questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because he was so old and weak that he couldn't live alone."
},
"options": [
"Because he was ill.",
"Because he felt lonely.",
"Because he missed his children.",
"Because he was so old and weak that he couldn't live alo... | An old man, too old to live on his own, went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and a four-year-old grandson. The old man's hands trembled , and he couldn't see clearly. The family ate together at the dinner table every night. But the grandfather's trembling hands and poor sight made eating rather difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he drank milk, he spilled it on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became angry with him. "We must do something about Grandfather," said the son. So the husband and the wife set a small table in the corner. There, the grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner at the dinner table. Since the grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. Sometimes he had tears in his eyes as he ate alone. The four-year-old grandson watched it all in silence.
One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy said, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mum to eat your food from when I grow up." The four-year-old boy smiled and went back to work. The words struck the parents and they were speechless. Then tears started to run down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took the grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.
The wise parents should realize that the children are their parents' mirror. | middle6285.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Only sheep and pigs"
},
"options": [
"Only sheep and pigs",
"Horses and cows",
"Dogs",
"All the above"
],
"question": "_ can be used to look after the house.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Animals are our friends. We can find different kinds of animals on Earth. Some animals are living in big forests. And some animals are living with man.
Animals are very important to man. For example, people can train the elephants to do some heavy work. And they can also train the dogs to look after the house. A police dog is clever. It can help people in danger. And it can also help the policeman to catch the thieves or murderers. The children like dogs very much.
Everyone knows sheep and pigs very well. Man eats their meat almost every day. People can make coasts and shoes with their skins. From cows, we can get milk. It's good for our health. And horses can take us to other places. In some places, horses and camels are instead of car and buses. It's clear that man can't live comfortably without these animals. | middle5613.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "At 7:30"
},
"options": [
"At 6:00",
"At 6:30",
"At 7:00",
"At 7:30"
],
"question": "What time does Gina go to school every morning?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answ... | Hello, my name is Gina. John, Anna and I are good friends. We are in the same grade. But they are in Class Five and I am in Class Three. We get up at 7:00 and go to school at 7:30. In the morning we have four lessons. We have English every morning. John and Anna have English at 10:00 in the morning and I have _ at 11:00. English is my favorite subject. Math is their favorite. And we all like P.E.
In the afternoon, we have three lessons. At 2:30 we have the art lesson in the same classroom. After school we often play soccer. We all like soccer. Sometimes we watch TV at my house. We don't play any computer games. | middle3262.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because he wanted to kill time."
},
"options": [
"Because he wanted to exercise.",
"Because he wanted to kill time.",
"Because the balls were too heavy.",
"Because he wanted to show he was rich."
],
"question": ... | I remember reading a story once about a man who found a bag with a lot of clay balls by the seashore. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued (......) the man so he took the bag with him.
As he walked along the beach, to pass the time, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could throw.
He thought little about it until he dropped one of the balls and it broke open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone . Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him.
He had been on the beach for a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have had tens of thousand, but he just threw it all away.
You know sometimes, it's like that with people, we look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful, so we discount(,) it, we see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or well-known or wealthy.
There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees him, then _ | middle7004.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He is selling a horse."
},
"options": [
"He is giving some meat to the young man.",
"He is selling a horse.",
"He is looking at a horse",
"He is finding the bad ears of the horse"
],
"question": "What is the old... | One day an old man is selling a horse. A young man comes to the horse and begins to look at it slowly.
Then the old man goes up to him and says in his ears, "Don't say anything about the horse before I sell it, then I will give you some meat."
"All right," says the young man. After the old man sells the horse, he gives the young man some meat and says, "Now, can you tell me how you see the bad ears of the horse?"
"I didn't find the bad ears," says the young man. "Then why do you look at the horse?" asks the old man.
The young man answers, "Because I never saw a horse before, and I want to know what it looks like." | middle1475.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "24"
},
"options": [
"12",
"16",
"18",
"24"
],
"question": "Tom will work for _ hours in a week altogether .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"ans... | Do you have free time? Would you like to be with an old man? I need such a man to look after my father. He's 78 years old, but he's healthy. If you want to get the job, you need to work for four hours every day from Monday to Friday, 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. And on weekends, you need to work for only two hours, 1:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. Your pay is 5 dollars an hour.
Here are the things you will do:
*Read books and newspapers to him
*Talk with him if he wants to
*Walk outside with him
*Buy things for him
Address: Bridge Street, Nanjing
Telephone: 2756-3358 (ask for Mr. Green)
Tom White needs a job. After he reads the advertisement , he calls Mr. Green and gets the job. | middle1313.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Between the second class and the third class."
},
"options": [
"After the first class.",
"After the third class.",
"Between the first class and the second class.",
"Between the second class and the third class."
],
... | Jamie was born in a small village in the north of England. He is nine years old. He likes playing basketball very much. When he is free, he always plays basketball with his friends in the open air. Sometimes he walks in the forest and picks some flowers by himself.
Last Friday, Jamie finished his homework after the second class in the morning. He hurried to play basketball. The playground was wet. After some time his basketball was dirty and his hands were dirty, too. It was 9: 45 and the third class began. Jamie had no time to wash his hands and ran into his classroom. Mr Black, his English teacher, told Jamie to write some new words on the blackboard. Jamie stood in front of the blackboard and started to write. Mr Black saw his right hand was dirty.
"Oh, dear!" said the teacher. "Your right hand is dirty. I'm sure it's the dirtiest in our class."
"You are wrong, Mr Black," said Jamie. Then he showed his left hand and it was dirtier. | middle687.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Snowflake Boy"
},
"options": [
"Snowflake Photos",
"Snowflake Boy",
"Long and Hard Winters",
"Teenage Photographer"
],
"question": "The best title for this passage is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_question... | Look at the light and beautiful snowflakes falling. Ever wanted to hold them in your hands? They are always lost when they meet your hands.
Well, this isn't just a problem for you. It was a problem for Wilson Bentley, too. In the 1870s, Wilson Bentley was just a teenager. His family lived in a small town in northeast America. Winters there were long and hard. Bentley's mother was once a school teacher. She taught him at home. Bentley didn't go to school until he was 14. He was a quiet boy, and loved reading his mother's books. But he was interested in his mother's microscope . When the other boys were playing with balls, little Bentley was studying things like drops of water, flowers and snowflakes.
Bentley loved watching snowflakes. For the next two years, young Bentley spent many winter days in a cold room watching these _ under his microscope. The boy thought they were beautiful enough for him to start to draw pictures of them. But there were so many snowflakes that he couldn't draw them all.
How could he keep their beauty all the time? Bentley thought of buying a camera.
The boy and his mother asked his father to buy one. But, his father didn't agree. He thought the whole thing was a bad idea. He thought the only thing a farmer should do was farming.
But finally Bentley did get a camera. For more than a year he tried to take pictures of snowflakes. On January 15, 1885, during a snowstorm, Bentley took the first ever photo of an ice crystal with his camera. "It was the greatest moment of my life," Bentley said later.
For 13 years, Bentley worked quietly and took thousands of photos of ice crystals. Later he became famous as "Snowflake" Bentley. | middle7762.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Serious."
},
"options": [
"Careless.",
"Serious.",
"Joking.",
"Funny."
],
"question": "What was Monty's attitude towards his paper?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | Monty Robert's father was a horse trainer. As a child, Monty often went from one farm to another with his father. Sometimes they didn't have money to pay for food, but Monty still kept hoping to own a horse farm.
When he was in school, his teacher asked him to write a paper about his dream. He wrote a seven-page paper. He wanted to have a horse farm one day. He even drew a picture of a horse farm in the paper.
The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later, he got his paper back. On the front page was a large red "F" with the words "See me after class". So the boy did and asked his teacher, "Why did I get an F?" The teacher said, "This dream will not come true for a young boy like you. You need a lot of money to own a horse farm. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for a lot of things. There is no way you could ever do it." Then the teacher added, "If you write this paper again with a simpler dream, I will give you a good grade."
After school he thought hard about it. At last, he decided to hand in the same paper, making no changes at all. He said to the teacher, "You can keep the F and I'll keep my dream."
Many years later, Monty had his own large horse farm. His dream came true.
So don't let anyone take away your dreams. Follow your dreams, no matter what they are. | middle3504.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a party"
},
"options": [
"a meeting",
"their home",
"a party",
"work"
],
"question": "Mr. and Mrs. Black were driving to _ one day.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | One day Mr. and Mrs. Black were driving to a party . Mr. Black drove the car very fast. "Please don't drive so fast." Mrs Black asked his husband to drive more slowly ."If you drive so fast , maybe we'll have some trouble.""Oh , no , Don't be worried , my dear . "said Mr. Black with a smile ."You know I'm good at driving . You won't be in danger . And there is little time . If I don't drive fast , we'll be late for the party."
A few minutes later , his wife , Mrs. Black , said to him,"If you don't slow down ,We'll be in hospital."
Just at this moment a car came out of a side road and crossed in front of their car . Mr. Black stopped their car quickly . It nearly hit that car: "Oh , dear , I'm sorry for that . You are right , my dear,"said Mr Black . "I'll never drive fast later . Now let me drive slowly . "Then car drove very slowly to the party . Of course they were very late for the party. | middle3510.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "5:00 a.m."
},
"options": [
"5:00 a.m.",
"5:30 a.m.",
"6:00 a.m.",
"6:30 a.m."
],
"question": "What time does Mrs. Brown get up?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | Mrs. Brown is a worker. She works in a big factory. She gets up at five every morning. She often has breakfast at six fifty. After that she goes to the factory by bus at half past seven. She cleans the machines when she gets there very early. Then her workmates come. They begin to work at 8:00. They all work very hard. She goes home at five. Then she does some cooking. After supper she usually helps his son Tom with his homework. Sometimes she reads books. She usually watches TV with her family on weekends. | middle5161.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Girls"
},
"options": [
"Girl",
"The girl",
"Girls",
"Boys"
],
"question": "_ often like new dresses.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text... | It's Sunday. Children don't go to school on Sundays. But Kate gets up early in the morning. "It's my birthday. I'm eight years old today." she thinks, "Where are Dad and Mum? I want to know what they can give me for my birthday."
Her father and mother are not at home. They are going shopping. And now they are talking about what to buy for Kate.
---- Dad: How about the doll? It looks nice. I think Kate would like the doll.
---- Mom: I don't think so. She is not a little girl. I think she likes a new dress. Girls often like new dresses very much.
---Dad: But she has a few new dresses and some new blouses. Oh, I think she must be very happy to have a box of colorful pencils and some picture books. Do you think so?
----- Mom: Yes. Let's go over there and buy them. | middle6468.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "back; front"
},
"options": [
"front; back",
"back; back",
"front; front",
"back; front"
],
"question": "Bears stand on their _ legs and lift their _ legs to ask for food.",
"question_type": "cloze_qu... | In our city, there is a big zoo. There are a lot of different animals in it. There are some scary tigers and lions. They like eating meat and they eat much meat every day.
There are also two big elephants and a baby one. Children like to ride one of them. The elephants are very kind and friendly. They eat much grass and bananas.
In the zoo, we can see different kinds of bears : brown bears, black bears and white bears. They are all shy and clumsy . They stand on their back legs and lift their front legs to ask for food They like cakes very much.
Do you like pandas? There's only one in the zoo. Her name is Lingling. She is very cute. She likes eating bamboos a lot. She is kind of shy, She's very interesting and lovely. | middle693.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a student"
},
"options": [
"a cleaner",
"a worker",
"a student",
"a teacher"
],
"question": "James in the passage was probably _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answ... | James shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully counted the coins that lay on the bed. $24. 17 was all that he had. The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! How was he going to get the end of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was hard to hang around with people when you were the only one without wheels. He thought about what he could do. It was no use asking his parents, for he knew they had no money to save.
There was only one way to get money, and that was to earn it. He would have to find a job. But who would hire him and what could he do? He decided to ask Mr. Clay for advice, who usually had opinions on most things.
"Well, you can start right here," said Mr. Clay. "My windows need cleaning and my car needs washing. "
That was the beginning of James' part-time job. For three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He was amazed by the different kinds of jobs that people found for him to do. He took dogs and babies for walks, cleared out cupboards, and mended books. He lost count of the number of cars he washed and windows he cleaned, but the money increased and he knew that he would soon have enough for the bicycle he was eager to have.
The day finally came when James counted his money and found $94. 32. He wasted no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode proudly home, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard working for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more since he had bought it with his own money. | middle1307.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "By train."
},
"options": [
"By bus.",
"By taxi.",
"By car.",
"By train."
],
"question": "How does Mr Black go to work every morning?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"ans... | Mr Black is a football fan. Every morning he goes to work by train. As he has a long trip, he always buys a newspaper. It helps to make the time pass more quickly. One Wednesday morning, Mr Black turned the important football matches. He knew the Football World Cup would be held in his city soon. He decided to go to watch the football game.
While Mr Black was excited to be at the Football World Cup, he was disappointed at the location of his seat. Peering across the stadium through his telescope he saw an empty seat far away and made his way there. Mr Black asked the man in the next seat, "May I sit here?" "Sure," the man replied. "This was my wife's seat. She was a super football fan, and we used to come to the games together all the time until she _ ."
"I am sorry for your loss," Mr Black said. "But I am curious . Why didn't you give the extra ticket to a friend or a relative?" The man replied, "They are all at the funeral ." | middle7776.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A field"
},
"options": [
"A field",
"A hospital",
"A library",
"A restaurant"
],
"question": "_ doesn't belong to a non-smoking place.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | Smoking in indoor public places including public working places, public transport vehicles and some other special outdoor working places has been banned in China since January 2011. Let's look at the following advantages of banning smoking.
First, banning smoking will not only help in saving smokers from health problems and diseases, but will also be good for passive smokers. When the smoker is smoking in a restaurant, the people around him are sure to breathe in the smoke and suffer from the diseases an active smoker gets. If smoking is banned, spread of these diseases can be controlled.
Next, banning smoking will put stress on smokers to give up. Since a smoker is prevented from smoking, he will learn how to live without smoking for long hours. When a smoker doesn't smell or see anybody around him smoking, it might reduce his wish to smoke too. As a result, people have to give up smoking.
Smoking in public places influences non-smokers to start smoking, especially _ . When teens see people around them smoking, they will follow them easily. Thus the number of teen smokers will increase. Also asthma and other problems are often seen in children living around smokers. So if it is banned, these places will become safe for children and teenagers.
Smoking should be banned to increase work productivity . Employees who smoke usually take breaks to smoke while working. So the number of hours they put in their work is smaller.
If you see from the environment point of view, smoking should be banned. Smoking causes air pollution. If it is banned, it will help keep the environment from getting worse. | middle7010.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Mother's education is very important."
},
"options": [
"Each mother loves her kids..",
"Mother's education is very important.",
"The earlier education starts, the better result there will be.",
"No pains, no gains."
... | Two young men, one was a prisoner while the other was a famous official from the White House, both told a story about how their mothers give apples to them.
The story from the prisoner:
When I was young, one day my mother brought several apples, among which there was a biggest red one that I really wanted to get. My mum put all the apples on the table and asked us, "Which do you like?" I was about to say "the biggest one" while my brother took one step ahead and said what I wanted to say. My mum said angrily, "A good child should give the best to others instead of being self-centered." I learnt a quick lesson and said, "Mum, give me the smallest one. The biggest one should be left for my brother!" Hearing my words, she felt more than happy and gave the biggest apple to me as a reward.
I told a lie but I got what I wanted! Since then, I learnt to lie. Later, I learnt to fight, steal and rob. I would try all means to get what I wanted. Then later I was _ .
The story from the White House:
When I was young, one day my mum brought several apples of different colors and sizes. Both my two younger brothers and I wanted the biggest one. My mum picked up the biggest apple and said, "It is good to get the biggest apple. Now let's start a competition. I will divide the lawn in front of our house into three parts, one for each. Who could do the job best and fastest would be rewarded with the biggest apple." I won the apple finally. | middle2168.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She did the washing."
},
"options": [
"She went to the mountains.",
"She collected firewood.",
"She went fishing in the river.",
"She did the washing."
],
"question": "What did the old woman do every day?",
... | Once upon a time an old man and woman lived in the mountains in Japan. Every day the old man went to the mountain and collected firewood, while the old woman went to the river and did the washing.
One day, she was doing the washing when a big peach came floating down the river towards her. As it was a big and juicy-looking fruit, she thought that her husband would be glad to eat it, so she took it home. When the old man came back for lunch and saw the nice peach, he was really happy. The old woman cut the big peach open with a knife! What a surprise! A lovely little boy was in the peach. The old man and woman had no children, so they were really grateful the gods sent them a boy in this peach. Since he was born in a peach they decided to call him Momotaro which means "peach-boy". The old woman cooked a meal for the little boy who ate as much as he could. The more he ate, the more he grew. Soon he became a tall and strong boy.
Day after day, all Momotaro did was sleep and eat. In the village the other boys went to the mountain and picked firewood while Monotaro was the only one doing nothing. This worried the old man and the old woman. The boys then invited him, "Momotaro, would you come with us? We're going to collect fire wood." But he answered, "I don't have a basket, so I can't go with you", and went back to sleep. On hearing this, the old woman got angry with Momotaro for being so lazy, so the next day he went to collect firewood with the other boys. | middle3276.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It's under the chair."
},
"options": [
"It's on the wall.",
"It's on the table.",
"It's on the chair.",
"It's under the chair."
],
"question": "Where is the baseball?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
... | This is Kate's room. There is a big bed, a table, a computer and some chairs in it. The cup and some books are on the table. A picture is on the wall . The baseball is under the chair. Some CDs are on the desk. Her model plane is in the bookcase. Look, there is an English dictionary in the bookcase, too. | middle4519.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A big tree"
},
"options": [
"An old man",
"A big tree",
"Some glasses.",
"A big hat"
],
"question": "What did the truck hit?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_inde... | In a New York street, a small truck hit a big tree. The truck was full of glasses and they were all broken now. The driver came out of the truck and looked at the broken glasses. He was very sad and people in the street felt sorry for him. Then an old man walked over to the driver. He looked at him for a few minutes and said, "My poor boy, I think you must pay a lot for it." "Yes," was the sad answer.
"Well, well," said the old man, "hold out your hat-- here's some money for you, and I can say that some of these people will give you a helping hand, too." With these words, he walked away.
The driver held out his hat and over a hundred people came and put their money in it. At last the driver took a bag and put all the money in it. Then he looked at the people and said, "Well, thank you very much. But you didn't know that the old man is the owner of the truck. I'm driving and making money for him." | middle6326.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "borrow"
},
"options": [
"grow",
"borrow",
"steal",
"sell"
],
"question": "According to the passage, people can't _ things in this game.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"... | Recently, an Internet game has become a new fashion among young office workers and students. People can "farm" on a piece of "land" and "grow", "sell" or even "steal vegetables", "flowers" and "fruits" on the Net. They can earn some e-money and buy more "seeds", "pets" and even "houses".
Joyce interviewed some young people. Here are their opinions:
Harold: I don't quite understand why they are so mad about the childish game. Maybe they are just not confident enough to face the real world.
Allan: I enjoy putting some "bugs" in my friends' gardens and we've become closer because of the game. Having fun together is the most exciting thing about it.
Laura: You know, people in the city are longing for the life in the countryside. It reduces my work pressure . Besides, it gives me the exciting experience of being a "thief".
Ivy: Well, it's just a waste of time. Teenagers playing the game spend so many hours on it that they can not focus on their study. | middle2140.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "on 31 July 1965"
},
"options": [
"on 31 June 1965",
"on 31 July 1965",
"in the USA",
"in Canada"
],
"question": "Joanne \"Jo\" Rowling was born _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer... | Joanne "Jo" Rowling was born on 31 July 1965, pen name, is a British novelist, best known as the writer of the Harry Potter books. The Harry Potter books are world famous. People bought more than 400 million copies. They have become the best-selling book series in history.Rowling finished the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997. Later Jo published 6 more -- the last, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007.
Jo is said to be the twelfth richest woman in the UK. In October 2010, Jo was named the "Most Influential Woman in Britain. | middle4257.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "fourteen days"
},
"options": [
"a week",
"fourteen days",
"twenty-eight days",
"one month"
],
"question": "Harry's hiccups lasted _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | For many people the subject of hiccups is a joke, but for Harry Mendes, a fifteen-year-old schoolboy from Birmingham, it was something quite different.
His hiccups began one Sunday lunch time and continued day and night for two weeks. After the first week, Harry's parents took him to hospital, but it took another week for the doctors to cure his attack.
Harry, who is now back at school, described what happened to him.
"When I began to hiccup, I drank a glass of water but that didn't do any good. That evening I had hiccups every four seconds. We tried everything to stop them. I held my breath and drank cold drinks. My father even tried to give me a shock but that didn't work either."
After a week of sleepless nights, he went to hospital. The doctors took an X-ray of his chest but they couldn't find anything wrong.
"They gave me some medicine and my hiccups slowed down, but it was another week before the medicine worked completely and my hiccups stopped."
Harry was very lucky. The world record holder is the American farmer Charles Osborne, who hiccupped for sixty-eight years. He stopped in 1990 at last, but nobody knows why. | middle3538.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they knew little about him"
},
"options": [
"he often hurt them",
"he disliked them near him",
"they knew little about him",
"they got no food from him"
],
"question": "The birds didn't get close to the old man ... | I once knew a man who was rich in his love for birds, and in their love for him . He lived in a grove full of all kinds of trees. He had no wife or children in his home. He was an old man with blue and kind eyes, and a voice that the birds loved.
While he was at work in the grove, the birds came close to pick up the worms in the fresh earth he dug up. At first, they kept their distance from him, but they soon found he was a kind man, and would not hurt them, but liked to have them near him.
They knew this by his kind eyes and voice, which tell what is in the heart. So, day by day their _ in his love grew in them.
All the birds of the grove were soon his fast friends. They were on the watch for him, and would fly down from the green tree tops to greet him with their chirp .
When he had no work to do, he took bread with him, and dropped the pieces on the ground. Down they would dart on his head and feet to catch them as they fell from his hand.
He showed me how they loved him, He put a piece of bread in his mouth, with one end of it out of his lips, Down they came like bees at a flower, and flew off with it piece by piece,
When they thought he slept too long in the morning, they would fly in and _ .
They went with him to church, and while he sang his hymns in it, they sat in the trees, and sang their praises.
So the love and trust of birds were a joy to the old man all his life long. | middle5149.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a family show on the television"
},
"options": [
"a funny story about a pig",
"for ladies and gentlemen only",
"about life on the farm",
"a family show on the television"
],
"question": "Roy Darby's show is _ ... | Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Roy Darby, and this is my show. This is a television show for all the families and I know you're going to enjoy it.
Let's start with a story I heard the other day about a very proud pig. This pig lived on a farm with a lot of other animals. And of all the animals on the farm, he thought he was the most important. But it was not enough that he himself thought this way. He had to be sure that the other animals thought so, too. So he went up to one of the chickens and asked, "Who is the most important animal on the farm?" Straight away, the chicken answered, "You're, Master." Then he asked one of the farm dogs and he got the same reply.
Next, he asked a cow. When the cow seemed uncertain of the right answer, the pig looked angry and showed his teeth. "Oh, you are, of course, Master Pig," said the cow. "Of course," the pig said. "There is no doubt about it."
At last, the pig asked a big horse, "Who is the most important animal on the farm?" The horse lifted one foot, rolled the pig over, and placed his foot on the pig's head. "All right," said the pig, "you don't have to do that just because you don't know the answer." | middle6440.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "remember what to do at a certain time"
},
"options": [
"leave them in obvious places",
"remember what to do at a certain time",
"watch a certain program",
"make a phone call at a certain time"
],
"question": "So... | Some people remember the things by writing notes to themselves. Then they leave the notes in obvious places, such as on the table or on the floor in the middle of the living room. I don't think I like to write notes to myself. Most of the time I lose them or forget to look at them until it's too late. I prefer to use an alarm clock to tell me what I should do. I have ten alarm clocks in my house. They could tell me about things. For example, if I have to make a telephone call at a certain time, I'll set an alarm clock to go off a few minutes early and put the clock by the telephone. Or if I want to watch a certain television program, I'll set an alarm clock at the right time and put the clock on top of the TV set. I can remember almost anything if I use my clocks. However, sometimes an alarm clock goes off and I don't know what it means. I always remember setting it, but I do not know why I set it. If the clock is by the telephone, I know I may have set it to tell me to call someone, but I can't be sure. I might have set it to tell myself that somebody was to call me at a certain time. | middle23.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Healthy and happy skin."
},
"options": [
"A kind of job to keep you from getting sick.",
"An important and largest organ.",
"Something like your heart and stomach.",
"Healthy and happy skin."
],
"question": "Whi... | It keeps your insides from falling out. It helps you warm up when you are cold, and it can cool you off when you are hot. It lets you feel things by touch.
What is this? Your skin , of course! What does you skin ask for return for all the wonderful things it does? Just a little care! So let's learn how to take care of our skin.
Like the heart and stomach, your skin is an organ .In fact, it is the largest organ in your body.Unless there's a problem, you may not think about your skin very much.But skin has an important job to do.
Your skin is protecting you.Your skin keeps you from getting sick.When you take care of your skin, you are helping your skin do its job.Taking care of your skin today will help you have no problems in the future.
Clean skin is happy skin! One simple way to take care of your skin is to keep it clean.Keeping your hands clean is very important.When washing your hands, use warm water.Wet your hands, and then use soap.You should wash your hands carefully everywhere.
You'll also want to use warm water, but not too hot, when you take a bath.Use soap to clean your body.Don't forget under your arms and behind your ears! Your face needs attention, too.It's a good idea to wash your face once or twice a day with warm water. | middle7986.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Annie; Zhou Lan"
},
"options": [
"Zhou Lan; Annie",
"Annie; Zhou Lan's family",
"Zhou Lan; Annie's family",
"Annie; Zhou Lan"
],
"question": "This is an e-mail from _ to _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_... | Dear Zhou Lan,
Thank you very much for your mail. I want to go to China. I know something about China from your e-mails. Your English is very good. But I don't know much Chinese. Now I'm learning it from my parents. They know much about China. They tell me many things about China.
I'm happy to know you like your school and your family. You want to know my family and my school. I have a big family. My grandparents and my parents are all very fine. My father has a brother. He is my uncle, John. He and my aunt have their children. They're Bill, Linda, Mary and Lily. My brother Dick is a boy of eighteen. I like my family very much. I'll go to China next year with my mother. She is going to teach English in a middle school in Beijing.
Yours,
Annie | middle863.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Five."
},
"options": [
"Four.",
"Five.",
"Six.",
"Seven."
],
"question": "How many pieces of advice does the passage give us?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"... | If you think you're too shy and want to be a little bit brave, try the following:
You can make it. Tell people you're shy. There's no need to hide it. When they get to know you're a shy kid, they'll understand you better. This also helps you feel more relaxed in talks.
Try to smile more. When you smile, people think you're friendly and easy to talk to. 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 talks, 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 look 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 did it". Keep trying and one day you'll never feel shy when you talk about yourself. | middle37.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "both sea and land"
},
"options": [
"car",
"sea",
"air",
"both sea and land"
],
"question": "Hans went to London by _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1... | Hans said to his friend Kurt, "I'm going to take my car to drive to London."
Kurt said, "Driving to London is very hard. You aren't going to find your hotel." But Hans was not afraid. He drove to Calais, put his car on the ship, took it off at Dover, and drove to London.
He stopped near the city and looked at his map. Then he drove into London, but he did not find his hotel. He drove round and round for an hour, and then he stopped and got out of his car. A taxi came, and Hans stopped it. "Take me to the Brussels Hotel," he said. But he did not get into the taxi: he got back into his car. The taxi man laughed, but then he drove to the Brussels Hotel, and Hans followed him in his car. They reached the hotel in two minutes.
,. | middle6454.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Four"
},
"options": [
"Two",
"Three",
"Four",
"Five"
],
"question": "How many ways of travelling are mentioned in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
... | New York City is a very large city with 8 million people. How do so many people move on their way to work and school?
In New York you can travel by subways, bus, taxi and private car. The subway runs on the railroad lines under the city. It crosses the city at different points and goes to all parts of the city. Travelling by subway is the fastest way to get around the city.
The second way to travel is by bus. It is a slower way to travel.
You can also travel by taxi. This is very expensive, but the taxi will take you to every place you want to go to. If traffic is heavy, the taxi will be slow. During the mornings and afternoons, there is the "rush hour". This is the time when the traffic is very heavy with people going to and from work..
The last way is to use your private car. It's not good to drive during the "rush hour". If there is an accident on the road, you will have to wait for a long time.
The best time to travel is from 9 a.m to 4.pm . Traffic will be less crowded during this time because most people are already at school or at work at that time. | middle877.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the highest point"
},
"options": [
"The busiest street",
"the biggest station",
"the most beautiful",
"the highest point"
],
"question": "S ydney Tower is _ in Sydney, Australia.",
"question_type": "cloz... | Sydney Tower
Address: 100 Market St, Sydney
Phone: 02 9333 9222
Fax: 02 9333 9203
Open time: 9:00am to 10:30pm ( Saturday to 11:30 pm)
Ticket: $ 60 (for an adult) $ 30 (for a child)
Website: www. Sydneytower .com. au
How to get there: train to Town Hall Station and a short walk along Market Street.
How to book tickets: by phone/ fax or through the web
Attraction: Sydney's best views are just the beginning ! Sydney Tower takes you to the highest point above Sydney for exciting 360degviews of our beautiful city. | middle4243.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "$ 75."
},
"options": [
"$ 47.45.",
"$ 75.",
"$ 85.",
"$102.25."
],
"question": "How much would Tom have to spend on the camping trip?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | Mary picked up a pencil and a piece of paper,saying,"Now,you want to earn money for the autumn camping trip,right?" Tom,her brother,nodded.He wasn't able to go last year because he hadn't earned enough money during the summer.This year he came up with a plan.
He made a necklace for his mother that everyone admired.They were surprised to learn that Tom had made it for her.Why not make more necklaces and sell them?
"OK," said Mary,"The first thing you need to do is to figure out how much you have now.''
"I have $20.00 in the bank,and $7.25 in my room," explained Tom.
"That gives you a total of $27.25," said Mary,"That is called your capital.The next thing you need to know is how much it will cost you to make each necklace."
"Well,the pet shop will give me all the feathers the birds lose.I'll have to buy the beads and string," said Tom.
Mary wrote on the piece of paper:
CAPITAL $27.25
EXPENSES Feathers no cost
String for 10 necklaces $ 2.50
Beads for 10 necklaces _
Total $ 17.50
"How much do you think you can sell such a necklace for?" asked Mary.
"Hmm," Tom looked thoughtful and said,"There's a shop in town that sells almost the same kind of necklace for $ 7.50.If I charge $ 6.00,people will think that's a _ ."
"OK.If you sell each necklace for $ 6.00,you'll make a good profit on each then," said Mary.
"Hurray!" Tom cried,"If I sell 20 necklaces,I'll have enough from the profit for the camping trip and $10.00 left over." | middle2154.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Amazing Science"
},
"options": [
"Art world",
"Amazing Science",
"Health and Medicine",
"Daily news"
],
"question": "Which magazine is the text probably taken from?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
}... | Look at the center circles of Diagram A and Diagram B. Which of the centre circles looks larger?
Take a first look and you probably think that the centre circle in Diagram A is smaller than that in Diagram B. In fact, they are exactly the same size.
Then look at the picture on the left. What do you see? A vase? Or two faces?Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can never see them at the same time.
"What's happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?" You may wonder at what you see. Don't worry. Here is how it goes:
When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it "Visual illusion .
Movie makers often make use of illusions. They make the objects around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park and Honey I shrunk the kids just make use of illusions. | middle6332.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "more expensive"
},
"options": [
"cheaper",
"nicer",
"more expensive",
"saved a little money"
],
"question": "The things at the corner store were _ than those in the supermarket.",
"question_type": "cloze_... | One day Mrs. Wilson went shopping with Tracy and Ben. They went to the supermarket in the new shopping center." Why do you buy things here?" Tracy wanted to know. "Because they are cheaper here than at the corner store near our home," Mrs. Wilson said." Help me check the prices, please." The Wilsons were not rich and Mrs. Wilson was always careful with her money. She looked carefully after the prices of things. She bought lots of things in the supermarket. When they got home, the children said," We don't think you saved money by going to the supermarket." "Of course I did," Mrs. Wilson said. " Everything was cheaper there." "We know," the children said," but we came home by taxi because we had too much to carry. The taxi fare was more than the money that you save! " Mrs. Wilson added everything up. Her children were right. | middle122.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "you are helped by others"
},
"options": [
"you say something kind to others",
"you help others",
"you are helped by others",
"you need others to help"
],
"question": "You should learn to say \"Thank you\" when ... | American people like to say "Thank you" whenever others help them. People of many other countries do so, too. It is a very good habit.
You should say "Thank you" when someone passes you the salt on the table. When someone walking ahead of you keeps the door open for you, when someone says you have done your work well, or you have bought a nice thing, or your city is very beautiful. "Thank you" is used not only between friends, but also between parents and children, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives.
"Excuse me" is another short sentence they use. When you hear someone say "Excuse me" behind you, you know that somebody wants to walk past you without touching you. It's not polite to interrupt others while they are talking. If you want to speak to one of them, say "Excuse me" first, and then begin talking. You should also do so when you want to cough or make any unpleasant noise before others.
Let's all learn to say "Thank you" and "Excuse me". | middle5808.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The United States"
},
"options": [
"China",
"Japan",
"The United States",
"Canada"
],
"question": "Dick was driving a large car that made in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer":... | Dick was driving a large American car. As soon as the race started, he pulled out in front. As the race went on, he kept the first place. And he was far ahead of Wilson, the man in the second place.
When the race was almost over, some people stood up and left. "Why did stay?" they thought. They were sure they knew who would win.
But things did not go as they thought. A strange noise came from Dick's car. It slowed down. Something was wrong. Dick knew his car would not go far. His only hope was that he would make it to the finish. But on his last lap , the car stopped. Wilson's car roared by. Dick saw it go by. He knew he could not win now. "But I can finish the race," he thought. And he got out of his car. So did his assistant. They began to push the car to the finish.
Wilson went by them again and again. He was on his last lap. He was going to win. Dick and his friend did not care. They went on pushing.
At first, all eyes were on Wilson. He crossed the line. And the race was over. He won! Dick and his friend pushed on. At last, the car crossed the line. By then all the people shouted for them. They shouted more than they did for Wilson. This was a different kind of winner! | middle7979.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Twenty-five"
},
"options": [
"Twenty-three",
"Twenty-four",
"Twenty-five",
"Twenty-six"
],
"question": "_ students from Westfield State College were on vacation in Acapulco, Mexico.",
"question_type": "cloz... | Moreno, Stanley, and 23 other students from Westfield State College were on vacation in Acapulco, Mexico. This was the last night in the hotel. It was 4 am, Moreno and Stanley came back from a party.
Just as Stanley went to sleep, he heard loud noise outside. From the balcony of their fourth-floor room, Moreno and Stanley saw black smoke out of one window and heard people shouting.
Moreno ran out into the corridor and began knocking on doors and shouting, "Fire!" After that, he went upstairs in a hurry to tell other people. At the same time, Stanley was downstairs helping people get through the smoke-filled room. There he joined forces with Nalewanski, a 21-year-old boy who had a room on the second floor.
"Let's go," Nalewanski said. He and Stanley wet their shirts in the bathroom and put them around their mouths and noses so they could breathe. Then they ran up the stairs. On the fourth floor they found Moreno feeling terrible (Moreno had made it up to the eighth floor before turning back). But after making sure he could get back down on his own, they continued upstairs, knocking on the doors on every floor.
In the end, no one was seriously hurt. Moreno said, "There were hundreds of people in the hotel. It was our duty to help them." | middle888.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "three"
},
"options": [
"four",
"three",
"two",
"five"
],
"question": "There are _ people in the Johnsons.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"ans... | Let's meet the Johnson's family. Mr.Johnson is a manageer in a big company . He works very hard. He is very busy. He makes much money.But he is always tired . He says to his friend,"I want to be a reporter because I like talking to people."
His wife Mrs. Johonson is a good doctor .She works in children' Hospital. She likes Chinese medicine very much.
The Johnsons have a daughter called Salina.She is a teacher of French. She always tells her students many interesting stories.They are good friends. They like her. | middle650.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "11,000 feet"
},
"options": [
"500 miles",
"24 hours' walk",
"11,000 feet",
"23 hours and 15 minutes' drive"
],
"question": "What is the distance up and down all these three highest mountains in Britain?",
"q... | Imagine climbing the three highest mountains in Britain. Now, imagine climbing all three in 24 hours. That's what Rebecca Shedden, a British schoolgirl did and she's only eight years old. She is one of the youngest people who have arrived on top of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, the three highest mountains in Britain.
Rebecca and her dad finished the climb, a total of about 11,000 feet (3,353 metres), in 23 hours and 15 minutes. That includes the time spent driving to each mountain: a distance of 500 miles!
Climbing isn't new to this schoolgirl. She took her first trip up a mountain in her dad's backpack when she was just six months old!
"One of the best parts about this climb was Scafell Pike," said Rebecca. "I've never walked in the dark before, and it was fun seeing all the sheep eyes as they ran around in the dark."
Rebecca brought along food, water, a medical kit , a hat, a map, a lamp, a camera to take photos and even a mobile phone in case something went wrong. Along the way, she and her dad had fun by making up mountain songs.
"All my friends like to stay inside playing computer games, but I like being outdoors best," says Rebecca. Rebecca also enjoys swimming and skiing.
The young climber doesn't plan to stay on flat land for long. She wants to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. "And I would like to climb Mount Qomolangma one day, too," she said. | middle2815.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "what"
},
"options": [
"what",
"that",
"then",
"which"
],
"question": "All the things Edison invented were _ people needed at that time.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Edison often said, "1 will discover what the world needs, then I will try to invent it." It is true that he did more than any other man of his time in inventing things. He made more than one thousand inventions in his life and all these have changed our way of living. Edison was one of the greatest inventors in the world. When Edison died in 1931, someone said people should turn off all the lights in their homes, streets and factories for several minutes in honor of this great man. Of course it was impossible to do so. And this shows what Edison's inventions mean to people's life. | middle136.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Brooklyn Beckham"
},
"options": [
"Beckham Brooklyn",
"David Beckham",
"Romeo Beckham",
"Brooklyn Beckham"
],
"question": "My name is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Look! This is a photo of my family. My name is Brooklyn. I am 11 years old now. You know my father? Yes, he is David Beckham. He is a good football player . He is thirty-nine years old now. This is my mother. Her name is Victoria. She is thirty-six years old now. I have a brother. But he is not in this photo. He is only 1 year old. His name is Romeo. We are very happy.
,. | middle5834.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the English"
},
"options": [
"the Chinese",
"the French",
"the Japanese",
"the English"
],
"question": "From the survey, we know _ like fast food best.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | A large number of people in the world eat fast food .Whenever you go into a fast food restaurant , you can see lots of people enjoying their meals there. How do you know in which country people like fast food best ?
The English people are the world's biggest fans of fast food , while the French are the least interested in quick meals , according to a survey done last year.
The survey of thirteen countries shows that 45% of the English people say they can't give up fast food because it's delicious. And 44% of Americans and 37% of Canadians say the same.
The French , proud of their delicious and high-class cuisine , don't like fast food. 81%
of them think it is unhealthy , followed by 75% of the Japanese .
How about the Chinese ? How often do you have the hamburgers or fried chicken?
It doesn't matter whether you like Western fast food or Chinese food . The most important thing is to have good eating habits to keep healthy . | middle6483.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "In Zhengning,Gansu"
},
"options": [
"In Yushu,Gansu",
"In Yulinzi county,Gansu",
"In Zhengning,Gansu",
"In Zhengning town,Gansu"
],
"question": "Where did the accident happen on a Wednesday morning?",
"quest... | The death list in a school bus accident that happened on Wednesday morning in the northwest province of Gansu has risen to 20 following the death of one child later Wednesday.
It's known that the accident happened around 9:40 a.m. in Yulinzi town of Zhengning county, according to a report from the police. The report said five people including four children and their bus driver died just at the moment that the accident happened. While 15 others, their teacher included, were sure to be dead by the afternoon.
It's reported that another 44 children were injured in the accident and have been sent to hospital. Twelve of the injured are in badly hurt. The truck which caused the accident was carrying coal. Another reason for the accident was the bus itself. The police has blamed _ for the accident, saying that the bus -- a van with nine seats -- was carrying 64 people. | middle678.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "museum"
},
"options": [
"store",
"park",
"school",
"museum"
],
"question": "There are some rules for a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answ... | Hi, boys and girls! Welcome to our museum. It's free. You don't have to pay any money. But we have some rules for you. Please remember them and do as I say. Firstly, don't have food or drink here. You may make our museum dirty. Secondly, you can take photos here, but don't touch the things here. Thirdly, keep quiet in the museum. Don't talk loudly. Fourthly, the museum is not open after five o'clock in the afternoon. Please leave before five. Have a good time here! Thank you. | middle2829.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "in January"
},
"options": [
"in January",
"in May",
"in June",
"in November"
],
"question": "Chinese New Year is _ this year.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | Chinese New Year is next week in January this year. Do you need great furniture for your room? Come and buy things at our great sale at Helen's Furniture Store. Look! Here are some nice tape players in white, blue and red for mothers. We sell them for only $20. For students, we have desks and chairs for $25 a set. You can buy big tables for $50 and small tables for $40. What color do you like? Sofas in all colors are only $100 each.
One interesting thing: You can buy great vegetables here, too. The vegetables are from Yunnan and Taiwan.
Come to our store. You will like it. | middle4280.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "bike"
},
"options": [
"bus",
"bike",
"car",
"subway"
],
"question": "The writer goes to work by _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text... | I go to work at ten o'clock every night. When I ride a bike to my office, I talk with other doctors. Then I go to help all the sick people. Some nights are very quiet, but some nights are really busy, especially on weekends. On busy nights, I even have to help other doctors.
I can go home at six o'clock every morning. On my way home, I can see only a few people on the street. When I get home, I eat breakfast with my family first. Then, I read newspapers. That's my habit. I can get some news from the newspapers. After that, I go to bed. My job isn't easy, but I like _ a lot because I can help people.
,. | middle7789.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "three"
},
"options": [
"one",
"two",
"three",
"four"
],
"question": "The people in the story are from _ countries.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | A Russian, a Cuban, an American businessman and an American lawyer were on a train traveling across England. The Russian took out a large bottle of vodka, gave each of the men a drink and then threw the rest half bottle of vodka out of the window. "Why did you do that?" asked the American businessman. "There's too much vodka in my country," said the Russian, "And really we have more than we will ever use." A little later, the Cuban passed around fine Havana Cigars. Then he threw his out of the window. "I thought Cuba is not a rich country," the businessman said. "But you threw that very good cigars out of the window!" "Cigars," the Cuban answered, "are the cheapest in my country. We have more of them than we know what to do with." The American businessman sat quietly for a moment. Then he got up, caught the lawyer by the arm and threw him of the window. | middle7951.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Above all."
},
"options": [
"The sea of clouds.",
"Wondrous pines.",
"Unique rocks.",
"Above all."
],
"question": "What can you enjoy when you climb Mount Huangshan?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
... | Mount Huangshan is probably one of the most famous mountains in China. It has been listed as a World Natural and Cultural Heritage Site.
It lies in the south of Anhui Province. It is about 1,200 square kilometers. Every year, thousands of Chinese and foreigners pay a visit there. While you are climbing the mountain, you can enjoy the sea of clouds, wondrous pines and unique rocks around you. Early morning when the sun rise, the sky looks very beautiful. It's really a nice place to visit. Each of the four seasons on Mt.Huangshan has their different beauty.
It is said that you won't want to visit any other mountain after the Five Famous Mountains, and you won't wish to see even the Five Famous Mountains after returning from Mt.Huangshan. This saying may give you some ideas of the beauty and _ of Mt.Huangshan. Together with the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Great Wall, Mt.Huangshan has become one of the great symbols of China. | middle3289.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Food is safe when you pick it up off the floor in less than five seconds."
},
"options": [
"People often shout at someone when they drop food on the floor.",
"Food is safe when you pick it up off the floor in less than five seconds... | Almost everyone has dropped some food on the floor and still wanted to eat it.If someone saw you drop it, he or she might have shouted, " 5-second rule!" This so-called rule says food is OK to eat if you pick it up in five seconds or less.But is that true?
Professor Anthony Hilton from Ashton University, UK, tested the rule with his students.They found that food dropped for five seconds is less likely to contain bacteria than if it sits there for longer.
For the study, Hilton and his students tested a lot of foods----bread, pasta, cookies and candy--to see how much bacteria they had when they made contact with the floor.They allowed the food to lie on the different types of flooring--carpet , laminate and tile -- for three seconds to 30 seconds.
Not surprisingly, the longer the food was on the floor, the more bacteria it had.And the type of floor where the dropped food landed had an effect.Bacteria are least likely to transfer from carpet, while they are most likely to transfer laminate or tiled surface after more than five seconds.
The study also found that the wetter the food, the more likely it was to pick up bacteria.Although most people are happy to follow the 5-second rule, eating food dropped on the floor still carries an infection risk."It very much depends on which bacteria are on the floor at the time." Hilton told Forbes. | middle5820.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the world's most popular"
},
"options": [
"broken by hacker",
"written by an unknown woman",
"the world's most popular",
"closed by government"
],
"question": "Now Xu Jinglei's web log is _ .",
"question... | A survey by baidu.com showed there were 16 million bloggers . Xu Jinglei was one of the first famous people that the website sina .com. invited to open blogs.
The web log written by Xu Jinglei is now the world's most popular . Xu , an actress-turned -director, became famous overseas when she won a Best Director Award for the film. A Letter From an Unknown Woman in 2004.
Her blog has broken the domestic record with more than 10 million visits .
Xu updates her blog every other day . But if she feels very good she sometimes posts two or three articles in a day .
Visitors leave thousands of messages about each of her articles , praising her open, free writing style, commenting on films. | middle2197.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "helpful"
},
"options": [
"helpful",
"harmful",
"important",
"necessary"
],
"question": "Sea bacteria are _ for people.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": ... | Do you like to eat sushi ? Many people are afraid to eat it, because they think the bacteria in it might make them sick. However, a new study shows that sea bacteria are good for people. The study finds that a special enzyme from sea bacteria is helpful to humans. It helps people to get more energy from food.
To people's surprise, the enzyme is present only in the Japanese. The Japanese traditionally like to eat food rich in seaweed . And the seaweed is rich in this kind of enzyme.
However, the enzyme isn't present in all the Japanese. During the study, just 5 out of 14 Japanese had the enzyme. All the Americans studied didn't have the enzyme.
"The number is small," said researcher Mirjam Czjzek. "But we can say that this enzyme is present only in the Japanese and not in the North Americans."
Then some people think that maybe other people are able to get the enzyme if they eat a lot of seaweed. The study suggests that they collect uncooked seaweed to make their sushi.
Restaurant sushi is often cooked, which will destroy the enzyme. So, if you want to get that enzyme, you can travel to Japan to have a taste of the real sushi. | middle5377.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "try to do it yourself"
},
"options": [
"do nothing",
"ask your mother to do it for you",
"try to do it yourself",
"ask your friends to do it for you"
],
"question": "When you have something difficult to do, you ... | When I had something difficult to do, I used to ask my mum for help. But she always said, "Do it yourself, dear." I was not happy about this at all. I thought she was the laziest mother in the world!
For example, one day, some of my friends would come to my home. My bedroom was really untidy. Books were all over the floor, and I didn't make the bed. So I asked my mum to help me clean it, but she still said, "Do it yourself, my daughter."
Because of my "lazy mum", I have to wash my clothes and clean my room. I have to help my parents do housework. I even have to go to hospital by myself. It is very hard to do everything well on my own, but I have learnt a lot.
As time goes by, I come to understand my mum. She makes me clever and hard-working. How great she is! A good mother is worth 100 teachers! Don't you think so? | middle7560.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because he was busy sweeping leaves."
},
"options": [
"Because his wife is better at making a sign.",
"Because he didn't know what to write.",
"Because he was busy sweeping leaves.",
"Because he didn't want his son to s... | I went home one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1993 to get some work done in the garden. While sweeping leaves on the ground, my five-year-old son Nick came over and asked me to write something on a piece of paper to make a sign for him.
"What for?" I asked.
"I'm going to sell some of my stones, " he answered.
Nick _ stones and had collected many stones from all over. "I'm busy to
do that for you. Go and ask your mum for help." I said.
A short time later, Nick returned with a sign, reading. " Stones. One Dollar Each". He took the sign, a small chair and 4 of his best stones and walked to the road in front of our garden. There he put the stones in a line and sat down on the chair.
After half an hour, nobody passed by. I walked to him and asked him to go back, but he didn't.
Another half hour later, a small car came down the road. I watched as Nick stood up, holding his sign up. A woman rolled down a window and read the sign. I couldn't hear their talk, but I saw the woman turn to the driver and the man reach for his pocket.
I sat in the yard, as Nick ran to me. Waving the dollar, he shouted. "I told you I could sell one stone for a dollar -- if you believe in yourself, you can do anything." | middle485.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Sun District"
},
"options": [
"Sun District",
"Garden District",
"Center District",
"Sunshine District"
],
"question": "Where does Sonia live?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Sonia lives in Sun District with her parents and sister. She loves this district very much. There is a restaurant next to her house. She often has lunch with her family there. A library is across from the restaurant on Sun Street. The street is quiet in the afternoon, but at night it is very crowded and busy. It's open from 9:00am to 4:00pm. She goes to read books with her sister very afternoon. There is a tall mall near the library across from Sonia's house. People can buy lots of delicious foods and some beautiful clothes in the mall. Welcome to Sonia's district. | middle1111.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Illness and hearing problems."
},
"options": [
"Illness and hearing problems.",
"people with hearing problems.",
"Ways to protect our ears.",
"Danger of loud noise."
],
"question": "Which of the following is NOT... | The world has many beautiful sounds. We can hear the songs of birds and the laugh of people. We can listen to cool music and news reports. And it's all because of our ears! They bring us a world of sounds.
But some people can't hear any sound at all. Some are born deaf. Others can hear well in their childhood, nut too many loud sounds hurt their ears later on.
Many people in China can't hear ordinary sounds clearly. Lots of them are children. Most of them are born with good hearing. But six children of every 1,000 have hearing problems when they are born. And if a children has hearing problems, he or she usually will also have some learning problems at school.
A lot of things can cause fearing problems, like, too much _ is not good for our hearing. And noise louder than 85 decibels can hurt our ears and make us lose our hearing for a short time or even for ever.
Hearing is important for all of us. So we should do our best to give our ears special care. Don't forget to do the following:
* Try to stay away from places with too much noise. If you have to go, wear earplugs.
* When swimming, remember to put earplugs into your ears to stop water from getting in.
* Never put anything sharp into your ears. If you think you have too much earwax, ask your parents to help you clean it out.
Keep these things in mind. _ | middle1677.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "they didn't have a house to live in."
},
"options": [
"they didn't find food.",
"they had a fight with a bear.",
"they felt very thirsty.",
"they didn't have a house to live in."
],
"question": "The ants were ve... | A young shoemaker left his village. Along the way, he saw some ants who were very sad because a bear had destroyed their house. The shoemaker helped them rebuild it, and the ants offered to return the favor.
The shoemaker followed his way and found some bees with the same problem as the ants. The young man also helped them, and the bees promised to help him in the future.
Further along , the shoemaker learned that the king's daughter was in the castle of a witch . The young man decided to save her, But the witch threw him a bag of sand mixed with small seeds and told him that if he wasn't able to separate the two, she would cut off his head before the sun came out.
The young man thought about his death. But his friends the ants came and helped him pass the test. The witch was very surprised. Then she took him to a room where there were thirteen girls with their faces covered. The shoemaker had to discover which one was the princess.
The young man became _ but he saw a bee that landed on a girl's body. She is the true princess. When the shoemaker uncovered her face, the witch was changed into a crow. The young people fell in love and lived with animals happily. | middle7206.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Kathy's birthday party."
},
"options": [
"Mike's birthday party.",
"Kathy's birthday party.",
"Uncle Tom's birthday party.",
"A movie starts at 8:00."
],
"question": "What is Kathy talking about in her letter?",... | Dear Mike,
How are you? Are you still coming to my birthday party in January? My family, friends and classmates are all coming. The party is on Monday, January 13 at 6:00. It's at Uncle Tom's restaurant in the city. First, we can eat and talk from 6:00 to 7:45. After that we can go to a movie in ZJG Shopping Park near Zhonglian(GDH) International Hotel. Every Monday, there's a movie on at 8:00. I hope you can come. You can meet my other friends and my sisters, too.
Write soon!
Kathy | middle8135.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Children sometimes talked about their family secrets on the bus."
},
"options": [
"Children didn't like the driver.",
"The driver likes the job all the time.",
"The little girl was excited at seeing the camels.",
"Child... | Although I didn't have any interest in being a school bus driver, I became one. Many years later, I was still working on the school bus. There are so many good reasons. Firstly, the talk brought me different kinds of information. I also got to hear all the family secrets of the newcomers. I have a toy bear who was a great comforter for the little ones. The kids got to look after him on the trip to school and he waited patiently for _ to get on for the trip home.
Our bus would often pass a place where we could see some alpacas in front of a farm house. Little Michael would cry excitedly from the seat, "Look, Miss! Look at the camels!" He used to put his head out of the bus window. When I warned him that a little insect would come into his nose if he wasn't careful, he smartly gave up the habit.
I remember a little girl got on the bus one morning 5 years ago and sobbed all the way to school. We arrived at the school gate. As she waited to get down the bus, she threw her arms around my neck and cried that her grandfather had died the night before.
A school bus driver needs to keep one eye on the road and the other on the mirror to watch what the little ones are doing down the back.
Now, it's important to think how many lives I've been responsible for, and how many kilometers I've driven in order to get my passengers home safely during the 20 years. I've enjoyed it, but it's time to rest and park my school bus. | middle3060.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "she wasn't young any more"
},
"options": [
"others laughed at her",
"she didn't like her father",
"she had another name",
"she wasn't young any more"
],
"question": "The girl told her father not to call her litt... | Long long ago there was a great man who married the woman he loved so much. Soon they had a little girl. She was a bright and happy little girl and the great man loved her very much.
When the little girl was growing up, the great man sang and danced with her. The man told her daughter, "I love you, my little girl." When the little girl got older, the man still loved her and called her little girl. Then she shouted and said, "I'm not a little girl anymore." Every time the man laughed,
"But to me, you'll always be my little girl."
Later the little girl left her home and went into the outside world. As she learned more about the world, she learned more about the man. She understood that he truly was great and strong, for now she knew his _ . One of his strengths was to show his love to his family. No matter where she was, the man would call her and say, "I love you, my little girl."
The clay came when the little girl got a phone call. The great man was badly ill. He had a stroke . So she went back home, When she walked into the room and saw him. he looked small and not strong at all. He looked at her and tried to speak, but he could not. He could no longer smile, dance or tell the girl he loved her.
The little girl did the only thing she could do. She climbed up on the bed next to the great man.
Tears ran from both of their eyes and she hugged her father,
At that time she thought of many things. She remembered the wonderful times together with her father. With the beat of his father's heart, she seemed to hear, "I love you, my little girl." | middle5411.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "could make dangerous animals quiet"
},
"options": [
"was very friendly to the animals",
"could train wild animals in town",
"could make dangerous animals quiet",
"was not good at playing the violin at all"
],
"q... | There was once a violinist who said he was not afraid of animals that are dangerous. He said in a proud way, "Even a bear would be as quiet as the friendliest cat when hearing my music." But he had never played, and no one believed him.
A chance to show his words arrived just when a circus came to the town. The musician came to the ringmaster and told what he could do.
"Wow, that's interesting." The ringmaster said. "We just have three new lions and they haven't worked with the lion tamer yet. Let's see what you can do with them." The violinist agreed and the whole town crowded the hall to see what would happen.
The violinist was standing quietly in the center of the ring with a smile. Then the ringmaster opened the door of the cage and jumped out angrily a huge lion, shouting and showing his teeth. Everyone was too nervous to breathe.
Still with the smile , the violinist began to play. The beautiful music rose , then the lion sat down and began to enjoy the music. Everyone lost themselves in the music. The lion did, too. For the second lion, _ .
Then it's the third lion's turn to appear and everyone there was waiting for the lion to be quiet just like the other two . But the lion ran up to the man and ate him.
All the people were surprised. The other two lions asked angrily, "What have you done ! We were enjoying the music!" The third lion put his paw( ) to its ear and said, "Sorry, I can't hear you. I have been deaf for 5 years." | middle5405.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Frightened."
},
"options": [
"Relaxed.",
"Pleased.",
"Frightened.",
"Guilty."
],
"question": "How did the writer feel when he saw his teacher walking towards him with a book from bookshelves?",
"question_typ... | "Who did this?" asked my teacher. Thirty children tried to think about not only what they had done, but also what our teacher might have found out.
"Who did this?" she asked again. She never became angry, but she was this time. She held up a piece of broken glass and asked, "Who broke this window?"
"Oh, oh," I thought. I was the one who broke the window. I did not do it on purpose . It was caused by a bad throw of a baseball. Why did it have to be me?
If I admitted it, I would be in a lot of trouble. How would I be able to pay for a big window like that? "My father is going to get angry at me," I thought. I didn't want to raise my hand, but something much stronger than me pulled it up.
"I did it," I said. Then I was silent. It was hard enough saying what I had.
My teacher went to one of our bookshelves and took down a book. She then began walking towards my desk. I had never known my teacher to strike a student, but I feared she was going to start with me.
"I know how you like birds," she said as she stood looking down at my face. "Here is the field guide about birds that you always _ from our school library. It is yours now. We have got a new one for the school. You will not be punished . But remember, it's only for your honesty."
I couldn't believe it! I wasn't being punished and I was getting my own bird field guide, the one that I had been saving up all my money to buy. | middle1663.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It got cut deeper."
},
"options": [
"It saved itself.",
"It got cut deeper.",
"It got tired.",
"It got sick"
],
"question": "What happened when the butterfly tried to get itself free from the bush?",
"questi... | There was once a little orphan girl who had no family and no one to love her. She felt sad and lonely .
One day, while she was walking in a garden, she noticed a small butterfly caught in a bush. The more the butterfly tried to free itself, the deeper the thorn cut into its body. The girl carefully helped the butterfly out. Instead of flying away, the little butterfly changed into a beautiful fairy .
"For your wonderful kindness," said the fairy, "I will grant you any wish you like."
The little girl thought for a while and answered, "I want to be happy!"
"Very well!" The fairy leaned toward her and whispered in her ear. Then the good fairy disappeared.
As the little girl grew up, she stayed happy. Everyone asked her the secret of her happiness. She would only smile and answer, "The secret of happiness is that I listened to a good fairy when I was a little girl."
When she was very old and on her death bed, her neighbors were afraid that her secret of happiness would die with her. "Tell us, please," they asked. "Tell us what the good fairy said."
The lovely old woman simply smiled and said, "She told me that everyone, no matter how secure they seemed, how old or young, how rich or poor, had need of me."
Everyone has need of you. | middle7212.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the old Italian violins"
},
"options": [
"making violins",
"musical instruments",
"scientific ideas",
"the old Italian violins"
],
"question": "The passage is about _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | Old Cremona Violins
Most musicians agree that the best violins were first made in Cremona, Italy, about 200 years ago. These violins sound better than any others. They even sound better than violins made today. Violin makers and scientists try to make instruments like the Italian violins. But they aren't the same. Musicians still prefer the old ones.
Some people think it is the age of the violins. But not all old violins sound wonderful. Only the old violins from Cremona are special . So age cannot be the answer.
Other people think the secret to those violins is the wood. The wood must be from certain kinds of trees.
But the kind of wood may not be so important. It may be more important to cut the wood in a special way. Wood for a violin must be cut very carefully. It has to be the right size and shape . The smallest difference will change the sound of the violin. Musicians sometimes think that this was the secret of the Italians. Maybe they understood more than we do about how to cut the wood.
Size and shape may not be the answer, either. Scientists can make new ones that are exactly the same size and shape. But the new violins still do not sound as good as the old ones. Some scientists think the secret may be the varnish. Varnish is what covers the wood of the violin. It makes the wood look shiny. It also helps the sound of the instrument. But no one knows what the Italian violin makers used in their varnish. | middle1105.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "know why you do what you do"
},
"options": [
"talk to others when you are in low spirits",
"know why you do what you do",
"finish your homework first",
"spend less time on the Internet"
],
"question": "According... | A habit is any action that we have performed so often that it becomes something we do almost without thinking. Some of them are thought to be bad habits. People spend countless hours and dollars each year trying to drop these bad habits but often fail. Why? Change is hard work and _ . However, there is still some advice for you to follow.
First, look at why you do it. In other words, what's the result of doing this thing? If your bad habit is shouting at people when you are unhappy or under pressure, what do you get from it? It may make you feel a little better for the moment. Or maybe you have a bad habit of leaving your homework undone. The result could be that you get more time to spend on the Internet!
Next, take a look on the other hand. What are you losing because of your habit? Shouting at other people is a bad habit because it makes people around you feel bad and unhappy. Leaving your homework undone is a bad habit because you may be punished by your teacher. Having more Internet time means that you are losing the chance to learn the things that you need to learn. When you think that way, you'll find that it's not wise to keep your bad habit! Now it is time to make a decision. What will you choose? I'm sure you will choose to do what you think is more important. | middle491.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "these books can help the Americans deal with their problems in modern life"
},
"options": [
"these books are cheap",
"Americans love the writers of these books",
"the readers can get them without paying anything",
"thes... | Books which give instructions on how to do things are very popular in the United States today. Thousands of these "How to" books are available; in fact, there are about four thousand books with titles that begin with the words "How to". One book may tell you how to earn more money, another may tell you how to save or spend it, and another may explain how to give your money away. Many "How to" books give advice on careers . They tell you how to choose a career and how to succeed at it. If you fail, however, you can buy a book called "How to Turn Failure into Success". If you would like to become very rich, you can buy the book "How to Make a Million". If you never make any money at all, you may need a book called "How to Live on Nothing?"
One of the most popular types of books is one that helps you with personal problems. If you want to have a better love of life, you can read "How to Succeed at Love Every Minute of Your Life?". If you are tired of books on happiness, you may prefer a book called "How to Make Yourself miserable?".
Many of these books help people use their time better. Some people want books which will give them useful information about sports, hobbies, and travel. Other people use their free time to make repairs and improvements on their homes. They prefer books which give step by step instruction on how to repair things like plumbing and electrical wiring, or on how to redecorate or enlarge a house.
Why have "How to" books become so popular? Probably because life has become so complex. Today people have far more free time to use, more choices to make, and more problems to solve. "How to" books help people deal with modem life. | middle5363.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Elephants"
},
"options": [
"Chains",
"Elephants",
"Cages",
"Farmers"
],
"question": "What did the writer see in the village?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_inde... | Once there was a man traveling in a faraway village. As he was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped. He found that these huge elephants were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains , no cages. It was clear that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their ropes but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and didn't try to get away. "Well," the trainer said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they still believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can hold them, so they never try to break free."
How could it be? These animals could at any time break free from their ropes. But because they always stuck right where they were, they believed they couldn't.
Just like the elephants, how many of us go through life believing that we cannot do something, just because we failed at it once before? We should never give up the struggle in life. | middle3712.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "self-confidence"
},
"options": [
"humour",
"happiness",
"self-confidence",
"wisdom"
],
"question": "The same character of the three people is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer":... | Sir Steven Redgrave--Winner of 5 Olympic Gold Medals
"In 1997 I was found to have developed diabetes , believing the profession trained for the whole of my life ended, I felt very sorry. Then one of my friends said there was no reason why I should stop training. That was it--the encouragement I needed. I could still be a winner if I believed in myself. I am not saying that it isn't difficult sometimes. But I wanted to prove to myself that I wasn't finished yet. Nothing is to stand in my way."
Karen Pickering--Swimming World Champion
"I swim 4 hours a day, 6 days a week. I manage that amount of work by putting it on top of my diary. This is the key to success--you can't follow a profession in any field without being well-organized. Make a list of what you believe you can achieve. Trust yourself, write down your goals for the day, however small they are, and you'll be a step closer to achieving them."
Kristen Stewart--Actress
"When things are getting hard, a voice inside my head tells me that I can't achieve anything. Then, there are other _ , such as family or hobbies. The key is to give most of your attention to one thing. When I feel nervous, it helps a lot to repeat words such as 'calm', 'peace', either out loud or silently in my mind. It makes me feel more in control and improves my confidence. This is a habit and is a powerful psychological tool." | middle6642.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a receipt"
},
"options": [
"a password",
"a receipt",
"a card",
"a present"
],
"question": "If you want, you can get _ from the ATM.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | Lots of people get money from ATMs before going shopping. If you don't know how to use an ATM, read the following instructions carefully.
*Put your card into the machine .
*Look at the screen. Input your _ into the machine.
*Input how much money you want on the screen of the machine. Then press OK.
*Get the money from the machine. If you want, you can also get a receipt .
*Take back your card.
Remember these rules:
*Don't write your password on your card.
*Don't let other people know your password.
*If you lose your card, tell the bank at once. | middle2424.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "he would be back in seven days"
},
"options": [
"he would be away from home for four days",
"he would be back in seven days",
"he would be back in a month",
"he liked a cup of tea"
],
"question": "Mr Brown told ... | Mr Brown was going away for a week. Before he left, he said to his son, "if anyone asks for me, you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something, and will be back in a week, then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea."
"OK, Dad," said his son. But he was afraid his son couldn't remember this, he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket, took it out and looked at it every now and then. Four days passed, but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him, so he burnt it that evening
The next afternoon, someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said, "Where is your father?" The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it, so he shouted, "No more." The man was very surprised. He asked, "No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?" "Burnt yesterday evening." | middle4055.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "you can make friends by doing the things that a friend does"
},
"options": [
"if you want to make friends with others, you should be one of them",
"you can make friends by doing the things that a friend does",
"you can easily... | Have you ever heard of the saying, "If you want a friend, be one."? What does it mean?
There are many different things that you can do to make friends. You may find out what they are if you watch someone make friends.
Here is how one new teacher made friends with the students in her class on the first day of the school. When the bell rang, the teacher smiled at all the students. Then she said, " Good morning! How nice it is to have all of you in my class this year! I want to know each of you very much. I am sure we will enjoy working together."
The teacher smiled, used a pleasant voice, and acted in a friendly way. She told the students her name and wrote it on the blackboard. Then she told them something she liked to do and hoped to do with them during the year. The students knew that she liked many of the same things they liked. _ Each of them wanted to know her better and be her friends. Then she let the students tell something about themselves. So they felt that the teacher knew them. Could you make friends as the teacher did?
How do you know and like your classmates? One way is to find out more about them. During the break you can talk to them. You may ask them their names and the names of the schools they went to last year. They want to know about you, too. You may tell them about your interests or your holiday experiences. It is often easy to be friends with people who have the same interests and play the same games. As you talk, the others may be thinking, " I like to do the same things you do. It should be fun to be friends with you."
Remember! Just talking together in a friendly way is one good way to make friends. | middle4733.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "dumplings"
},
"options": [
"noodles",
"dumplings",
"moon cakes",
"only vegetables"
],
"question": "In China, _ are the real Chinese food.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | The Real Chinese Food
In China, there're many different kinds of food. Some of them are very popular. Dumplings are the real Chinese food. Now let's talk about them, OK?
Everyone in China likes dumplings very much, and there are many different kinds of dumplings. Some have meat and vegetables in them, others have sugar( ), eggs and so on. I like dumplings with vegetables and pork best.
Usually people make dumplings at home. If you have no time to make them, you can buy them in any supermarkets. Then you take them home and eat them with _
The Spring Festival is very important in China. When it comes, we make dumplings, usually we put a coin ( ) in a dumpling. If one eats the dumpling with the coin in it, he will be lucky in the year.
Now tell me, do you like dumplings?
Welcome to China, we'll ask you to eat the real Chinese food: dumplings. | middle2342.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it was difficult to get on"
},
"options": [
"he got up early",
"he hit the woman the bus",
"the bus was late",
"it was difficult to get on"
],
"question": "The writer had to walk to school because _ .",
"... | One morning, it was already a quarter to eight when I got up. I was afraid that I would be late so I put on my clothes hurriedly and left without breakfast.
There were so many people at the bus stop that it was not easy to catch a bus. Five minutes went by, I still couldn't get on one. The only thing I could do was to walk. I rushed through the crowded and ran towards my school. Unexpectedly, I hit an old woman, and she fell down. Without saying sorry, I left her and went on my way.
That evening, when I was back from school, I learned that the old woman was badly hurt in the leg from the fall. Some kind people sent her to a hospital after I left. I felt very sorry and nearly cried. The only way for me to ask her pardon was to pay her a visit.
The next day, I went to the hospital, I met the old woman and told her who I was. At first I thought that she would give me _ To my surprise, she didn't, but smiled. For me, that smile was worse. She touched my hand and said, "Never mind, my girl, I knew you didn't want to hurt me, did you? Don't worry, I will be better soon." | middle6124.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "increase"
},
"options": [
"stop",
"increase",
"decrease",
"stay the same"
],
"question": "During REM sleep, a person's breathing and heartbeat _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer... | Do you know why you sleep? You may think it's because you're tired. Or perhaps you've been told sleep is good for you. Yet no one knows exactly why or how people sleep.
Until the early 1950s, most scientists thought the body and brain rested during sleep. Then a scientist watched people sleep. He noticed that during periods of between 5 and 30 minutes each, sleepers' eyes made rapid movements, as if they were watching something. He called these periods REM sleep, for Rapid Eye Movement. Periods when sleepers' eyes did not move he called non-REM sleep.
Whenever the scientist woke people during REM sleep, they were having vivid dreams. Measurements showed that sleepers' pulses went up quickly during REM sleep. Their breathing, heartbeat, and the blood going to the brain also increased. Far from being a time of rest, REM sleep is a time when the body is hard at work. Scientists still don't know the reason for this. Some believe REM sleep makes learning easier. Babies spend a lot of time in REM sleep. Because of this, some scientists believe that REM sleep helps the brain grow. Others think REM sleep is a time for the brain to empty the day's garbage.
One thing all the scientists agree on is that sleep is necessary. Without enough sleep, people make mistakes. Most major car accidents happen during the early morning hours, when people are sleepiest. | middle1893.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "In the garden."
},
"options": [
"In the library.",
"At home.",
"In the classroom.",
"In the garden."
],
"question": "Where are Dick and Helen now?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer"... | My name is Nick. I have four new good friends. They are Dick, Helen, Jack and Amy.
Now, they're in the garden. Dick and Jack are boys. Dick is tall and strong. Jack is tall but he's not strong. He is thin. Helen and Amy are girls. They're twins. They are short and slim. Dick is thirteen. Helen is thirteen too. They're in the same class. Jack is in Class4. His shoes are black and his T-shirt is white. | middle8109.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "buy an expensive gift for"
},
"options": [
"sing a song to",
"draw a picture for",
"write a letter to",
"buy an expensive gift for"
],
"question": "According to the passage, teenagers don't have to _ their p... | Teenagers can't afford to buy expensive gifts. So what do you do if you want to givegifts to the important people in your life? In fact, you don't have to spend much money onholiday gifts. There are many cheap ways to do that.
Here are some make-it-yourself gifts ideas to try:
To your mom and dad:
You can clean the room, sing a song or write a letter to your mom and dad. Youcould also draw a picture if you like that.
To your teachers:
Sometimes students put their pocket money together and buy a teacher a holidaygift. Some kids would like to give their own gifts. You can send a nice card with the wordsof thanks inside. You might even write down the favorite things you've learned in theteacher's class this year. It will make the teacher feel happy.
To the kids who need a friend:
The holidays are a good time to think about people who are lonely. Maybe there issomeone in your class who doesn't seem to have any friends. Try to do something for thisperson. It could be giving a Christmas card or just chatting with him or her. It's a smallthing, but it could mean a lot to him or her. | middle6130.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "In China."
},
"options": [
"In the classroom.",
"In China.",
"In Beijing.",
"In the library."
],
"question": "Where is Maria ?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_in... | Hi!My name is Maria. Now I am in China. My life is busy but very happy. I like reading, so I often go to the library when I have no classes. Who is my favorite teacher? She is Ms. Green. She often helps me with my writing. I work hard at every subject, but my favorite subject is P.E., because I like playing tennis. In the evening, I am busy doing my homework. I often do my homework for two hours. After that, I play the piano for an hour. Sometimes I take a walk with Dad. On weekends I usually help old people with my friends. What about your life? Share it with us, please. | middle4727.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Yes or No."
},
"options": [
"Yes.",
"No.",
"Glad.",
"Yes or No."
],
"question": "What does shaking one's head mean all over the world?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | The idea of what shaking the head means is not always the same in different countries. Maybe some visitors would be surprised when they first come to India. When they talk to an Indian, they would find he would often shake his head. The visitors might think that the Indian doesn't like what they say. But in fact, they would be completely wrong.
Indians always shake their heads when they talk to others. It doesn't mean "No". If someone wants to visit India, he should know this, or he will be in trouble.
One day, a foreign officer went to India on business. He hired a car and asked an Indian to drive him. When he told his driver to take him to his office, the Indian shook his head at once. The officer said again and the driver shook his head again. At last the officer, of course, got angry.
"How dare you refuse my order?" he shouted, "Drive me to my office at once!"
The driver answered in quite a loud voice, too. "Yes, sir!" But to the officer's surprise, the driver shook his head at the same time.
The car started and the foreign officer was now too surprised to say a word. He thought about it for a while, and then he nodded with a smile, "'No' means 'Yes' here!" | middle3048.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The writer's mother was also unkind to her sister and brothers."
},
"options": [
"The writer's mother was only unkind to her.",
"The writer,s mother liked her best.",
"The writer's sister and brothers were unkind to her as we... | I had the unkindest mother in the whole world.While other kids ate candy for breakfast.I had to have cereal and eggs.When others had Cokes and candy for lunch,I had to eat a sandwich.But at least I wasn't alone.My sister and two brothers had the same unkind mother as I did.
My mother knew where we were at all times.She knew who our friends were.We had to clean clothes and take a bath every day.We had to be in bed by 9:00 p.m.and up at 8:00 a.m. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends.So while they slept,our mother gave us work to do.We had to wash dishes,make our beds and learn to cook.I believe she lay awake at night thinking up unkind things for us to do.
Through the years,things didn't improve a bit.We could not lie in bed "sick" like our friends did in order to miss school.
My mother was the unkindest mother.Out of four children,a couple of us went on to higher education.None of us have ever done bad things.She forced us to grow up into educated and honest people.I am trying to raise my three children like this.I will feel proud when my children call me unkind.Because you see,I am thankful that I had the unkindest mother in the whole world. | middle5439.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Four of the"
},
"options": [
"All the",
"Many of the",
"One of the",
"Four of the"
],
"question": "_ soldiers answer the general's question.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | One day a great general asks his soldiers, "What is the strongest power in the world? " Four of his soldiers put up their hands. They want to answer the question. The general asks the first man to speak. The man is younger than the other three, and he's not strong. He says, "My gun is the strongest. It can kill anyone." "Thank you. Next, please." The second man is very strong. He says, "I don't think so. Soldiers use guns. So the soldier is the strongest." The third man says, "Soldiers use guns, but our general gives orders. So I think our general is the strongest." The fourth man is the oldest. He says, "Love is the strongest. For love, people don't use guns." The general says nothing. He takes out a medal and gives it to him. | middle2430.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Women report news and sports"
},
"options": [
"Women like to be secretaries.",
"All doctors are now women.",
"Women report news and sports",
"There are no homemakers today."
],
"question": "According to the pass... | Twenty years ago almost all nurses were women, and almost all pilots were men. Today women fly planes, and men care for patients. The jobs are the same, but not both men and women are working as nurses and pilots.
There are many other examples of changing job roles for men and women. Forty years ago there were no women news reporters on television.
Now women report the news, the weather, and even men's sports. Women are reporting games and interviewing athletes. Fifty years ago there were almost no women lawyers or doctors, but today over half of all medical students are women.
Today men teach very young children. Men work as librarians and secretaries. Some men stay at home to take care of the house and children. They are called "househusbands" or "stay-at-home dads". However, many women still work as homemakers.
Jobs are changing. Today men and women are working in every field. | middle4041.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a bird"
},
"options": [
"Lisa's sister",
"Lisa's cousin",
"a bird",
"a dog"
],
"question": "Xiaobai is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"ans... | My name is Lisa.I have a bird.She is white.So I call her Xiaobai.Xiaobai is only two years old.She's not big.But she is beautiful and clever.She can speak.
One day I go shopping with my sister Gina and Xiaobai.At Green Clothes Store Gina sees a red skirt and says, "Look! Lisa! That red skirt is very beautiful." Xiaobai answers her instead of me, "No.I think you look nice in that green skirt." Gina says, "OK.I listen to you." Then she asks the shop assistant, "How much is the green one?" The shop assistant looks at Xiaobai, opens her mouth but says nothing.At last she says to Gina, "I never see a bird that can speak these words.It's great! You can take this green skirt.Oh, you don't need to pay for it."
Gina is very happy.She asks me and my bird to have a big lunch in Leo's Restaurant and then we go home. | middle1139.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "4."
},
"options": [
"3.",
"4.",
"5.",
"6."
],
"question": "How many other uses of Coke are there in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text":... | Coke is the most popular drink and many people enjoy it. But they don't know it has many other uses.
* Cleaning. You can use it to clean your hands, your bathroom or your clothes. When you do some washing and you can put some Coke into the water. And Coke can make them cleaner.
* Cooking. Put Coke on beef or pork while it's cooking. And we can also cook chicken with Coke, it's very nice.
* Health &beauty. Coke can make you more beautiful. Use it on your hair or your skin to make them brighter and smoother.
* Housework help. Watering flowers with Coke can make them more lovely and beautiful.
So give Coke a try next time. | middle6656.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Kung Fu"
},
"options": [
"Acting",
"Kung Fu",
"Fighting",
"Films"
],
"question": "What was Bruce Lee interested in all his life?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_... | Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, California in 1940. His farther was a movie actor. Young Bruce appeared in his first movie with his farther when he was only two months old. Bruce and his parents returned to their home in Hong Kong in 1941. Bruce began to act in Chinese movies at the age of six.
In Hong Kong, Bruce Lee began his life-long interest in the Chinese Kung Fu. He studied with Yip Man, a Kung Fu master. Bruce was also often seen in many street fights. His parents decided this must stop. They sent him back to the United States. He became a student at the University of Washington in Seattle. Later he opened a school to teach Kung Fu in Oakland,California.
In 1966, Bruce Lee acted in an American television series called The Green Hornet .The program was not a success, but many Hollywood movie actors began studying Kung Fu with him. He appeared in several other television programs.
Bruce Lee returned to Hong Kong in 1971 to act in a Chinese movie known in the United States as Fists of Fury. The movie was extremely popular in Asia. He followed this with another film, The Chinese Connection. It too was extremely popular.
In 1973, Bruce Lee made his most famous movie, Enter the Dragon. It was the first movie made between American and Chinese movie companies. It became _ which made Bruce Lee a world famous movie star.
Bruce Lee died a few weeks before the movie was put on. He was 32 years old. It's said that his early death ended what would have been a very successful movie career. | middle446.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "was eager to know the secret of success"
},
"options": [
"wanted to meet Einstein",
"wanted to be a great scientist like Einstein",
"was eager to know the secret of success",
"wanted to be a student of Einstein"
... | A young man asked Albert Einstein, the great German scientist, "What the secret of success is.?" The scientist told him that the secret of success is hard work. A few days later the young man asked the same question again. Einstein was very _ . He did not say anything, but wrote a few words on a piece of paper. On it was written "A=X+Y+Z".
"What does this mean?" asked the young man.
"A means success," explained the old scientist, "X stands for hard work, Y for good method and Z means stop talking and get down to work." | middle6865.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the restaurant is difficult to find"
},
"options": [
"they don't like the food here",
"the restaurant is difficult to find",
"the restaurant is too small",
"Western food is not popular"
],
"question": "There are... | My favourite restaurant is called 'Annablella's cafe'. It is a small restaurant serving Western food. It is in a city called Bristol. It is difficult to find because it is behind a very tall building. Only local people eat at this restaurant, and visitors can never find it! I think the food at the restaurant is the best in the whole country.
I like to go to this restaurant every two weeks. The waiters know me very well now. They are my friends. They know what my favourite drink is, so when I arrive, there is always a bottle of coke on the table. The menu changes every week so there is always something different to eat. My favourite meat is chicken, so I always order something with chicken in it. For dessert , I usually have apple pie with custard or chocolate cake. Delicious!
Sometimes I go to this restaurant for breakfast. I have a typical English breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes and bread. The breakfast is delicious, but I like to eat at this restaurant at dinnertime better. | middle4914.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "I should be more friendly to him than before."
},
"options": [
"I'll stay away from him.",
"I won't have meals with him.",
"I won't talk with him.",
"I should be more friendly to him than before."
],
"question":... | Liu Yun, 13, pretty and smart. She is a good student. But many students try to stay from her because Liu Yun's mum has AIDS and her father has died of AIDS. Luckily, Liu Yun didn't get it.
AIDS means fear for most people. Nobody wants to play games with her. Even a teacher who used to like her turns his back on her now. The biggest problem is how other people look at her. She sometimes wants todrop out of schoolbecause she can no longer face others' indifference .
It is said if a person has AIDS, it's still safe to eat and play with him. So I think Liu Yun's classmates and teachers are afraid of AIDS because they don't know much about AIDS. And Liu Yun needs their love and understanding. Even a friendly smile means a lot to her. | middle320.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Ted spends a lot of time watching his favorite sport on TV."
},
"options": [
"Ben was pleased to leave school.",
"Eve does not spend much time in reading.",
"Ted spends a lot of time watching his favorite sport on TV.",
... | Ben
When I left school five years ago, I said to myself, _ No more learning for me.Now I can enjoy myself in the evening." But about a year ago the boss said, "We're going to get a computer in the near future." What does he mean? I simply don't know.Anyway, I decided to go to evening classes.I'm quite an expert on computers now and you know, I actually enjoy studying.
Eve
I haven't much interest in studying.To be honest, I don't like reading very much, except for magazines and that sort of thing.Just reading, that is, to kill the time.But I do enjoy watching TV.Not that I watch everything.In fact, I choose my programmes very carefully.I'm particularly interested in current affairs .In some ways I think I learn more in this way than I did at school.
Ted
I'm a very different sort of person-I simply love doing things.That's why I enjoy sports so much.I mean, actually playing.I hardly ever watch it on TV, but I do read quite a bit about it.I'm even interested in the history of sports.I don't have much time for anything else, except that I quite like dancing.Some people say I'm not very good at it, though.
Joan
I should say I have great interest in studying.I'd rather do this than anything else.Since I left school.I've taken courses in all sorts of things.I go to the city library once a week, but I much prefer evening classes because it's more fun that way.My latest "craze "-if you can call it that -is foreign languages.I'm learning two, not one! | middle1878.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Two"
},
"options": [
"Only one",
"Two",
"Three",
"None"
],
"question": "How many notice boards did Mr. Brown make altogether?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_ind... | Mr. Brown lived in a house less than two miles from his office, so he was able to drive home every day for lunch. Every time he drove home at noon, he found many cars were parked outside his house and there was no room for his own car. He had to drive somewhere else to park his car. Then he had to walk back home. This made him very angry.
He had put up a board, which said, " No parking" in the garden facing the road, but nobody noticed it. People seemed to obey only a police notice with letters on a blue board:
POLICE NOTICE
NO PARKING
Mrs. Brown suggested that he could steal a police notice. He was afraid to do so. She then suggested that he could make one just like a police notice. He said he was not the police and couldn't use the word "police". Several days later, Mr. Brown made a blue board with white letters:
POLITE NOTICE
NO PARKING
" Oh!" Mrs. Brown said, "You told me you weren't going to use the word "police", but why do you use it now?" "Really?" he asked, "Look again." She started to laugh. "You are really clever." | middle334.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "20"
},
"options": [
"10",
"20",
"half",
"21"
],
"question": "Over _ students in Wang Hui's class have adopted pets online.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_inde... | Raising pets is a popular online game among teenagers. "More than 20 of my classmates have adopted pets online." Said Wang Hui from Beijing.
If you go to some websites, you can adopt virtual pets like penguins , chickens, dogs and elephants. You can feed, wash, talk to and play with your pet.
Dai Yingshuang of Shanghai said, "It's great fun and I have also learned how to take care of others." She usually asks her uncle to take care of her pet while she is at school.
If you don't feed and care for the pet, it will become unhappy and unhealthy. So raising an online pet means spending a lot of time online. This makes many parents worried. They fear it will have a bad influence on the children's studies.
Wang Zhaotong from Anhui has raised a penguin since last year. She said, "My parents know about the penguin and think it's okay."
If the students can keep the _ between studying and playing, it's not bad for them to "raise" pets online. | middle4900.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "writer"
},
"options": [
"teacher",
"zookeeper",
"writer",
"police"
],
"question": "Jeff is a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text":... | Jeff Corwin is a scientist and writer. He does these jobs with one life goal help save animals and their habitats. His latest book, 100 Heartbeats: The Race to Save Earth's Most Endangered Species. Is a collection of stories about animals on the edge of _ . Corwin recently talked to a reporter.
Reporter: How would you describe your job?
Corwin: My job is to travel around, look at animals and tell their stories.
Reporter : When did you know this is what your wanted to do?
Corwin: I knew that when I was 6 years old. My dad was a police officer, and we lived in the city. I really enjoyed the time when I could go to the quiet countryside. One day I saw my very first wild snake and I knew that's what I would do for the rest of my life. I didn't know if I would be a teacher or a zookeeper, but I knew I would have a life connected with nature.
Reporter: Why did you write the book?
Corwin: We are losing species very fast. _ If we make big changes, we may have the chance to save what remains.
Reporter: Is it true that humans are the reason that many of these animals are in danger?
Corwin: Human beings have a powerful effect on every other living thing. It's important to make that effect a positive one.
,. | middle3909.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The writer was still quite familiar with the song \"Ivory Tower\"."
},
"options": [
"The writer was able to sing before she could speak.",
"The writer preferred to live a busy life in the city.",
"The writer was still quite f... | Four years ago my sweet mom went to be with her Lord. She did it her way.
I got the call at work, and I headed home quickly. Mom and Dad lived on a small farm that they had owned since I was seven. I hated going there every weekend. There was nothing for a young girl to do but watch the one station on the old TV set, if the weather allowed reception .
My mom, on the other hand, loved the peace and quiet of the land and loved to work in the garden among her flowers and vegetables. The place was simple, with no indoor plumbing or heat. We had a big wood stove in the kitchen that did its best to heat the little farmhouse, but it always seemed cold and too quiet to me.
In the evenings, my mom and I would sit for hours singing in the little kitchen. I sang the melody and Mom harmonized. Her favorite song was "Moon River" and we sang it over and over. Mom told me stories about how when I was a little girl, I could sing before I could talk. She loved to tell how my playpen sat in the kitchen next to the radio and there was one song I particularly loved called "Ivory Tower".
As time passed, I had my own children and went to visit the farm every week or two. The kids loved the farm and the tractor rides with my dad. Me, well, I still hated the silence of the farm. While my mom loved to sit at her kitchen table and look out at her garden and flowers and retell all the old stories, I missed the hustle and bustle of my life at home. But I sat there listening quietly as she _ .
Now, I sat back in the silence and the silence was deafening so I finally leaned over to turn on an old radio. Music always comforted me.
My heart skipped a beat. "Moon River" was playing on the radio. I sat there stunned, with a tear running down my cheek, as I listened to every familiar note.
Then the radio announcer of this oldie station came on. "Here's one we haven't heard in a while," and an unfamiliar song began. I began to cry harder as I heard the words sung over the airwaves. "Come down, come down from your Ivory Tower...". | middle452.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The Sun Hotel"
},
"options": [
"The old woman's hote1.",
"The old woman's house.",
"The Sun Hotel",
"His own house."
],
"question": "Where did Mr Black want to go?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},... | One morning, Mr Black was driving in the country and looking for a small hotel. When he saw an old woman on the side of the road, he stopped his car and said to the old woman, "I want to go to the Sun Hotel. Do you know it?"
"Yes," the old woman said,"I will show you the way." She got into Mr Black's car and they drove about twelve miles. When they came to a small house, the old woman said, "stop here!" Mr, Black stopped and looked at the house."But this isn't a hotel." He said to the old woman.
"No"the old woman answered, "This is my house. And I'll show you the way to the hotel. Turn round and go back nine miles. Then you'll see the hotel." | middle5388.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "hold a competition"
},
"options": [
"hold a competition",
"buy a new crown",
"go on a journey",
"see stars twinkling"
],
"question": "The queen wanted to _ for the most beautiful thing in the world.",
"qu... | Long ago, there was a queen who lived in a palace. She felt bored and said to her advisor( ), "AIl the things around me are too boring. I need a different kind of beauty. Let everyone know that I will hold a competition for the most beautiful thing in the world. And the prize will be this crown ."
Several days later, lots of people came to the competition and showed their things. The queen was not satisfied with what she saw. The advisor suggested, "What you are looking for cannot be brought to you. You must look for it by yourself. What about a journey?"
The queen was interested in the idea, so she started immediately. As she was on top of the hill near her palace, she looked down and suddenly something cried in her heart. "Why have I never found my palace so beautiful?"
The queen spent one year travelling. She saw beauty on the farm, in the forest and even in the stars twinkling at night on her journey. But what was the most beautiful thing? She thought it over. Suddenly, she understood beauty was everywhere. She should learn to enjoy the world. She left the pieces of her crown at different places that she had seen. As time went by, the queen's crown got smaller and smaller until nothing was left.
She found the most beautiful thing at last. It was the world! | middle6681.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Both A and B"
},
"options": [
"It was old and broken.",
"It was full of grass.",
"There were many animals on it.",
"Both A and B"
],
"question": "What was the farm like at first?",
"question_type": "factiod_... | A farmer bought an old and run-down farm. The fields were grown over with weeds, the farmhouse was falling apart, and the fences were broken all around. The roads were hidden because of the grass that were growing madly. And there were not any animals on it. However, the farmer planed to turn it into a pleasant and loving place.
During his first day of work, the town preacher passed by. He looked at the farmer and then the mess, saying, _
A few months later, the preacher stopped by again to call on the farmer. He was so surprised to see a completely different place -- the farmhouse is rebuilt and in excellent condition, there were plenty of cows, sheep, hens and other livestock eating happily in the fence which had already been well repaired, and the fields were filled with crops planted in rows. A lot of flowers and small trees were growing along the road. He even saw some ducks swimming in a small pool. "Amazing!" the preacher said. "Look what God and you have finished together!"
"Yes, " answered the farmer, "but remember what the farm was like when God was working it alone!" | middle6859.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "in a red car"
},
"options": [
"in a big bus",
"in a green jeep",
"in a red car",
"in a red taxi"
],
"question": "A man was travelling abroad _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": ... | A man was travelling abroad in a small red car. One day he left the car and went shopping. When he came back, its roof was badly damaged.
Some boys told him that an elephant had damaged it. The man did not believe them, but they took him to a circus which was near there. The owner of the elephant said, "I am very sorry! My elephant has a big, round, red chair. He thought that your car was his chair, and he sat on it!"
Then he gave the man a letter, in which he said that he was sorry and that he would pay for all the damage.
When the man got back to his own country, the customs officers wouldn't believe his story. They said, "You sold your new car while you were abroad and bought this old one!" After the man showed them the letter from the circus man , then they believed him. | middle1850.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She was cleaning the house."
},
"options": [
"She was cleaning the house.",
"She was making some cakes.",
"She was putting on her old clothes.",
"She was talking off her stockings."
],
"question": "What was Mrs ... | Mrs Jones was still cleaning the house when her husband came back from work. She was wearing dirty, old clothes and no stockings and her hair was not tidy. She looked dirty and tired. Her husband looked at her and said, "Is this what I come home to see after a hard day's work?"
Mr Jones' neighbour, Mrs Smith, was there. When she heard Mr Jones' words, she quickly said goodbye and ran back to her house. Then she washed and combed her hair carefully, put on her best dress and her most beautiful stockings, painted her face, and waited for her husband to come home.
When he arrived, he was tired. He walked slowly into the house, saw his wife and stopped. Then he shouted angrily, " And where are you going this evening ?" | middle4928.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A clock"
},
"options": [
"A man",
"A tower",
"A clock",
"A plane"
],
"question": "What is Big Ben?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text"... | If you go to England, you may want to visit Big Ben. Big Ben is not the name of a man but a name of the clock in London. It has a long history of about 150 years. It is at the north end of the Palace of Westminster . The big clock has four faces. So you can read the face of the chock everywhere.The hands of it are about four meters long.When the new year comes, it _ to welcome the start of the new year. There are also many fireworks over the clock tower.
The big clock makes a very loud sound "Ding dong.Ding dong"-the clock gives the sound every 15 minutes of an hour. | middle2381.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A few years ago"
},
"options": [
"last week",
"last year",
"A few years ago",
"this year"
],
"question": "I collected old paving bricks _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | I love collecting old paving bricks ( ). It is my favourite hobby. I started it last year when I needed to help our teacher to hold a fair display ( ) for our school. A few years earlier, I read an article about paving bricks in a fashion magazine. I found it was very interesting, so I decided to do the display on the bricks. But we didn't have so many bricks for a good display. Then I decided to go out and look for them.
Now I have collected hundreds of bricks. Most of them are from Ohio ( ). Actually , there are more than one thousand different kinds of bricks in Ohio. Sometimes, I bought some old but special bricks on the Internet. The price is from 5 to 10 dollars for one brick.
Sometimes, people can't understand why I buy bricks. I must say that it's my favourite hobby. | middle2395.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "five"
},
"options": [
"three",
"four",
"five",
"six"
],
"question": "One should study for at least _ years to be a doctor.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_inde... | Most people have jobs. They go to work nearly every day. Some people are lucky, because they have very interesting jobs. Some people must take a long time to learn how to do their jobs. For example, to be a doctor, one should study for at least five years.
Some young people have very interesting and high-paying jobs. Many young athletes are very successful. Football and tennis players are usually under 35 years old, for older people can't play these sports very well. They can't move fast enough. Golf, however, is a good sport for older people. Many golf players are quite old, but they can still play golf very well.
Most people work until they are about 60 years old. Then they _ and have a lot of free time. Some people never retire. These people usually have interesting jobs. Writers, artists, scientists and actors usually work till they are very old.
,. | middle1844.txt |
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