly
Shelia | middle3590.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Five"
},
"options": [
"Four",
"Five",
"One",
"Many"
],
"question": "How many animals are there in the story?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"an... | There is a lion in a forest. Every day he goes about to look for food. The small animals in the forest are all afraid of him. Not far from the forest there are four bulls( ). They are good friends, and often go about together. The lion tries many times to catch them, but can't do so. Every time he comes near, the four bulls stand together to fight him. So he can do nothing to him.
One day the bulls have a quarrel( ). After that each of them goes his own way. When the lion sees this, he is happy. He catches one bull and eats him up. Then he catches another. One by one he catches all the four bulls and eats them up. | middle2856.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "are playing games"
},
"options": [
"are dancing",
"are singing",
"are running up the tree",
"are playing games"
],
"question": "The children _ under the big tree.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | It is a Sunday morning. There are many children in the beautiful park. They are having a good time. Some are playing games under a big tree.
Some are singing and dancing. Some boys and girls are running up the small hill. Others are boating on the lake.
Where is Dick ? He is sitting by the lake. What's he doing? He is drawing.
Look ! What is Jane doing? She is on the grass. She is running after a nice butterfly. She wants to get it. | middle613.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "You think actively instead of getting facts passively when reading."
},
"options": [
"You will never meet amazing people in your life unless you read.",
"You think actively instead of getting facts passively when reading.",
"... | All the wisdom of the times, all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries, are easily and cheaply available to all of us in books, but we must know how to make use of this treasure. The unluckiest people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.
I'm very interested in people and finding out about them. Some of the most amazing people I've met could only be found in a writer's imagination, then in his book, and then, again, in my imagination. I've found in books new friends and new worlds.
Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the writer's or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions, and your ideas develop as you understand his.
Every book stands by itself, like a one-family house, but books in a library are like houses in a city. Although they are separate , in some way they are connected with each other. The same ideas, or related ones, appear in different places; the human problems that repeat themselves in life repeat themselves in books, but with different solutions according to different writings at different times. Books influence each other. They connect the past, the present and the future and have their own generations (age groups), like families. Wherever you start reading, you connect yourself with one of the families of ideas, and in the end, you not only find out about the world and the people in it, you find out about yourself, too.
Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on books somebody tells you "ought" to read, you probably won' t have fun. But if you put down a book you don't like and try another till you find one that means something to you, and then relax with it, you will almost certainly have a good time -- and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more gentle, you won't suffer during the process. | middle1387.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A punctual person often does his work wonderfully."
},
"options": [
"An unpunctual person often has more time.",
"An unpunctual person has more work to do.",
"A punctual person often has a busy life.",
"A punctual perso... | An unpunctual man never does what he has to do at the right time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be got back. Time is more useful than material things. In fact, time is life itself. An unpunctual man is always wasting his most important things as well as others'. An unpunctual person is always saying unhappily that he finds no time to answer letters or return calls. But the man who really has much to do is very careful of his time. He knows that he can not finish all his work unless he carefully does every piece of work.
Being unpunctual is the sign of disrespect ( _ ) towards others. If a person is invited to
dinner and arrives later than the time when he should be there, he keeps all the other guests
waiting for him. Usually this will be thought as a great disrespect to the host and all the other guests.
Not like a punctual person, an unpunctual one can't do his duty wonderfully, whether it is public or personal. Imagine how it would be if those who should do important tasks failed to be on time. A man who is known to be often unpunctual is never believed by his friends or fellow men. | middle607.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "All restaurants can sell beer and wine."
},
"options": [
"Many American people like salads.",
"Coffee can be served after a meal.",
"One can order tea if he doesn't like coffee.",
"All restaurants can sell beer and wine... | Generally speaking, American food is not very thick in taste. Salads are much liked and are served all year round. Many Americans are trying to keep down their weight. This is shown in menus offering "low calorie " or "weight watchers" meals. In markets, one can find "No Cal" drinks (meaning without calories) such as cola.
Many Americans drink coffee or tea with their meal. If a waiter in an American restaurant asks "Now or later?", what he means is "Do you want coffee with your meal or later?" When eating out in the USA, we can ask for tea, milk, beer, and so on, if we prefer these to coffee. American restaurants cannot serve beer, wine, or liquor unless they are licensed to do so.
The main dish in American meals is usually meat, chicken or fish, but more than one of these is hardly served at the same meal.
Most Americans eat quickly during the day--that is, breakfast and lunch--unless it is a social, business, or family situation. The evening meal, however, is usually a family time. Racing through daytime meals is part of the "American pace" of life, for working hours are considered important.
The nationwide fast-food restaurants are suitable for the ways of American eating. The standard products, of nearly the same price, are served quickly, and taste the same whether bought in New York City or in Los Angeles.
McDonald's is a popular restaurant. It offers many choices of hamburgers, French fries and "cokes". These foods are rich in fats, sugar and salt. Often, they are the major meal of the day of many young working people. | middle3584.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a loud or unwanted sound"
},
"options": [
"any kind of sound",
"a loud or unwanted sound",
"all sounds that you can hear",
"terrible sound"
],
"question": "According to the passage, noise is _ .",
"questio... | Stop. Listen! What do you hear? You may hear many different sounds. Some of those sounds may be noise. Noise is a loud or unwanted sound.
Noise can be caused by many kinds of machines, such as motorcycles, jet planes and farm tractors . Rock music is also noise.
What happens to people who live near noisy machines or use them over a period of time? Doctors have found that these people have trouble in sleeping. But, most important, constant loud noise can cause a loss of hearing.
Scientists use a unit of measure called decibel to measure the loudness of a sound. The sound of a quiet room, for example, measures 35 decibels. Talking measures between 40 and 65 decibels. Sounds from traffic and from some rock bands can measure over 120 decibels. Noise at this high level causes the great hearing loss. | middle2842.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "sunglasses and sun-block"
},
"options": [
"warm clothes and sports shoes",
"sunglasses and sun-block",
"fashionable clothes and a big bag",
"some fruit and drinks"
],
"question": "If you go to Hainan for a trip ... | Here are some advice about trips.
1. Forget fashion! Always wear your most comfortable clothes when going on long trips.
2. Travelling on trains and buses can be boring, so take a good book to read.
3. If you're going somewhere cold, remember to put on warm clothes!
4. If you are going somewhere sunny, remember to bring your sun-block and sunglasses.
5. Always take a camera with you to _ those special moments.
6. Look after your things well whenever you go to a busy place, like a train station. There are many thieves there!
7. Most countries have lower prices for students, so if you are a student, take your student card with you. | middle5693.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "astronomers."
},
"options": [
"astronomers.",
"farmers",
"singers",
"drivers"
],
"question": "Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Is there intelligent life on other planets? For years, scientists said "no" or "We don't know." But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers. They believe intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings.
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. "This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life," say Shostak and Barnet. The second reason is size--the universe is huge. "Tools like the Hubble telescope have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies," says Shostak. "And our galaxy, the Milk Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth."
In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes allow scientists to discover smaller planets--the size of Mars or Earth in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? "Probably not," says Shostak. "It's a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signs. In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don't have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other." | middle7084.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They are predicting the future."
},
"options": [
"They are talking about space travel.",
"They are predicting the future.",
"They are talking about pollution.",
"They are predicting the weather in the future."
],
... | What will the future be like? What do you think of it? Here are some answers from some students.
Roy Burns: I think life in the future will be better. Most people in the world will use "green cars" by 2020, so there will be less pollution and people will live to be 200 years old. As for space travel, I would say, we will travel to Mars and some other stars in about fifty years.
Helen Lester: If we don't take good care of the earth now, our children and grandchildren will be born into a world with too much pollution. There will be fewer trees and more buildings, because there will be more people.
Kitty Smith: I agree with Helen Lester. Things will be worse. The weather in the future will be much hotter. Human beings will have to look for another _ to live on. | middle161.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Two"
},
"options": [
"One",
"Two",
"Three",
"Four"
],
"question": "The students have _ lessons in the morning.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | Here is the school day in an English school.
Morning The students have an English lesson and a Maths lesson.The first lesson begins at 9:00 a.m.The children have a break from 10:00 a.m.to 10:20 a.m.They usually eat snacks or play games in the playground.After the break, they have the second lesson.It lasts for an hour and fifteen minutes.They usually take a test during the first fifteen minutes.
Lunchtime Lunchtime is from 12 at noon to 1:10 p.m.Most children bring their own lunch from home.Some children have lunch in the school canteen.After lunch, they play games in the playground.
Afternoon The students do some reading.Then they have one or two lessons.They study Art, History and Science, etc.School is over at 3:15 p.m.Then they go home. | middle6371.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Janel"
},
"options": [
"Jim",
"Jim's parents",
"Janel",
"Jim's father"
],
"question": "From the contract, who is the real owner of the iPhone?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Janel gave her 13-year-old son Jim an iPhone for Christmas. But she also had a contract about how Jim's new toy can and can't be used.
Contract
Rule 1: It is my phone. I bought it. I pay for it. I am lending it to you. Aren't I the greatest?
Rule 2: If it rings, answer it. It is a phone. Say "hello", use your manners.
Rule 3: Hand the phone to one of your parents at 7:30p.m. every school night & every weekend night at 9:00 p.m.. It will be shut off for the night and turned on again at 7:30a.m..
Rule 4: Turn it off, silence it, put it away in public. Especially in a restaurant, at the movies, or while speaking with another people. You are not a rude person, do not allow the iPhone to change that.
Rule 5: Leave your phone home sometimes and feel safe. It is not all for you. Learn to live without it. Be bigger and more powerful than it.
Rule 6: Don't take too many pictures and videos. There is no need to record everything. They will be _ in your memory for ever.
Rule 7: If it falls into the toilet, breaks on the ground, or lose, you should pay for it. You can take care of the baby, and wash dishes to save some money.
I hope you can agree to these terms and enjoy your new iPhone.
Mom | middle3209.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The liquid in the whale's stomach."
},
"options": [
"The ocean water.",
"The whale's teeth.",
"The heat inside the whale.",
"The liquid in the whale's stomach."
],
"question": "What made Mr Bartley's skin white?... | "Fish stories" are stories of the greatest fish that a fisherman has almost caught, but for some reason, the fish always get away. Usually, these stories do not have much truth to them. One of the biggest fish stories in history was about a whale.
In 1891, a ship hunting for whales in the South Atlantic Ocean found a very large whale. While the hunters were trying to kill the whale, it sank two small boats. One man drowned, and another man, James Bartley, was lost in the ocean. However, after the hunters finally killed the whale, they cut open the whale's stomach and found Mr Bartley inside. He was not dead!
Several weeks later, Mr Bartley seemed to have gotten over his terrible experience. The only thing he could remember was that while he was inside the whale, it was very hot. The liquid from the whale's stomach had turned all of his skin snow white. Mr Bartley had to live with the effect from the whale for the rest of his life.
Today, many people have heard about the strange experience of Mr Bartley and do not buy it. Not one real fact has been found to prove that the events ever took place described by the sailors. No scientist or newspaper reporter was ever able to talk to Mr Bartley, and all of the stories told in magazines about Mr Bartley's experience were explained by other sailors on the boat. Mr Bartley was probably not even a real person at all.
In 1928, after the captain of the whaling ship had died, one man asked the captain's wife about Mr Bartley's story. The wife said that no man who had sailed on her husband's ship was ever swallowed by a whale.
However, this has not stopped James Bartley's story from being repeated, and many people today still believe that it is true. | middle2117.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he had learned a good game from a child."
},
"options": [
"he had played chess with a little boy for twenty-eight minutes",
"he had had a chance to take part in an important game",
"he had learned how to play chess from a chi... | Watson won his most important game and became Southern Chess Master in 1977.He was given the silver cup.
"It isn't rightly mine."he said,when he was holding the cup, "It was won two years ago when I was on holiday in...."
"A family was staying at my hotel at that time.Mrs Prang,the mother,was told that I played chess;and she begged me to give her young son a game." "He's only ten."She said,Ive been told that you play quite well."
"Well,as you can guess.I wasn't too happy. A player likes the opponent to play as well as he does. But it was holiday time and I agreed to play. We placed the board in the garden. The game began .I hoped it would be quick-----and so it was."
"I soon knew that David Prang was no learner.After ten minutes his sister came outside and began to play tennis against in our game. He moved a piece without care. I gave my attention to the board."
"Call me when you are ready,Mr Watson,"he said.
"When I was ready?" I looked up. He had gone off to play with his sister,I studied the board-----and found I was driven into a corner. So it went on with David;a quick move,then tennis,back to the board,then back to his sister.My difficult condition became impossible to change. I was beaten,oh,so easily,by a ten-year-old chess player. He was the winner--in twenty-eight minutes."
"David Prang:a name to remember.I had a chance to use his game today and it won this cup for me. To him,of course,it'sonly one of a hundred,or perhaps a thousand,winning games." | middle5678.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "wheat"
},
"options": [
"rice",
"fruit",
"wheat",
"grass family"
],
"question": "We use _ to make bread.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answe... | Do you know there are many kinds of grass? Some are tall. The kind that grows around your house is short grass. But field grass often grows as tall as a man.
Some food that we eat comes from plants of the grass family. Wheat and rice are two of them. We use wheat to make bread. We use both wheat and rice to make breakfast. At some places, people eat more rice than any other food.
Animals as well as people get food from the grass family. Cows eat hay . Do you know the kind of grass that horses like to eat? | middle2671.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Giraffe"
},
"options": [
"Elephant",
"Giraffe",
"Monkey",
"Turtle"
],
"question": "_ told Loin that Rabbit was the new King of the Jungle.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Lion was the King of the Jungle . One day, Giraffe told Lion, "Rabbit says he is the new King of the Jungle."
"What?" Lion was very angry. He went to meet Rabbit.
The other animals followed him to see what he would do.
"Rabbit," said Lion, "Why do you say that you are the new King of the Jungle?"
"Oh, but it's true," said Rabbit. "I'm faster and cleverer than you. We can have a competition ."
"All right," said Lion.
Rabbit took Lion to a deep ravine . He said, "If I fly down to the ravine faster than you, I am faster and cleverer than you. So I go, or you will go first?"
"Of course I will go first," said Lion, "I am the King of the Jungle!" He then threw himself into the deep ravine.
Rabbit smiled and said to the other animals. "I am your new king now. I am faster and cleverer than Lion."
The other animals didn't understand.
"Lion was stupid! Anyone will die after jumping into the ravine!" | middle4200.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "In a city."
},
"options": [
"In a city.",
"In a country.",
"In town.",
"In Beijing."
],
"question": "Where did Mr. And Mrs. Wilson live?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Mr. and Mrs. Wilson lived in a big city, and one summer they went to the country for their vacation. They enjoyed it very much, because it was a quiet, clean place. One day they went for a walk early in the morning and saw an old man. He was sitting alone in the warm sun in front of his house. Mr. Wilson asked him, "Do you like living in a quiet place?" The old man said, "Yes, I do." Mr. Wilson said," What are the good things about it?" The old man answered, "Well, everybody knows everybody. People often come and see me, and I often go and see them. And there are lots of children here. "Mr. Wilson said, "That's interesting. And what are the bad things?" The old man thought for a few minutes and said, " Well, the same things, really." | middle7709.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "obeying the rules of the road can keep you from having accidents"
},
"options": [
"obeying the rules of the road can keep you from having accidents",
"it was Road Safety Week at Jason's school",
"it's not only drivers who cau... | "Last week was Road Safety Week at Jason's school. All the students had to take part in a talk on road safety which was given by a police officer. The following is what the police officer said. "
"Most traffic accidents shouldn't happen. They happen because people are careless. A frequent cause of traffic accidents is speed. Some people drive too quickly. This means that if they have to stop suddenly, they cannot stop quickly enough to avoid hitting other vehicles or people. You need to remember this when you are crossing the street or walking along the sidewalk. "
"It's not only drivers who cause accidents, however. People on foot-pedestrians, and bicycle riders often cause accidents, too. Pedestrians sometimes walk out into the street without looking. You should always look on both sides before stepping into the street. "
"Do any of you ride a bike? Bicycle riders can cause accidents by changing directions suddenly or without warning other road users. Before you turn left, for example, you should check behind you to make sure there aren't any cars, trucks or buses coming. You should show with your left hand to tell that you want to turn left. You should not turn until the street is clear. "
"The rules of the road are very simple. If we learn them and obey them, we should not have accidents any more. " | middle834.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "different from"
},
"options": [
"the same as",
"different from",
"a kind of",
"part of"
],
"question": "Climate is_weather.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index":... | Climate is the average weather usually taken over a 30-year time period for a particular region and time period. Climate is not the same as weather, but rather, it is the average pattern of weather for a particular region. Weather describes the short-term state of the atmosphere .
The climate is changing. Many agreed that climate change may be one of the greatest threats facing the planet. Recent years show increasing temperatures in various regions, and/or increasing extremities in weather patterns.
Is the Earth getting warmer? Yes! The Earth has warmed by about 1degF over the past 100 years. But why? Well, scientists are not exactly sure. The Earth could be getting warmer on its own, but many of the world's leading climate scientists think that things people do are helping to make the Earth warmer.
Global Warming may be a big problem, but can you make a difference? Yes! There are several little things you can do to make a difference. Try carpooling. This will help reduce the amount of fossil fuels going into the atmosphere. Whenever you use electricity, you help put greenhouse gases into the air. Turn off lights, the television, and the computer when you are through with them. Also, planting trees is fun and a great way to reduce greenhouse gases. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the air. Finally, don't forget about recycling. | middle74.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "many new things"
},
"options": [
"singers",
"advertisement",
"many new things",
"TV"
],
"question": "When you go to a store, you see _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | You go to a store. You see many new things. You know about them before you get to the store. How do you know? You saw these things on TV. You learned about them through advertising.
People have been advertising for thousands of years. Long ago, men called "criers" walked up and down the street. They shouted about things that were being sold.
Later, people met at one place. This place was a market. Some people came to sell. Other people came to buy. But only those people who were at the market knew what was being sold.
When people learned about printing, things changed. Soon there were newspapers. Many people read the newspapers. They saw many ads in the papers. Later, more people saw and listened to the ads on TV. Are the people who sell to us "criers"? | middle6417.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "going on a long way by getting free rides in other people's car"
},
"options": [
"waiting for a bus at the bus stop",
"driving in a dangerous way",
"going on a long way by getting free rides in other people's car",
"ask... | Dear editor( ),
Can't your newspaper do something about the custom of hitchhiking?
A short time ago, on a car travel I counted at least 50 people standing beside the road, asking for rides. Many of them were young women.
Don't they understand how dangerous it is to get into the car driven by a stranger? How much do they know about the driver? Is he a good driver or not? They know nothing!
Many of these young hitchhikers may come from good families. Don't their parents teach them anything about the world? I always taught my children not to talk to strangers. I never let them take rides from people they didn't know.
Isn't there enough crime today without asking for trouble by hitchhiking? On the other hand, hitchhiking may bring some traffic trouble. Don't you think what I said is true?
A Worried Grandfather | middle820.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Children."
},
"options": [
"Old people.",
"Children.",
"Parents.",
"Teachers."
],
"question": "Who like having snowball fights best?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
}
] | Do you like winter? What do you like to do in winter? In summer when is rains, we can't go out and play sports outside. We just stay at home, it's very boring. But in winter if it snows we have a lot of things to do. For example, we can make a snowman with our friends. It's not difficult to make a snowman. We just let a snowball roll on the ground until it's big enough. Next we roll another snowball as the head of the snowman. Then put the small snowman on the big snowball. Last try your best to make your snowman beautiful. You can also have snowball fights with your friends. After the snow a lot of people come to the playground. They throw small snowballs to each other. This is a very exciting game in the cold winter. It makes people warm and healthy. A lot of people like it especially boys. | middle6403.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Monday is the first school day of a week"
},
"options": [
"Monday is the first day of a week",
"I just spend a happy weekend",
"Monday is the first school day of a week",
"I will have many lessons on Monday"
],
... | Monday...oh, I don't like Monday because I'll have to go back to school again after the weekend. Tuesday is not so bad. I usually play tennis with my friends after school. On Wednesday evening I don't go out. I stay at home and do my homework. I like Thursday because the next day is Friday. I always go out on Friday--maybe to the cinema. I love the weekend. On Saturdays I get up late, and I sometimes go to the shops in the afternoon. In the evening we go to a club. Then on Sundays I go to my friend's house or she comes to mine. I usually visit my grandmother for an hour in the afternoon. Then the weekend is over and it's Monday...and I feel bad again! | middle60.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "1999"
},
"options": [
"1997",
"1999",
"2001",
"2002"
],
"question": "Lu Jialei was born in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "... | Can you write down a Chinese word being read to you? Sometimes it can be difficult when you find the word is not included in most dictionaries.
Lu Jialei, 14, from Hangzhou Foreign Language School, won the CCTV Chinese Character Spelling Contest on Oct 18th, 2013. About 160 people competed. The host read a word to the contestant, explained its meaning and gave sample sentences. The contestant was required to write down the word.
Winning the contest was a "surprise" to Lu. "I was not the smartest one," she said. "But I paid attention to details." To prepare for the contest, she and her teammates studied the Modern Chinese Dictionary for 10 days. There are more than 56,000 entries including characters, words and phrases in it. She also had a secret weapon. She studied how Chinese characters were formed.
"When others paid attention to the plot of a story, she looked at how authors use words and sentences to express themselves," said Su Yunsheng, Lu's Chinese teacher. Su is happy to see students like Lu find the beauty of Chinese language.
"Besides using something Chinese and having Chinese traditional festivals, learning to write Chinese characters is also an important part of inheriting Chinese culture," said Su. | middle2665.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "in the evening"
},
"options": [
"in the morning",
"in the afternoon",
"in the evening",
"in the midnight"
],
"question": "When did the story happen ?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | It is evening,an old cock is sitting in a tall tree. A fox comes to the tree and looks at the cock .
"Hello,Mr Cock. I have some good news for you," says the fox.
"Oh?" says the cock,"what is it?"
"All the animals are good friends now. Let's be friends,too. Please come down and play with me."
"Fine!" says the cock,"I'm very glad to hear that." Then he looks up."Look! There is something over there."
"What are you looking at?" asks the fox.
"Oh,I see some animals over there. They are coming this way."
"Animals?""Yes,oh,they are dogs."
"What? Dogs!" asks the fox,"Well...well,I must go now. Goodbye."
"Wait,Mr Fox," says the cock,"Don't go. They are only dogs. And dogs are our friends now."
"Yes. But they don't know that yet."
"I see,I see," says the cock .He smiles and goes to sleep in the tree. | middle4214.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Twelve dollars"
},
"options": [
"Twenty dollars.",
"Twelve dollars",
"Thirteen dollars.",
"Fifteen dollars."
],
"question": "How much are their blue pants?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | It's time for our clothing sale. We only have this sale once a year. This year, prices are lower than ever, but the quality of our clothes is the same. How much are our blue pants? They're only twelve dollars. How much are our swimsuits? This week, you can buy one for only fourteen dollars. And what's the price of our T-shirt? Only eight dollars each! Or, you can buy two for fifteen dollars. And we have them in all colors: red, yellow, blue and green. Do you like Mango sweatshirts? This week, you can buy them for eighteen dollars. And our sports bags are only twelve dollars----that's right, twelve dollars only.
Come to the Blue Water Surf Shop now. The sale starts today. | middle4572.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "under the desk."
},
"options": [
"under the desk.",
"on the desk.",
"in the desk.",
"at the desk."
],
"question": "Look ! One of Li Mei's shoes is _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer... | Look! This is Li Mei's room. What's in her room? Her books are on the desk. This is one of her shoes. Where is the other one? Oh, It's under the desk. She can not find her school bag. Where is it? Oh, It's behind the door. Li Mei can not look after her things. Her mother often says to her, " Li Mei , you must look after your things."
,. (5) | middle2103.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "By listening to loud music."
},
"options": [
"By using smartphones.",
"By going to the party.",
"By listening to loud music.",
"By talking with friends."
],
"question": "How are the children and young people dam... | Do you like listening to music? Do you often turn up the music when you're using earphones? If so, your hearing may have been damaged .
The World Health Organization (WHO) is worried that 1.1 billion children and young people are damaging their hearing by listening to loud music. Nearly half the young people in developed countries may lose their hearing because of the "unsafe use" of music players, including smartphones. Loud music in nightclubs, parties and at sports also make it worse. The WHO advises young people to listen to music for just one hour a day. Dr. Etienne Krug told BBC: "What we're trying to do is to draw people's attention to a problem that is not talked about enough." He said it's easy to solve this problem.
Dr. Krug said keeping the music down and limiting the listening time to less than one hour a day would save a lot of people's hearing. However, he also said, "Even an hour can be too much if the music is too loud." Ralph Holme, a researcher, explained how loud noise can damage ears. He said: "Loud sounds damage your hearing by killing off thousands of little hair cells in the inner ear. The cells can tell different sounds through vibration . But they are very _ --they get damaged easily and even die if they vibrate too much because of loud sounds for too long." He warned: "The bigger problem is they don't grow back and the ear can no longer get sound."
No one wants to lose their hearing! Therefore, next time when you listen to music, make sure it's not too loud and only listen for less than an hour. You can enjoy your music much better in this way. | middle6365.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Swimming"
},
"options": [
"Reading",
"Swimming",
"Skating",
"Traveling"
],
"question": "_ is not the writer's hobby according to the passage.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Different people have different hobbies. For example, some people like reading, some people like swimming and some people like collecting something and so on. I have many hobbies, such as reading, skating, and traveling. I used to read books in my free time. I like reading because I could learn much by reading. At that time, reading was part of my life. Every day, I spent most of my free time reading books, newspapers and magazines. At night, I could hardly get to sleep without a novel in my hand.
But later I found I could only learn from books by reading. I couldn't get knowledge from others. I needed a _ . Traveling is my hobby now. I can visit many different places by traveling. I can learn a lot about people, geography and history. It's very interesting.
I have many good friends. They all have their hobbies. Ann studies very hard. So her hobby is reading all kinds of books. Tony loves working with her hands, and his hobby is gardening. He usually plants flowers and trees in his yard. Judy is a quiet girl. She likes knitting . She always knits sweaters for her dolls. We have different hobbies, but we are all good friends.
(5) | middle3235.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Five"
},
"options": [
"four",
"Five",
"Six",
"seven"
],
"question": "How many pieces of advice does the writer give?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
... | If you think you are too shy and want to be a little bit braver, just try the following things:
You can make it. Tell people you are shy. There is no need to hide it. When they get to know you are a shy kid, they will understand you better. This also helps feel more _ in talks.
Try to smile more. When you smile, people think you are friendly and easy to talk with. Remember that other people have feelings, too; and most people will stay away from an angry--looking face.
Learn to be a good talker. If you find it hard to start a conversation, say something nice about people around you. Think about how great you feel when someone says something nice to you. Doesn't it make you want to keep talking to that person?
Get your attention elsewhere. Think more about ways to enjoy parties or games. Don't waste time worrying about your book or whether people like you or not.
Take one small step at a time. Each time when you say: "Hi!" or smile at someone, say to yourself: "You can make it." Keep trying and one day you'll never feel shy when you talk to others. | middle5644.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "in Youth magazine"
},
"options": [
"with her students",
"with her husband",
"in Youth magazine",
"in Xiamen University"
],
"question": "The mother shared her advice _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions... | When talking about picking a right school, a mother and teacher gave some pieces of advice.
In the latest issue of Youth magazine, the mother shared the school advice she gave her daughters with young people across the country.
"I've told my daughters many times that I don't want them to choose a name," the mother said. "I don't want them to think, 'Oh, I should go to these top schools.' We live in a country with hundreds of excellent universities. So the first question is: what's going to work for me?"
"When it was time to prepare for picking schools, nobody around me believed I could get into Xiamen University. But through hard work I finally made it," she continued. "So, my second piece of advice is: believe in yourself, no matter what other people might say. Once your goal is set, you only need to try your best to make it come true."
"The last piece of advice is not to be worried even if your dreams don't come true. As I've said above, there are so many good universities out there. So it's important for everybody to understand that you can always find a university that gives you a great education." | middle7053.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "long black"
},
"options": [
"curly brown",
"long black",
"red",
"blonde"
],
"question": "Sinsha has _ hair.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"a... | Susan wang
I have a best friend. His name is James. He is from the USA. We look _ different! I have blonde hair but he has red hair. I wear glasses but he doesn't. I am short but he is very tall. I'm very outgoing but he is very quiet. However, we both love singing and dancing.
Sam Green
I don't really have a best friend but one of my good friends is Kristi. She is from America. I sometimes call her Kwiti. She is funny and kind. And she really cares about everyone and almost everything. She became one of my good friends at the age of five.
Mary Smith
My best friend's name is Edna. She comes from Australia. She likes to talk a lot and hardly keeps quiet. Edna has curly brown hair and brown eyes. She always makes me laugh. Also, she sometimes helps me with my homework.
Lisa Brown
I have a best friend from India. Her name is Sinsha. I call her Kuttu. She is short. She has a round face and black eyes. She has long black hair. I can hardly get sad or angry when I'm with her. She often makes me happy. | middle7735.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "eat and sleep well, and do exercise"
},
"options": [
"eat well and do exercise",
"sleep well",
"have more vegetables",
"eat and sleep well, and do exercise"
],
"question": "The writer thinks people should _ ... | Everyone wants to be healthy. Then do you know how to keep in good health? You may say, "Having a balanced diet and doing exercise can help us." I agree with you. _ 1 In fact, good sleep is also very important.
Lots of people in the world have sleep problems. They can't sleep well at night. _ They are unhappy and stressed out. Then they may have some other health problems. _ 2 _
How can people sleep well at night? Here are some good ideas. _ 3 _
* Sleep in a quiet room.
* Do some exercise before going to bed. It'll make you sleepy .
* Wash your feet in warm water before you go to bed.
* Have a glass of milk. It's pretty good for sleeping.
* Don't think about boring things. _ 4Try to be relaxed. | middle1344.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "thirty"
},
"options": [
"twenty",
"thirty",
"fifty",
"fifty-five"
],
"question": "The old couple have been married for _ years.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_... | A man called his son in New York the day before Christmas and said, "I have to tell you your Mom and I are going to divorce ! Thirty years is quite a long time."
"Dad, what are you talking about?" the son cried.
The father said:"We are sick of each other. I don't want to talk about it anymore. You call your sister in Chicago and tell her about the news."
When the daughter got the news, she is very surprised at it.
"What? They are getting divorced." She shouted, "I'll stop them." She called her father immediately, and cried to her father," Don't do anything until I get home. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Wait for us, please."
The old man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "OK" he said, "they're coming for Christmas and paying their own way." | middle48.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "singer"
},
"options": [
"worker",
"teacher",
"dancer",
"singer"
],
"question": "Han Hong's mother is a famouse _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
... | Han Hong is one of the most famous singers in China . She was born in Qambo,Tibet . Her mother , a Tibetan singer, is famous for her popular song On the Golden Hill in Beijing.
Han Hong gets her good voice from her mother and shows a strong love of music .Han Hong came to Beijing at the age of nine to study singing .In 1985, 14-year-old Han Hong won her first prize.And then , the song Road to Heaven made Han Hong become popular in China.
Han Hong has not only a nice voice ,but also a big kind heart .She spends a lot of time doing charity. She got hurt in an accident on her charity tour last year , but she didn't stop her charity work .Give our best wishes to this kind lady.
,,. (2,10) | middle3553.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "In 1994"
},
"options": [
"In 1994",
"in 1980",
"in 1900",
"in 1984"
],
"question": "When was Michael born?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answ... | "Where there is a will, there is a way." Perhaps not many students can understand this better than 22-year-old Michael Ha. Because of his story of success, he has become an example of young people.
Michael Ha was born in a very poor family. His parents worked in Vietnam before they moved to Britain in 1980. They couldn't find work in Britain because they spoke little English. The whole family had to live on benefits and they lived in a small house in Hackney, a poor area in East London. Growing up is not easy for Michael, but he never gave up.
At the age of ten, he set his heart on going to Cambridge University. It was not easy, either. Michael studied at a school, which used to be called "the worst school in Britain". However, young Michael made his mind to try his best, no matter what kind of school he was studying at. The smart boy studied very hard and did well in every subject at school. Once he made a bet with his friend to learn further math. As a result, after just spending four months teaching himself from a textbook, he got an A in AS-level further math.
Now Michael is the star medical student in John's College, Cambridge and has just won an award for his excellent grades. He hopes he will be an inspiration for other young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. | middle5136.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a hamburger"
},
"options": [
"water",
"juice",
"a hamburger",
"an umbrella"
],
"question": "What does the young man want to buy when the train stops?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answ... | A train stops at a station. Many people come out to buy food and fruits. A young man wants to come out, but it starts to rain. A boy stands under an umbrella. The young man says to the boy.
"Can you go and get us two hamburgers, one for you and one for me? Here are two dollars. Be quick!"
"Great!" says the boy and then he goes to buy hamburgers.
After some time, the boy is back. He eats a hamburger.
"Where is my hamburger?" asks the young man.
"Oh, there is only one hamburger left. So I eat my hamburger. Here is your dollar." | middle2659.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "can solve the biggest challenge facing the world"
},
"options": [
"can solve the biggest challenge facing the world",
"can find how the next penicillin works on illnesses",
"can think of the most difficult problem in the worl... | "The British government will offer PS1,000,000 to anyone who can solve the world's biggest problem--whatever it might be," said Prime Minister David Cameron at a science conference. In an unusual competition, the Government will ask people to find out the greatest challenge today, such as finding a replacement for oil, producing low cost food or curing AIDS/HIV. When the toughest problem has been decided, the Prime Minister will give away PS1,000,000 to the person who successfully works out the answer. The competition follows the example of the Longitude Prize started by the government in 1714, which offered PS20,000 (worth PS6,000,000 today) to anyone who could discover how far east or west ships had sailed. Sailors could work out their location north and south, and were able to decide their local time from the sun. However, they needed to know the time at a reference point in order to find out how far they had travelled east or west. Many people thought the problem was impossible to solve, but the prize was finally won by John Harrison, an ordinary worker. He did this by designing a clock that kept accurate time at sea and made it possible for sailors to work out their location. Almost exactly 300 years on, Mr Cameron will have a group of scientists collect suggestions and draw up a short list of problems facing the world. He will then start a race to solve the most difficult problem. A government officer said, "We want people to think big: what does the world need and how can we achieve that? We are looking for the next penicillin , airplane or World Wide Web. Something that is going to really change what we do and how we live our lives--sending us ahead in the global race. "According to Mr Cameron, it is important to "encourage new ideas" and "attract back the best and the brightest" to Britain. | middle3547.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he is nice"
},
"options": [
"he is nice",
"he is interesting",
"his store is tidy",
"the things in his store are not expensive"
],
"question": "The boys and girls like Mr. Lin because _ .",
"question_type"... | Mr. Lin has a store. It's next to No. 5 Middle School. It _ maps, books, pens, pencils, clothes and some other things. The things in his store are not expensive. Boys and girls like to go to his store. They like Mr. Lin because he is very nice. Mr. Lin likes the boys and girls, too. Mr. Lin has a"lost and found"box in his store. Look! A baseball, a ruler and some books are in the box. This box helps some boys and girls find their lost things. A sofa is in Mr. Lin's store, too. Boys and girls can sit there and read books after school. They can ask Mr. Lin questions about these books and he often helps them to find the answers. | middle4228.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "60 dollars"
},
"options": [
"20 dollars",
"40 dollars",
"60 dollars",
"80 dollars"
],
"question": "Mr Jackson spend _ on their tickets to the aquarium at last.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{... | Blue Ocean Aquarium is a great place for families to take a holiday. Children love to see the sea animals and watch films about sharks in it.
Last Saturday morning, Mr Jackson took his wife and two little sons to the aquarium. At the ticket office, he asked, "How much shall I pay to get in?" The woman at the ticket office answered, "The price is 20 dollars for each adult or any kid older than five. We let kids in free if they are five or younger. How old are your kids?" Mr Jackson said, "The older one is six and the younger one is three. I think I must buy three tickets. " The woman was surprised. She said, "Sir, don't you want to save 20 dollars? If you tell me your older son is five, I won't know the difference. " Mr Jackson said with a smile, "Yes, that sounds right, but my kids will know the difference. "
From Mr Jackson' s story, we know _ is very important in the modern society . We should tell the truth to the people around us, especially to the kids. | middle2881.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "New Amsterdam"
},
"options": [
"Lenapehoking",
"New Amsterdam",
"New York",
"Manhattan"
],
"question": "In the year 1626, New York was called _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer"... | New York is the biggest city of the USA. A long time ago, it was called Lenapehoking. In 1626, Dutch people bought the land for only $24! They called it New Amsterdam. Then in 1664, the British took it over and changed the name to New York.
New York had an excellent harbour . Many people from all over the world came by sea and landed in New York. These people wanted a better life. New York seemed to give them that. By 1835, New York became the largest city in the United States. New York City used to have five smaller towns but now they are all part of the same city. They are Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.
Today, New York is home to millions of people from all over the world. These different cultures make New York an exciting place to visit. There's much to do in New York. You can take a helicopter riding through the city, ride horses in Central Park, see a movie in the afternoon and watch the sunset over the Brooklyn Bridge. Don't worry if you get hungry. Some restaurants are open 24 hours a day! | middle7721.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "bigger than a toy balloon"
},
"options": [
"smaller than a toy balloon",
"bigger than a toy balloon",
"the same as a toy balloon",
"lighter than a toy balloon"
],
"question": "A hot-air balloon is _",
"que... | Have you ever hoped a toy balloon? They are very light. But there are much bigger balloons can fly very high up in the sky. They are big enough to carry people. They are called hot-air balloons.
To make a hot-air balloon go up, turn on the burner . That will make the air inside the balloon hotter. Then the balloon will go up.
To make the balloon go down, turn off the burner. The air inside the balloon will get cooler. Then the balloon will go down. Underneath(....) the balloon there is a large basket. That is where the pilot and the passengers go.
The burner is just above the basket. You can stand in the basket and turn the burner on and off. The balloon will go where the wind is blowing the right way! Do you want the balloon to go somewhere special? First make sure the wind is blowing the right way!
People have been flying in hot-air balloons for over two hundred years. Before planes it was the only way of flying. Today people fly in hot-air balloon for fun. Some people like to race hot-air balloons. | middle1350.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "rich, but unhappy and unlucky"
},
"options": [
"rich, happy, and healthy",
"poor, unhappy, unhealthy",
"rich, but unhappy and unlucky",
"poor, but happy and lucky"
],
"question": "What kind of person would you s... | A Nobel Prize is considered by most people one of the highest international honors a person can receive. As you know, the prizes were started by a Swedish called Alfred Nobel. He was born in Stockholm ,the capital of Sweden. Alfred Nobel was a great scientist. He made two important inventions, and so he became very rich. Although he was rich, Nobel was not a happy man. He never married or had children. Also, he was a sick man during his large part of life. When he died at the age of 63,he left a fund of $9,000,000.The money was used in giving prizes to those who made great achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine and literature , and for world peace.
The first Nobel Prize were given on December 10,1901,five years after Nobel's death. Since then many famous people from all over the world have been given Nobel Prize for their achievements. Each prize has three parts. The first part is a gold medal. Second, a winner of a Nobel Prize is given a _ , saying that he has been given the prize. The third part of the prize is a large amount of money------about $40,000.
Often a prize is given to just one person ,but not always. Sometimes a prize is shared. It may be given to two or more people who have worked together .It is also sometimes true that a prize is not given at all if there is no great achievement. In 1972,for example, no Nobel Peace Prize was given. | middle6359.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "being self-employed snake catchers"
},
"options": [
"catching and selling snakes",
"catching snakes as a part-time job",
"protecting snakes in the wild",
"being self-employed snake catchers"
],
"question": "The ... | Have you ever heard of a rattlesnake? It is a poisonous American snake. When it is angry or afraid, it makes a noise like a rattle with its tail. It's very scary. But Heather Ramirez and her husband, from California, in the United States, make a living in an unusual way. They are self-employed snake catchers! They catch snakes, especially rattlesnakes which have gone indoors, and return them to the wild.
Heather describes her work as "protecting people from rattlesnakes -- and protecting rattlesnakes from people!" In the area where they live, rattlesnakes often come face to face with people. They are found in stores, offices, houses and gardens. Heather explains that it's not the snakes that are moving into places where people live, but it's the other way round. The snakes lived in these places first and then the people built houses.
Most people who see a rattlesnake are feared. If you keep your distance, however, the snake won't bite you. In twelve years as a snake catcher, Heather has never touched a snake. She doesn't take the risk. She picks up the snakes with a special tool. This doesn't hurt _ , but it keeps them at a safe distance so that they can't bite her.
Heather and her husband are very busy because they are never off duty. Catching snakes is a full-time job and they don't often have a day off. People can get to them at any time of the day or night. Not everyone can do this job, but Heather doesn't want to do anything else. "I just love my job," she says. | middle7047.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "No, he doesn't."
},
"options": [
"Yes, he does.",
"No, he does.",
"Yes, he doesn't.",
"No, he doesn't."
],
"question": "Does Peter have a small nose?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answ... | Peter is an American boy from New York. He is tall and he has a good look. He has a big nose and big blue eyes. His hair is brown. He is in a red T-shirt, white pants and blue shoes. He is very cool. He likes basketball , too. He knows NBA stars. He says ,"Yao Ming is cool!"We are good friends. | middle5888.txt |
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