questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "runawayandfindanexitasquicklyasyoucan"
},
"options": [
"putdrythingsonyourbody",
"runquicklyandtakethelift",
"runawayandfindanexitasquicklyasyoucan",
"takeeverythingyouhaveandthenrunaway"
],
"question": "If your... | According to a new survey, student safety has become a big problem. Nearly 50% of students say they are worried about robbery on the way to and from school. Now in many big cities in China, some schools have taught an unusual lesson: self-protection . Students like this lesson because there are no exams or boring classes. And they can learn how to save lives and know how to stop danger before it really happens.
Chen Haoyu, a teacher at Beijing No.25 Middle School and a self-protection expert , gives young students advice on how to deal with danger.
If you are robbed
Keep calm. If you can not cry for help or run away, give the robber your money. Try to
remember what the robber looks like and tell the police later.
If you are in a traffic accident
If a car hurts you, you should remember the car number; if it is a bicycle, try to call your
parents before you let the rider go. This is because you don't know how badly you are hurt.
If it is raining hard and there is lightning
Don't stay in high places and keep away from trees.
When there is a fire
Get away as fast as you can. Put wet things on your body and try to find an exit .
Do not take the lift!
If someone is drowning
If you can't swim, don't get into the water. Cry out for help. Remember that danger is never as far away as you think. Take care of yourself at all times! | middle308.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a bad cooking experience"
},
"options": [
"Mike's hobby",
"Suzie's hobby",
"a celebrity chef",
"a bad cooking experience"
],
"question": "What is the main idea of the letter?",
"question_type": null
},
{... | Hi Suzie,
I have a big problem again! You know that I love to cook. Everyone says that I am the next "celebrity chef". I never miss favourite cookery shows on TV. I always like to try new recipes. Curry is one of my favourite meals. I love all the spices and that is the problem!
I am in the kitchen when the telephone rings. I answer the phone and chat for five minutes to my friend Kate. I go back to my curry, but I don't remember that the spices are already in and I add more. My curry smells delicious, but when we eat it everyone looks at me. The curry tastes very bad. My mum says, "Why is it so hot?"
Then I remember about the spices.
I'm off for a hamburger.
Love,
Mike | middle6695.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "by bike"
},
"options": [
"on foot",
"by bike",
"by bus",
"by car"
],
"question": "Maria goes to school _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"ans... | My name is Maria. I'm 13. I live in New York City. I often go to school by bike. Riding a bike is good exercise for me. I like watching NBA matches on TV very much. I watch them every week. It's real fun for me. I like pop music a lot, too. My favorite singing star is Michael Jackson. At school, music is my favorite subject. I have a good voice and I play the violin well. I have a dream of being a singer like Madonna.
I'm Linda. I'm 12. I live in Los Angeles. I like playing football and basketball. I play football or basketball every day with my friends after school. I like animals and I also like animal stamps. I have panda stamps from my pen pal. They are very good. On weekends I often go to the mountains to paint pictures. I have painted some very nice pictures. Painting is my life, so I want to be a painter when I grow up.
I'm Sophia. My home is in Washington D.C. I like reading and watching programs about travel and history. I often stay at home reading on weekends. At school, I like French very much and I'm good at it. I'd like to be a guide. I can go around the world and meet a lot of people. That would be great fun. | middle4082.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "China"
},
"options": [
"America",
"England",
"China",
"Canada"
],
"question": "Where does Mary live now? She lives in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index"... | Mary is an American schoolgirl. She is now in Beijing with her parents. She doesn't know Chinese, but she is trying to study and speak it. She often tries to speak Chinese to her Chinese friends. Sometimes they don't understand her, because she can't speak Chinese well.
It's Saturday morning. Mary goes out. She is on her way to the park. She is going there to see a flower show . But she doesn't know how to get there. She asks a Chinese boy. The boy can't understand her. Then she takes out a pen and some paper. She draws flowers on it, gives the picture to the boy and says something about it. The boy smiles and then shows Mary the way to the park. | middle1845.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "good and bad things"
},
"options": [
"good things",
"bad things",
"good or bad things",
"good and bad things"
],
"question": "Children can learn _ from TV programmes.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | Boys and girls love to watch TV. Some children spend six hours a day in school and four to six in front of the TV set. Some children even watch TV for eight or more hours on Saturday. TV programmes are like books and films. A child can learn bad things from some of them and good things from others. Some programmes help children know the news from the other parts of the world. Some programmes show people and places from other countries or other times in history. With TV, a child doesn't need to go to the zoo to see animals or to the sea to see a ship. Boys and girls can see a film, a play or a basketball match at home. Some programmes can teach children how to cook or how to use tools. It's interesting to watch TV, but it is also interesting to read a book or to visit friends. | middle2394.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "1.7 metres tall."
},
"options": [
"1.75 metres tall.",
"1.7 metres tall.",
"1.65 metres tall.",
"1.6 metres tall."
],
"question": "How tall is Wang Mei?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"a... | Hello,everyone.let me introduce myself.My name is Wang Mei.I'm 1.7 metres tall.My eyes are black.I have long red hair.My favourite colour is blue.My favourite clothes are dresses.I feel happy every day because I have many friends.They look different,but they are very kind to me.Jenny has short blond hair.Her eyes are brown.She is 1.65 meters tall.Li Ming is my friend ,too.He has short black hair.He is 1.7 metres tall,too.Danny has three hairs and they're green.His favourite colour is green .He is 1.6 metres tall. | middle4083.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "keeping old things"
},
"options": [
"keeping old things",
"meeting farmers",
"traveling from village to village",
"buying cats"
],
"question": "The man liked _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | A man was looking for things of old times.One day he came to a village and found a blue bowl which looked very old.The bowl was on the ground and a cat was drinking milk from it.A farmer,the owner of the cat.was lying beside the bowl.In order not to draw the farmer's attention to the value of the bowl,the man said to him in a soft voice,"What a nice cat you have! Won't you sell it to me?"
"How much would you give me for it?" the farmer opened his eyes and asked.
"Twenty dollars. Would it be enough?"
A few minutes later,the farmer agreed.After he paid the farmer,the man said,"My cat will feel thirsty.May I take the bowl so that the cat can have milk?" But the farmer said, "I'm sorry I can't give it to you.Thanks to the bowl,I can sell twenty cats." | middle6694.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "In SBS"
},
"options": [
"In SBV",
"In KBS",
"In BTV",
"In SBS"
],
"question": "Where is the Running Man aired?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"... | Running Man is a variety show which is aired in SBS, a famous South Korean TV channel.
The show broadcasts on Sunday every week. The translation can be watched on the Internet every Monday. It's very interesting and funny. In the program, everyone should keep running.
Here are some information of its hosts and hostess.
Liu Zaishi, the main host of the show, is known as National Moderator(,). His friendly, witty and lovely hosting style makes him become one of the most popular hosts and comedians in South Korean.
Jin Zhongguo, the strongest man on the show, is known as Sparta-kooks . During the race, he can capture others quickly. But sometimes, he can be very cute.
Song Zhixiao, the beautiful actress who is also called Mong Zhi, where "mong" means "confused", because of her facial expressions which makes her seem confused. During the race mission, she is ace because of her superior ability to capture.
Young people in Korea love the program very much. Why? Because some South Korean stars will be invited to take part in the race every week . They are divided into several teams with MCs. Many stars have participated in the program, for example, Li Minhao, Girls'Generation , Jin Xiuxian etc. What's more, the program is not only relaxing but also educational--- It teaches people the importance of team spirit. | middle6858.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "walk behind women"
},
"options": [
"walk ahead of women",
"eat in a restaurant",
"walk behind women",
"drive a car to work"
],
"question": "In America men usually _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | In America, just as in Europe, men usually open doors for women, and women always walk ahead of men into a room or a restaurant, unless the men have to be ahead of the ladies to choose the table, to open the door of a car or do some other things like the above. On the street, men almost always walk or cross the street on the closer side of the ladies to the traffic. But if a man walks with two ladies, he should walk between them. Then if the host or hostess or both of them come in a car to get their guest for dinner, the guest should sit at the front seat and leave the back seat though there is no people sitting on it.
,. | middle6680.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Two."
},
"options": [
"One.",
"Two.",
"Three.",
"Four"
],
"question": "How many sons did Tom have?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text"... | As a young man, Tom was a famous artist with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son was ill. Tom and his wife thought it was nothing serious. But the boy died suddenly that night..
After his son died, Tom always felt very sad. To make matters worse, his wife also left him later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son, Emie. Sadly, he turned to alcohol for help.
As time went by, Tom began to lose everything he had---his land, house, etc. A few months later, Tom passed away alone in a small bar. Hearing of Tom's death, I thought,"What a complete failure!"
But later, I began to change my earlier opinion. I knew Tom's now adult son, Emie. He is one of the kindest, most caring men. I saw the love between Emie and his children. And I thought that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.
One day, I asked him what made him become such a specia1 person. Emie said quietly, "My father came into my room every night, give me a kiss and said,"love you, son."
Hearing his words, I understood everything. Tom didn't leave many things behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love. | middle5389.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "face masks"
},
"options": [
"keys",
"wallets",
"phones",
"face masks"
],
"question": "People will take _ with them before going out, hoping to protect them from the polluted air.",
"question_type": "cloze_... | People usually check whether their keys, wallets and phones are with them before going out . But many people in China now have one more important thing to take -- a face mask . They hope that it can protect them from polluted air.
Since January, many cities in China have seen a lot of foggy days.In Beijing, only five days in January were free of smog . It is dirty air that looks like a mixture of fog and smoke caused mainly by smoke from cars and factories in cities. Poor air has done harm to people's health, especially for children and old people. They fall ill easily and the hospitals are full of the the patients of respiratory problems.
To respond to the air problems, the Chinese government and many Chinese people have started to take action. Beijing announced plans to use cle an fuel in government vehicles and plant trees. It also asked citizens to set off fewer fireworks for celebrations.
Three students from No.4 High School in Beijing wrote a report to advise how to fight the air pollution. They suggested that cars with large emissions should not be allowed to use and factories should be closely watched.
We hope more people will join us in making a difference. With all our efforts , the blue skies will certainly return for good. | middle4097.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They mostly find resources and study climate change and sea biology."
},
"options": [
"They mostly study on the animals and plants there.",
"They mostly find resources and study climate change and sea biology.",
"They mostly ... | There are seven continents in the world. Among them, Antarctica is the most special one. It is a world of snow and ice all year round. China has sent many scientists there. They try to find resources under the icy land and study climate change and sea biology.
What do they eat?
Scientists don't have many choices on what they eat. About 60% their food is frozen food. It is easy to heat . Meat is common on the menu, while vegetables are not usual. Fresh vegetables are hard to grow in the cold weather. Therefore, people often eat dried and canned vegetables.
How do they sleep?
In Antarctica, summer lasts from November to March. During this time, Antarctica faces the sun and gets sunlight 24 hours of the day. In order to get some sleep,scientists cover the window with black cloth to make "night".
How do they work?
People can wear warm clothes to be against the cold weather, but they can do little with the strong wind. Sometimes, the wind is even stronger than a typhoon. It can easily blow people away.
So there are ropes that connect some research stations. People can hold these ropes to keep balance in strong winds.
How do they keep in touch with others?
There are no cables or Internet on the frozen continent. So mobiles and computers don't work there. Scientists usually use two-way radios to communicate at work. If they want to say hello to family and friends, they can use the satellite phones. | middle2380.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because it could bring danger."
},
"options": [
"Because it could bring danger.",
"Because it was boring.",
"Because it was not part of the life.",
"Because their son didn't like to talk to strangers."
],
"quest... | When I was young, my parents always told me that I should never talk to strangers. They told me it was dangerous. But now could we make new friends if we were like that ?
And then, how can we break ice? Don't just look at your shoes. Go and say "Hi" to the person before you. It will easier to break the ice if you know more about different cultures.
British: Beautiful, isn't it ?
The weather in Britain changes often. So, people often talk about it . Remember to say "yes" when others say this to you. It's just a start of a friendly talk, not real question.
French: Where did you go on holiday?
To talk with a French person, the safest way is to ask his or her last holiday. French students enjoy a 10-to-15-day holiday every two months. French employees get more than six weeks of holidays every year.
American: So, Where are you from?
The US is so big and people move so often. You can try to find something about the place they are form to talk about. For example, you could say, "Oh, I have a friend studying your city". | middle4929.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Five"
},
"options": [
"Two",
"Three",
"Five",
"Six"
],
"question": "How many steps are there to send birthday e-cards?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,... | In today's class, we'll learn how to send birthday e-cards to friends anywhere in the world without leaving our classroom. I'll show it to you on 123 Greetings, which is one of the most popular e-card websites.
Step 1: Surf the Internet and go to 123 Greetings. Click "Happy Birthday"
Step 2: Make your e-card. After clicking the card you want, you'll see a menu.
Step 3: Add your text in the box.
Step 4: Enter your e-mail address. Then enter your friend's e-mail address.
Step 5: Click "Send", and your birthday e-card is on its way. | middle1851.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "8:05 pm"
},
"options": [
"8:00 am",
"8:05 am",
"8:00 pm",
"8:05 pm"
],
"question": "The program begins at _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"... | With the beautiful music, the first lesson of the new term in 2014 began at 8:05 on the evening of September 1st, 2014. The program includes four parts: be nice to your parents, be polite to others, love others and be self-improved. It really makes a great difference to the students and the parents' ideas.
Family education plays an important role to the children. The "king" of fairy tales Zheng Yuanjie told us the story between his father, his son and him. His father helped him fill the pen in order to let Zheng focus on writing. His father set us a good example on how to be a nice father. Zheng is nice to his father, too. He bought a TV for his father and his son learnt from him. The moving story really touched my heart. It made me know how important it is to teach by precept and example role.
Joey Yung told us that how her mother taught her to be a polite girl. We should think about others when we do something we like. We need try to be popular people. She reminded us of good manners in our daily life.
Qin Yong, a famous rock star, gave up his career and put all his heart in educating his sick son. Though he felt too tired, he never quitted. It's his duty to bring his son up. When he found that his son made great progress, he felt very happy.
The orphans' life made us deeply moved. From their father, we know that if we encourage a person, he will have self-improvement.
From this program, we know that we should love the people around us. Then, our world will be better and better. | middle4901.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They had no money to buy any food."
},
"options": [
"their father couldn't find a job in the town..",
"they didn't hear from their father.",
"Their father left them away.",
"They had no money to buy any food."
],
... | Bruce and Bruno looked worried those days. Their father went to a town far away. Before leaving, he said he would write to them as soon as he found a job there. But two months passed, they did not hear from him. Now they had nothing except the old house and they had no money to buy any food. They thought for a long time. Then they decided to sell the house and look for their father. So one day the two brothers said goodbye to their friends and started to go. They got to the station and bought two tickets.
They were afraid that they would be hungry in the train, so they went to the market to buy something to eat. They saw bananas for the first time. The seller told them the bananas were very delicious, so they bought five kilos and got on the train with them. After a while Bruce brought out a banana and bit a little. Just at that moment the train went into a tunnel and it was dark in the train. He was afraid and called out,"Have you taken a bite of your bananas, Bruno?"
"Not yet."
"That's good."Bruce said, crying,"I did and went blind!" | middle1879.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because they are looking for a sunny beach to lie on."
},
"options": [
"Because they want to see battlefields or religious shrines.",
"Because they are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.",
"Because they are looking for cult... | People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines .Others are looking for cultures, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. Most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.
_ of northern cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short. And much of the rest of the year is in the rain. This is the reason why the Mediterranean has always attracted them. They all come for the same reason: the sun!
But there are signs that the are is getting more tourists than it can deal with. The Mediterranean has already been one of the most polluted seas on Earth. And with the increasing numbers of tourists, it's getting worse. However, none does harm to anyone's fun. The Mediterranean is getting more and more popular every year with tourists. | middle6870.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "calls attention to deep reading"
},
"options": [
"introduces the wave of future",
"adds a lot of fun for readers",
"explains what deep reading is",
"calls attention to deep reading"
],
"question": "The compariso... | Nora, a 17-year-old American, notices that when she has to do a paper for school and researches it on the Internet, she rarely reads a whole page and does deep reading. "I'll read the beginning of a paragraph and then I'll skip the rest," she says.
While Nora's mother, Martha, loves sitting down with a good book and reading carefully, her daughter may be the wave of the future.
"Deep reading", or slow reading, is a process in which people think carefully while they read. With most, that means slowing down --- even stopping and rereading a page or paragraph to really understand what the author is trying to say.
Last summer, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said he was concerned about what he sees as a decline in slow reading. Instant messages and 140-character tweets appear to be reducing out ability to concentrate on a single idea or theme of a book, he told Foreign Policy Magazine.
It's easy to forget the benefits of deep reading in an age when anything worth doing is done fast. Experts warn that without deep reading, it is impossible to be an educated person of the world, a knowledgeable voter or even an imaginative thinker.
"If you want to have a deep relationship with a text and understand a complex idea, then slow reading is a preferred style. It is good for pleasure, too. It is not a rushed experience and you can lose yourself in a text," said Canadian writer John Miedema, the author of the book Slow Reading.
US' Ohlone College English professor Cynthia Lee Katona says reading is a highly social activity that builds the mind and social connections. If you read, she says, you simply know more and have more to talk about with friends, partners and people you know.
Deep reading can also take a reader on a trip around the world even if they are sitting in a living room armchair, Katona says. Also, deep reading helps people develop thinking, writing and conversation skills.
"If you like beautiful things, authors put words together that are really beautiful and expressive," she says. "If you want to write well--- and there are lots of reasons to express yourself clearly --- you should read." | middle453.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because friends could have a good time during the tea."
},
"options": [
"Because it is a small meal, not a drink.",
"Because it became popular about one hundred and fifty years ago.",
"Because friends could have a good time d... | Afternoon tea (The traditional 4 o'clock tea) is a small meal, not a drink. Now most English families do not have time for afternoon tea at home, but in the past it was a tradition. However, you can still have afternoon tea at many tea rooms around England. Afternoon tea became popular about one hundred and fifty years ago, when rich ladies invited their friends to their houses for an afternoon cup of tea. Later, they started offering their visitors sandwiches and cakes too. During the tea time, friends talked to each other freely and enjoyed themselves. Soon afternoon tea became very popular in England.
The English working people do not have afternoon tea. They have a meal at about noon, and a meal after work, between five and seven o'clock in the evening. This meal is called 'High Tea' or just 'Tea' (The traditional 6 o'clock tea). It's usually takes place early evening. High tea is such a big meal that it has many kinds of delicious foods, such as scones, cakes, buns or tea breads, cheese, cold meats and eggs on toast. This meal is now often _ with a supper because most people often eat their main meal in the evenings rather than at noon. | middle6864.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "orange skin"
},
"options": [
"orange eyes and hair",
"orange skin",
"oranges",
"yellow skin"
],
"question": "The woman in this story has _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Different people have different colors of skin. Some have black skin, some have yellow skin and some have white skin. There is a woman in Alaska. Her skin is orange. It is almost the color of orange juice. How did her skin become orange? She ate lots of tomatoes, carrots and squash . She ate too many orange things. That's why her skin turned orange.
The woman doesn't want her skin to be orange, so she goes to see the doctor. The doctor says, " Stop eating orange things, Eat some green things."
The woman did so, and her skin isn't orange any more. | middle447.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He traveled in Italy."
},
"options": [
"He went to work in a restaurant.",
"He went to buy an umbrella.",
"He traveled in Italy.",
"He wanted to visit his friends."
],
"question": "Why did the Englishman go to I... | An Englishman was once traveling in Italy. One day he went into a small restaurant to order dinner. He understood very little Italian and couldn't read the menu . He knew the word for eggs, and so he ordered eggs. Italy is famous, however, for its mushrooms with eggs. But he did not know the word for mushrooms. The waiter did not speak a word of English and could not help him. At last, the man took out his pocket a pencil and a piece of paper and very carefully drew a picture of a mushroom on the piece of paper. The waiter looked at the picture of the mushroom for a long while. He did not understand very well, but at last he left. He was gone a long time. After about a half hour he returned. But instead of an order of mushroom, he brought the man a large black umbrella. | middle321.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "honesty"
},
"options": [
"honesty",
"money",
"food",
"happiness"
],
"question": "The young man played the violin for _ at the entrance the next day.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answ... | On a Friday night, a poor young violinist was playing his violin at the entrance of the subway station. The music was so great that people put some money into his hat.
The next day, the violinist came to the entrance again. He put down his hat as usual. Beside the hat was a piece of paper with some words on it: "A George Sang has put an important thing into my hat by mistake. Welcome to claim it."After a while a man named George Sang ran here quickly and got back his important thing.
The important thing was a lottery ticket .Sang bought it and won a prize of $500,000. But when he gave$50 to the violinist for his wonderful music, he threw the lottery ticket, too. The violinist was a college student. That morning, he was going to Vienna for his education. However, when he found the ticket, he _ the flight and returned to the entrance.
He said, "Although I don't have much money, I live happily. If I lose honesty , I won't be happy forever." | middle4915.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Ting's coming to the writer."
},
"options": [
"Ting's coming to the writer.",
"The things Ting said.",
"The writer's own feeling.",
"Ting is easy to be with."
],
"question": "\" _ because ....\" What does \"th... | I have known Ting for a long time. She was a friend of mine in high school. Ting used to see me as her best friend in my class because, as she said , it was easy to be friends with me . Therefore ,when we had time in school,she often came to me and we would talk about many things. Though I didn't have special feelings about this friend, _ because I didn't see the reason why I should say "no" to a friend I didn't hate.
But there was a while when she came to me, and usually said nothing meaningful. I started to feel tired and then tried not to meet her. After that she never came to me. Though guilty, I started to feel free about my life and never thought of anything about her feeling.
After a month or two, I heard from other friends that Ting's father had passed away six months before. I was so shocked! Then I suddenly realized why Ting had often come to me but said nothing special. She needed my company . I felt so bad about myself that I went to find her the next day. But I only found that she had moved away to another place.
At that time, I found myself so selfish that I only thought of myself but didn't even try to ask a friend what happened in her life. | middle2357.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "needn't pay for it"
},
"options": [
"have to pay one dollar for it",
"needn't pay for it",
"need to borrow five books first",
"need to make a card"
],
"question": "If you want to get a library card, you _ .",... | Welcome to Our School Library
Our Library is in the south of our school. The Library is open to every student and the library card is free. You can borrow five books, one CD and four videos --three weeks for books, one week for CDs and videos at the same time.
BOOKS
1. You can borrow picture books for children and all kinds of story books
2. You can enjoy newspapers and magazines in the reading room.
3. You can't take any newspapers or magazines out of the library
VIDEO
1. You can borrow all kinds of video films, TV plays and music videos.
2. You can't watch videos here.
AUDIO
, You can borrow music audios and language audios.
, You can enjoy listening in the special rooms here. | middle4726.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "book"
},
"options": [
"film",
"story",
"book",
"newspaper"
],
"question": "Brave New Girls is a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_tex... | When you get up in the morning, do you find it hard to choose what clothes to wear? If so, you probably need help to make the bigger choices in your life, like what to do when you're older. Brave New Girls, by American author Jean Gade-berg, will help you make such choices. It says you must be a brave new girl. A brave new girl is one who is confident, healthy and happy. A brave new girl can realize her dreams. To be brave, you need to make a decision for yourself. Other people may tell you what to do, but you should not listen to them. You must only do what you want. If you always wear clothes like your favourite TV star, you must stop doing so. Instead, become your own star and wear the clothes you want. You have to like your body, it says. If you don't, you will not take good care of it, and it won't stay healthy. The book also says that girls must start becoming more confident. If you are confident, you'll succeed in life. A good way to become confident is to realize that you are as clever as boys. In fact you are. Just look at their grades! Only then can you realize your dreams and become who you want to be. | middle1886.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "At 3:30 p.m."
},
"options": [
"At 3:30 a.m.",
"At 3:30 p.m.",
"At 9:15 a.m.",
"At 9:15 p.m."
],
"question": "When does Mr. White start to help his mother?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | Mr. White is very busy today. He helps his mother move into a new house. He starts at 3:30 in the afternoon. First he cleans the windows. Then he carries all the heavy furniture into the new house. He helps his mother put the curtains up too.
Mr. White is very tired when he gets "home". It is 9:15 p.m. He can't find the right key to the front door. The front door is locked. Then he tries the back door, but it is also locked. "I should climb in through the kitchen window," Mr. White says to himself. He doesn't want to wake up his wife and children.
But suddenly, a big black dog comes to him from behind. Mr. White is afraid and surprised. He doesn't own a dog! He is at the wrong house! Soon the police come. "I'm not a thief or a robber," says Mr. White to the police. "I'm at the wrong house. Please believe me." What an unlucky poor man Mr. White is! | middle6657.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "doesn't have a good rest"
},
"options": [
"has time to have a good sleep",
"is busy but he can have a good sleep",
"isn't tired and doesn't like to go to bed early",
"doesn't have a good rest"
],
"question": "Mr... | Mr White works in an office. He's very busy and has no time to have a good rest. Every evening, when he comes back from his office, he's always tired and wants to go to bed early. But his wife often has a lot of interesting things to tell him after dinner. She doesn't stop talking until she falls asleep . But it's usually too late and Mr White has to get up early in the morning when she is still sleeping.
One day Mr White felt terrible and couldn't go to work. He decided to go to see a doctor. Mrs White went to the hospital with him. Before her husband said what was the matter with him, the woman told the doctor all. The doctor wrote out a prescription . When Mrs White took the medicine to the doctor's room, the doctor said to her, "The bottle of medicine is for your husband and the pills are for you. "
"For me?" the woman said in surprise. "I'm fine. I don't need any medicine!"
"I don't think so, madam," said the doctor. "They are sleeping pills. Your husband will be all right soon if you take them. " | middle1138.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a big swimming pool, two soccer fields, a cinema, a gym and a shopping center"
},
"options": [
"a big swimming pool and a music room",
"a room to relax and play computer games",
"a big swimming pool, two soccer fields, a cine... | We spend hours, days and years of our lives in school. Imagine you could design your dream school, what would it be like? What would you be doing? We wanted to find out what teenagers around the world thought. Here is what they said:
Richard from the USA: My dream school would have a big swimming pool and two soccer fields. It would also have a cinema, a gym and a shopping center. My school has none of these, and I think there should be more pleasant things for students to do while they are studying.
Sonia from Italy: I'd like a room where we can relax and play computer games. I'd also like to have a music room. I think there should be a place for everyone to go and relax after class.
Wu from Beijing: I think it would be great to have another day off every week, besides the weekend. If that day was a Friday or a Monday, we would have a long weekend every week. What fun! I also think school should start later, at about 10 o'clock, and finish earlier.
Hannah from Australia: In my dream school, I think the teachers should give us more freedom and choice about how we study and what we study. I also think it's not necessary for us to wear school uniforms every day. I really don't like wearing it. | middle4040.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A cat."
},
"options": [
"A boy.",
"A cat.",
"A fish.",
"A tiger."
],
"question": "Who is my good friend at home?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
... | I have a good friend at home. Her name is Mimi. She is white and yellow. She is very cute. I play with her when(......) I have time. She likes fish very much. When she is behind (......) the sofa or in her box, you can't see her. When I sit on the sofa, she sits with me. In the evening I do my homework at my desk, and she is on the desk. At that time I put her down . Then she sits next to me. Is she a good friend of me? | middle2431.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Talking Plants and Friendly Warnings"
},
"options": [
"Communicating Plants and Terrible Diseases",
"Talking Plants and Friendly Warnings",
"Protecting Plants and Clear Information",
"Growing Plants and Mysterious Chemi... | We often consider plants as the furniture of the natural world. They don't move; they don't make sounds;they don't seem to act on anything. But as is often the case, plants talk to each other all the time. And the language is a chemical .
Over the years, scientists have reported that different types of plants, from trees to tomatoes, give out chemicals into the air to help neighbouring plants. These chemical warnings can spread information about one plant's disease or infestation ,so other plants can protect themselves. But how plants receive and act on the information exactly is still mysterious .
In this week's Science Magazine, researchers in Japan offered some explanations. They have found out one chemical message and traced it all the way from beginning to end.
The scientists looked at tomato plants infested by a common pest . To start out,they grew plants in two separate plastic spaces connected by a tube . One plant was infested and placed upwind and the other was uninfested and placed downwind. The downwind plants were later exposed to the pest. The results showed that plants near sick neighbours before were able to protect themselves better against the pest.
They found one chemical appeared more often in the exposed plants. The chemical is called HexVic. The scientists discovered where HexVic came from, and put it over healthy plants. Those plants were then able to produce HexVic. Researchers made sure that uninfested plants could fight off bugs and diseases. How do they know when to protect themselves? They are warned first by their friendly plant neighbours.
It is not a simple story , and it may be happening in many other plants besides tomatoes. It may also be happening with more chemical signals that are still unknown to us. In a word, we know that plants not only communicate, but also look out for one another. | middle4054.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "meet Oprah Winfrey"
},
"options": [
"watch animals",
"eat delicious food",
"meet Oprah Winfrey",
"work"
],
"question": "Jones wants to go to Chicago to _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Hello, I'm Jones. I want to go to the following three places.
I would like to visit Harpo Studios in Chicago, because it hosts The Oprah Winfrey Show. I really love Oprah Winfrey. I want to meet her. It doesn't snow in my country. Chicago is in the northeast of the USA. I'd like to be there, see snow.
Paris is the most beautiful city in the world. I would like to visit its beautiful streets and the famous Eiffel Tower. Paris has many zoos. So I can go to the zoos and have a look at the animals. There are many cars on the streets, but I can take the subway to get around the city.
On my summer vocation, I would like to go to Barcelona. First, there are many beautiful beaches. Second, there are well-known desserts and fruits in Barcelona. | middle6643.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "People still believe old ideas about why they catch colds."
},
"options": [
"People still believe old ideas about why they catch colds.",
"Colds are the biggest health problem in the world.",
"Some people think that strong wi... | Many cultures have different ideas about why people catch colds. For example in the United States, some people think that you can catch a cold if your feet get cold. So, mothers tell small children to wear warm boots in the winter. In other places, including parts of the Middle East, some people believe that strong winds cause colds. So, on trains and buses, people usually don't like to sit next to open windows. In parts of Europe, some people think that wearing wet clothes will give you a cold. They say that after you go swimming, you should quickly put on dry clothes. Today, scientists know that colds are caused by a virus . But the old ideas are still very strong, and many _ . | middle1892.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Friday evening"
},
"options": [
"Monday morning",
"Friday evening",
"Friday morning",
"Wednesday afternoon"
],
"question": "Mr. Smith gave his wife money every _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | Mr Smith gave his wife money every Friday evening. His wife always spent it all the next Wednesday, so that for the next three days she had no money to spend at all. One day Mr Smith asked her, "But how did you spend all that money?" She answered, "I don't know ."So on Friday evening, Mr Smith gave her money together with an exercise book and a pencil. He said to his wife , "Please write down how you spend the money ."Next Tuesday, his wife had no money again. Mr Smith took the exercise book to see how she had spent it. "I have done what you told me,"she said gladly . She had written "Friday, I got 18 pounds from Mr Smith. " on the first page, and on the second page, she wrote , "Tuesday, I have spent it all." | middle8108.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "dinosaurs"
},
"options": [
"monkeys",
"dinosaurs",
"pandas",
"tigers"
],
"question": "When someone says extinct animals, you may think about _ ?",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": ... | When someone says extinct animals, you may think about dinosaurs . But now many other animals are becoming less and less in number. These animals might disappear from the earth very soon. Take a look at the following animals. They are all in danger.
The African Elephant
The African elephant is a clever animal. It has a very good memory. But people kill it for its tusks . Half of the African elephants have disappeared.
The African Lion
The African lions have nowhere to live because of wars in Southern Africa. Besides, hunters and farmers often kill them.
The Tortoise
George is a tortoise. It is the last Pinta Island giant tortoise. It was found in 1971. Now it lives in a research station. It can still live for another 200 years. But it is the last one of this species of tortoise.
The Tadpole Shrimp
Maybe you've never seen a tadpole shrimp. This is one of the oldest species on the earth. People have found them in fresh water pools on four continents . A tadpole shrimp can only live for two months or less. | middle6125.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Clean the house."
},
"options": [
"Watch a movie.",
"Clean the house.",
"Go to the dentist's.",
"Take a walk."
],
"question": "What did Susan have to do on Saturday morning?",
"question_type": "factiod_quest... | Ted and Susan are good friends. Last Saturday, Ted asked Susan to go with him to watch a movie or take a walk down by the lake. Susan really wanted to go, but she was really busy all Saturday. First, her mom asked her to help clean the house in the morning, and then she had to go to the dentist's at 12:30. Two hours after that, she met Julia to help her with her science. Then she had to go to soccer practice with her brother at 4:30, and her mom asked her to cook dinner for the family at 5:30. Then, she had to do her history homework.
Ted knew that Susan was going to have a full day. So he asked her to watch a video at home. Susan thought that was great, but something was wrong with their video player. So they had to just play a game. | middle2343.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a colourful sofa"
},
"options": [
"a colourful telephone",
"no bathroom",
"a colourful sofa",
"modern tables"
],
"question": "Every bedroom at the Garden Hotel has _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"... | If you go to Hawaii, you can stay at the Garden Hotel. When you go there for holiday, you will find everything as comfortable as you would expect in a first-class international hotel.
Every bedroom has its own bathroom, telephone, special tables and colourful, modern sofa.
In the Mitsui Restaurant, you can choose your meals from different dishes, both Eastern and European. You can also find the dishes anywhere in the country. In the Beach Bar, you can drink with your family and friends comfortably to the music of famous musicians . Or you can take your drink outside into the beautiful garden of the hotel. You can also swim in the swimming pool. In the hotel, you will find _ . It will not take you a long time to wait for your service.
The Garden Hotel is right on the beach, only five minutes on foot from Hawaii's modern shopping centre. Here you will find all things at prices you can agree.
The Waikiki Beachside Hotel is also one of the most famous hotels in Hawaii. Beachside Hotel is close to restaurants, bars, Honolullu nightlife, Waikiki beaches, Oahu and all of the Hawaii adventure activities!
We are sure that your stay here at our Waikiki Beachside Hotel will be the best stay you have in Hawaii or the world. | middle4732.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because he wasn't bothered by the talkative wife."
},
"options": [
"Because he could enjoy art with his wife.",
"Because he wasn't bothered by the talkative wife.",
"Because he could face the problems in his life.",
"Be... | One afternoon I took a trip to an art museum while waiting for my husband to finish a business meeting. I was looking forward to a quiet view of the masterpieces .
A young couple looking at the paintings in front of me chatted non--stop. I watched them for a moment and realized she was doing all the talking. I admired this man for being so patient with her. Bored by their noise, I moved on.
I met them several times as I moved through those rooms of art. Each time I heard her voice, I moved away quickly. I was standing at the museum gift shop buying some cards when the couple walked to the exit.
" He's a brave man, " the clerk said. "Most of us would give up if we were blind at such a young age. But behind his wife come in whenever there's a new art show. "
"But what does he get out of the works of art?" I asked. "Hecan't see. "
" His wife describes each painting so that he can see it in his head. "
I learned something about patience, courage and love that day. I saw the patience of a young wife describing paintings to a person without
and the courage of a husband who would not allow blindness to change his life. And I saw the love shared by two people as I watched this couple walk away holding each other's hands.
Just then, I can't help getting close to them and said, " _ "
,. | middle8120.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "six"
},
"options": [
"four",
"five",
"six",
"seven"
],
"question": "American black bears may have _ colours according to the passage.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"... | American black bears appear in a variety of colors despite their name. In the eastern part, most of these bears have shiny black fur, but in the west they grow brown, red, or even yellow coats. To the north, the black bear is actually gray or white in color. Even in the same litter , both brown and black furred bears may be born.
Black bears are the smallest of all American bears, ranging in length from five to six feet, weighing from three hundred to five hundred pounds. Their eyes and ears are small and their eyesight and hearing are not as good as their sense of smell. Like all bears, the black bear is timid and rarely dangerous, but if attacked, most can climb trees or cover ground at great speed. When angry or frightened, they are formidable _ .
Black bears feed on leaves, roots, fruit, insects, fish, and even larger animals. One of the most interesting characteristics of bears, including the black bear, is their winter sleep. Unlike squirrels and many other woodland animals, bears do not actually sleep through the winter months. Although the bear does not eat during the winter months, sustaining itself from body fat, its temperature remains almost normal, and it breathes regularly four or five times per minute.
Most black bears live alone, except during the mating season. They prefer to live in caves. Baby black bears are born in January or February after a gestation period of six to nine months, and they stay with their mother until they are fully grown or about one and a half years old. Black bears can live as long as thirty years in the wild, and even longer in some nature reserves. | middle1662.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "America"
},
"options": [
"Scotland",
"Bangkok",
"America",
"China"
],
"question": "The museum of ice cream is in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | YOU might go to a museum to look at old cars or something about an ancient civilization . Would you like to see ice cream?
Believe it or not, there is a museum of ice cream in Iowa in the United States. Visitors can see a video that tells all about the history of the delicious snack.
It seems that ice cream goes back to about 2000 years ago , when the Chinese mixed together ice, milk and sugar. Spending an afternoon looking at how to make ice cream can make you a little hungry. No problem, the museum has its own ice cream store, where you can taste some of them.
In Edinburgh, Scotland, there is a museum of childhood. The museum shows objects about the lives of children in Scotland, past and present. You can expect toys, dolls, teddy bears and train sets. But there are also videos which tell you what it was like to be a kid in Scotland in old times.
You can hear children reading their multiplication tables : "Seven sevens are 49, eight sevens are 56." You can also watch documentary movies of the games kids played in Edinburgh in the 1950s, look at the clothes they wore and get to know what their schools were like.
It will be wonderful to visit the Children's Discovery Museum in Bangkok , Thailand. The museum has parts of nature, environment, technology and kids' activities. In this museum, you get to take part in the kids' activities. You can dress up to be a fireman in a fire truck. It is interesting. | middle5404.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "know the ways to escape the fire"
},
"options": [
"put out the fire in the burning house",
"know the ways to escape the fire",
"jump off a burning house",
"keep the door closed"
],
"question": "It is important t... | What are you going to do if you are in a burning house? How will you escape? Do you know how to save yourself? Please read the following passage.
Escaping a fire is a serious matter.Knowing what to do during a fire can save your life.It is important to know the ways you can use and show them to everyone in the family,such as stairways and fire escapes,but not lifts.
From the lower floors of the buildings,escaping through windows is possible,learn the best way of leaving by windows with the least chance of serious injury.
The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground.An average person,hanging by the finger-tips will have a drop of about six feet to the ground.It is about the height of an average man.Of course,it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building.
Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help.Be sure to keep the door closed.Or smoke and fire may be drawn into the room.Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may leaked into the room.
On a second or third floor,the best windows for escaping are those that open onto a roof.From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely.Dropping onto cement might end in injury.Bushes and grass can help to break a fall. | middle3075.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "New Jersey"
},
"options": [
"New York",
"London",
"New Jersey",
"Washington"
],
"question": "Mr and Mrs Smith always spent their holidays in _ before they made a lot of money.",
"question_type": "cloze_que... | Mr and Mrs Smith had always spent their summer holidays in New Jersey ( ) in the past, staying in a small inn at the foot of the hill.
One year, however, Mr Smith made a lot of money in his business, so they decided to go to London and stay at a really good hotel while they went touring around the famous city.
They flew to London and arrived at their hotel late one evening. They had expected that they would have to go to bed hungry, because in that small inn in New Jersey, no meals were served after seven. They were surprised when the waiter asked whether they would take dinner there that night. " Are you still serving dinner?" asked Mr Smith. " Yes, certainly, sir," answered the waiter. " We serve it until half past nine."
" What are the time of the meals then?" asked Mr Smith. " Well, sir, We serve breakfast from seven to half past eleven in the morning, lunch from twelve to three in the afternoon, tea from four to five, and dinner from six to half past nine." answered the waiter.
" But that hardly leaves any time for us to see the sights of London." said Mr Smith. | middle3713.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "failure"
},
"options": [
"love",
"failure",
"sadness",
"hope"
],
"question": "We usually have to accept _ if we want to be successful.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Life comes in a package.This package includes happiness and sadness, failure and success, hope and _ .Life is a learning process.Experiences in life teach us new lessons and make us a better person.With each passing day we learn to deal with various situations.
Love plays a main role in our life.Love makes you feel wanted.Without love a person could become cruel.In the early stage of our life, our parents are the ones who show us with love and care.They teach us about what is right and wrong, good and bad.But we don't always care about it.It is only after marriage and having kids that a person understands others' feelings.
Happiness can bring people a peaceful mind.No mind is happy without peace.Sadness is the cause of the death of a loved one or the failure.But all of these things will pass away.
Failure is the path to success.It helps us to touch the sky, teaches us to survive and shows us a specific way.Success brings in money, pride and self-respect.
Hope is what keeps life going.Parents always hope their children will do well.Hope makes us dream.Hope builds in patience.Life teaches us not to despair even in the darkest hour, because after every night there is a day.
Life teaches us not to regret over yesterday, for it has passed and is out of our control.Tomorrow is unknown, for it could either be bright or dark. _ | middle5362.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he had lived to be much longer than most people"
},
"options": [
"he was a happy man",
"he was a friend of them",
"he had lived to be much longer than most people",
"he had married three times"
],
"question": "S... | Grygori Pilikian spent his 114th birthday the other day and some reporters visited him to find out the secret of a long life.
"The secret of a long life is happiness," Grygori said. "If you are happy, you will live a long time."
"Are you married?" a reporter asked. "Yes," Grygori answered. "I married my third wife when I was 102. If you are happily married, you will live better. But for my third wife, I would have died years ago."
"What about smoking and drinking?" another reporter asked. "Yes, they are important," Grygori said. "Don't smoke at all and you will feel well. Drink two glasses of wine a day and you will be healthy and happy." | middle1104.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He looked for his lost sparrow."
},
"options": [
"He kept looking for gold.",
"He looked for his lost sparrow.",
"He wanted to visit a place with many birds.",
"He found a basket full of gold."
],
"question": "W... | An old Japanese man kept a sparrow and he really liked it. But one day the bird flew away. He became sad and went out to look for it. At last, he met the bird on a mountain. [:Zxxk.Com]
He asked excitedly, "Will you please go home with me, my bird?" Though the bird was also happy to see the old man, it shook its head.
"Take me to your home and let me see how you live," the old man said. The bird led the old man to its new home. And he found it lived well with many other birds. So he decided to go back. Before he was leaving, the bird gave him a basket.
When he returned home, he told his wife what had happened. She opened the basket and saw a lot of gold. The old woman was very greedy and she wanted to get more baskets. So she set out for the sparrow's home.
"Hello, sparrow. I miss you very much," cried the woman falsely . The bird said nothing. It gave her two baskets, a light one and a heavy one. The bird asked her to choose one and she could only open it after she reached home.
Of course, she chose the heavy one and took it home with great difficult. However, when she opened the basket, she found it was full of stones! | middle7575.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "found people felt hungry during the long wait between the two meals"
},
"options": [
"enjoyed chatting with her friends at home",
"loved tea and beautiful china tea cups",
"wanted to share nice food with her friends",
"... | One thing that British and Chinese cultures share is a love for tea. Today, when we think of western tea culture, we often think of the English and beautiful china tea cups.
Afternoon tea:
People believe that an English lady, Anna, first introduced the idea of afternoon tea. In the 18thand 19thcenturies, the English ate only two main meals each day, breakfast and a heavy supper that would last for several hours in the evening. As a result, people often got very hungry during the long wait between these two meals. To solve this problem, Anna came up with the clever idea of inviting some friends to join her for an afternoon meal between four and five o'clock. This meal included cakes, sandwiches, and tea was served to wash down the food. In order to make this afternoon meal important, fine china cups, plates, and silver teapots, knives, forks and spoons were used. Soon, afternoon tea parties became popular _ . Today, afternoon tea parties continue to play an important part in the social life in modern Britain.
Will you come for coffee:
Coffee also has an important role in British culture. People often use words "Will you come for coffee?" to mean "Would you like to come to my home for a chat?" Normally, several different drinks such as tea, hot chocolate or a soft drink like orange juice will be served as well as coffee, and you will be asked what you would like. However, you will not normally be offered wine at a "coffee" party.
Coffeehouses and the London Stock Exchange:
In the 17thcentury London coffeehouses were busy and noisy places. Businessmen and bankers went to coffeehouses to do their business, as well as to drink coffee. In fact, the London Stock Exchange is believed to be started from these coffeehouses. | middle1110.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he thought the boy would buy something of no use"
},
"options": [
"he thought the boy wanted to keep the money for himself",
"he did not have enough money at that moment",
"he thought the boy would buy something of no use",
... | "Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?"
"If you must know, I make $20 an hour."
"Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down.He thought for a moment, looked up and said, "Daddy,could you lend me $10?" The father was _ , "If you asked for the money to buy a toy or some other rubbish, then go straight to your room and think about why you are being so selfish!"
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. After about an hour or so, the father calmed down, and started to think, "Maybe I was too hard on you just now." said the man, "Here's $10."
"Oh,thank you,Daddy!."he said happily.Then, the boy took out some coins.When the father found that the boy already had money, he got angry again.
"Why do you want more money since you already have some?" the father shouted angrily.
"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do."the lillte boy replied, "Daddy, I have $20 now.Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow.I would like to have dinner with you." | middle484.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Mike's"
},
"options": [
"Mike's",
"Bill's",
"my",
"Mike's friend's"
],
"question": "There are a lot of friends at _ birthday party.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | My name is Bill. I have a friend called Mike. Today is Mike's birthday. I'm at his birthday party. There are a lot of friends in his house. Some stand beside the table and enjoy the snacks and drinks. There is some food on the table. I like the chocolate and the fruit very much. Mike sits on the sofa and chats with some friends there. He wears a yellow T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. He looks so cool today. Wow! The cake is really big. There are some candles on it. Mike's friends begin to sing 'Happy Birthday' to Mike. Mike is very happy. He blows out the candles and cuts the cake. Everyone has a good time at the party. | middle7561.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "friends"
},
"options": [
"friends",
"brother",
"sisters",
"parents"
],
"question": ".Many teenagers think that _ can understand them better.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their life are their friends. They believe that their family don't know them as well as their friends do. In large families ,it is quite often for brothers and sisters to fight ,and then they can only go to their friends for some ideas.
It's very important for teenagers to have one good friend or a group of friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend much time on the phone. This communication is very important in children's growing up, because friends can be the right one to talk about something with .These things are difficult to say to the family.
However, parents often try to choose their children's friends for them. Some parents even ask their children not to meet their good friends. | middle3707.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "John"
},
"options": [
"Tina",
"John",
"Jane",
"Mr. Cai"
],
"question": "Gina is a good teacher and she wants to find a job. She can call _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | *Teachers Wanted
Are you a teacher? Do you like kids? Can you help them with Chinese? Come to join us. Call John at 378-5788.
*Ping-pong Club
Do you like to play ping-pong? Do you want to play ping-pong well? Mr. Cai can teach you. You can come here every Saturday afternoon.
Tel: 368-5778
Add: Room 212 in School's P.E. Buliding. | middle2419.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Call Animal Protection and Control quickly."
},
"options": [
"Send it to Shelter immediately.",
"Send it to Administrative Offices at once.",
"Send it to Animal Protection and Control at once.",
"Call Animal Protection ... | Town Lake Animal Center is the largest animal shelter in Central Texas, providing shelter for more than 23,000 animals each year and animal control services for all of Austin and Travis County. In the shelter, no animal will be turned away.
_
Shelter
Monday - Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Closed on City Holidays
Homeless or unwanted animals can be safely dropped off at the shelter.
Animal Protection and Control
Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Saturday - Sunday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
City Holidays, 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Officers on-call overnight to react to emergencies
Administrative Offices
Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Closed on City Holidays
_ 1156 W. Cesar Chavez St, Austin, TX 78703
_ Town Lake Animal Centre, PO Box 1088, Austin, TX 78767
_
Animal Cruelty Prevention Classes
Purpose: To teach people how to recognize and report animal cruelty.
Who: All citizens are encouraged to take this class.
Cause: Usually animal cruelty is relation to family cruelty.People who hurt animals often move on to hurt human beings.If you're able to recognize and report animal cruelty,you can help prevent cruelty from spreading throughout your area. | middle3061.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "zebras"
},
"options": [
"zebras",
"monkeys",
"lions",
"giraffes"
],
"question": "The _ did the decorations for the party.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_ind... | What fun the animals' party was! The zebras did a great job with the decorations.The lions and giraffes put together delicious food.No one knew music like the forest birds.The bears made clever posters to spread the news to all the animals.
When the talent shows began, one of the monkeys hurried out to the dance floor.He was a dancing fool! The birds played some lively music.When the music stopped, the animals clapped and shouted.The monkey returned to his table.Friends gathered around to shake his hand and praised about his skills.
The elephant saw all the attention the monkey was getting.He wanted some attention for himself."I can dance too," he told himself."I will show these animals what I can do!"
The elephant hurried out to the dance floor.He started to dance.It was not pretty.The elephant knocked over the table that held the wine bowl!
"Give up your dance!" a gorilla called.
"What are you doing?" cried three frogs."Stop it!"
The other animals shouted.They were sad about the elephant for making a mess! They chased him off the dance floor and away from the party.
The bears shook their heads and said, "One should never try to be what one is not." | middle8134.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "money will never be enough for them"
},
"options": [
"they want to change their lives",
"making money can make them very happy",
"money will never be enough for them",
"they want to become the richest men in the world."... | What does success mean? Is it becoming famous, rich, coming up with an idea that changes people's lives, or helping others and feeling happy?
People who have a billion dollars, for example, are they successful? Why don't they stop trying to make money then? Why would they possibly need more than a billion dollars? They try to make more because there will never be enough . They will never be happy enough.
If all that you're working for is money, you will do terrible things to get it. If all that you want is a successful business, you will cheat people to get it . If all that you want is fame ,you will give up your _ to achieve it .
What's the real success? For me, being rich or famous is not all to life. I might have a lot of readers now on Zen Habits, but I don't feel that's what makes me a success. I've been a success even when I had no readers, because I was doing what I loved. Even when no one else would have called me a successful man. I loved writing, and I was happy. Success isn't about achieving something in the future, but about doing something right now that you love.
So, forget about success, and just find joy and love right now, in this moment. That is a success you can achieve, without any method. Just go out and do it. | middle7207.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "malls"
},
"options": [
"supermarkets",
"shops",
"streets",
"malls"
],
"question": "In America, Most people enjoy shopping in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer... | On Saturdays, most people are busy shopping. Some of them go to the shops, and some go to the supermarkets. But in American, most shoppers enjoy shopping in the shopping malls.
A mall is a group of many shops. There you can buy clothes, furniture, and everything you need. Shopping malls provide parking for your cars. Usually, the mall is under one roof so the shoppers do not get cold or wet from rain, wind, or snow.
After shopping, you may get tired. You can walk into the sitting-room for a short rest. If you go into the dinning rooms in the malls, you can have a good meal. Now more and more Americans like to go shopping there. | middle1676.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "65"
},
"options": [
"20",
"25",
"40",
"65"
],
"question": "The writer finished her first cross-country race in about _ minutes.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_... | The morning was cold and clear. A yellow bus came around the corner and stopped near a wood . A coach asked the students to get off the bus. Girls began to gather by the starting line. One of them is a young, little girl. She had prepared for this running race for the whole summer. She looked around at the other girls, noticing how she was different.
There was a break in the silence, and everyone started to run. After about twenty-five minutes, every runner finished the race except the girl. She was still running for the next forty minutes. As she came near the finishing line, she saw her parents, classmates and the coach. They shouted her name and told her not to stop until the end. The sweat was flowing down her face.
She kept on running until she crossed the line. I was that girl, and that was the first time I had finished a cross-country race . Finishing this race made me realize that I could do anything with my own strength. After that, I took more hard work to practice running. I was not a natural-born runner, but I want to become one. I continued to struggle with every run. Now I run much faster than before and become more and more confident. I am so thankful for running because it has helped make me who I am today. | middle6119.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "one is born with his colour preference"
},
"options": [
"one can choose his colour preference",
"one is born with his colour preference",
"one's colour preference is changeable",
"one has to choose his favourite colour ... | What is your favorite colour? Do you like yellow, orange, red? If you do, you must be an optimist , a leader or an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement. Do you prefer grey and blue? Then you are probably quiet, shy and you would rather follow than lead. If you love green, you are strong-minded and determined . You wish to succeed and want other people to see you are successful. At least this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know, because they have been seriously studying the meaning of colour preference , and the effect that colours have on human beings .They tell us that we don't choose our favorite colour as we grow up. If you happen to love brown, you did so as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly.
A yellow room makes us feel more cheerful and comfortable than a dark green one, and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day. On the other hand, black is depressing . Light and bright colours make people not only happier but also more active. It is a fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or dark grey .
Remember, then, that if you feel low, you can always brighten your day or your life with a new shirt or a few colourful things. Remember also that you will know your friends and your enemies better when you find out what colours they like and dislike. And don't forget that anyone can guess a lot about your character when you choose a piece of handkerchief or a lampshade . | middle7950.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "an operation done with the help of a robot"
},
"options": [
"a special kind of robot invented by doctors",
"an operation done far away",
"an operation done with the help of a robot",
"something done to mend a robot"
... | French doctors and American scientists have reported doing an operation in which the doctor was outside the operating room. This kind of operation is known as robotic operation.
Doctor Marescaux did the operation in an office in New York City last month, while a sixty-eight-year-old woman patient was in a hospital in Strasbourg, France.
A doctor in Strasbourg got the patient ready. He placed medical tools and a small video camera in her stomach area. Doctor Marescaux in New York watched the patient on a video screen. Then he used the computer to send messages to the robot machine. The robot moved the tools that cut the woman's gallbladder away. The woman got well soon after the operation and left the hospital two days later.
Experts say the main problem with such a robotic operation is based on high-speed telecommunications between the doctor and the robot. Technology must be able to send a doctor's order to a robot to move the tools quickly.
Experts also say a successful robotic operation will improve an operation. For example, the robot can make much smaller movements than a person can. A robot machine can turn tools in ways that a doctor's hand cannot.
Doctors say such a robotic operation will make possible safer and better operations in the future. They say it will improve doctor training. It will also mean that doctors could do an operation on people in dangerous places far away. And it could mean that people could have operations done by top doctors without having to travel to the city where doctors work. | middle6496.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "didn't want the young lady to hear her voice"
},
"options": [
"didn't want the young lady to hear her voice",
"didn't want to trouble the young lady any more",
"was so tired that she didn't want to talk with her",
"was ... | A young lady was driving alone through the street. It was dark and rainy. Suddenly she saw an old woman by the side of the road, holding up her hands as if she wanted a lift . "I can't leave her out in this weather," the young lady said to herself. She stopped her car and opened the door.
"Do you want a lift?" she asked. The old woman nodded and got on the car. After a while, she said to the old woman, "Have you been waiting for a long time?" The old woman shook her head, "Strange" the young lady thought. She tried again, "Bad weather, isn't it?" The old woman nodded.
Then the young lady noticed the old woman's hands, which were large and hairy. Suddenly she realized the woman was a man! She was frightened at first. Then she stopped the car. "I couldn't see out of the rear screen ,"she said, "Would you mind cleaning it for me?"
"The old woman" nodded and opened the door. As soon as "she"got out of the car, the frightened young lady drove off as fast as she could.
When she got home, she noticed "the old woman" had left her handbag behind, she picked it up and opened it. Inside there was a gun. | middle7788.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Chongqing"
},
"options": [
"the UK",
"Beijing",
"the USA",
"Chongqing"
],
"question": "My English teacher Sophia is in _ now.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | I have many teachers now and I love them all, but I think I love my English teacher, Sophia, best.
Sophia is from the UK. But she loves Chongqing very much. She thinks Chongqing is great. She loves Chongqing food. Do you know what she likes for breakfast? Bread and milk? No, she doesn't. She only has noodles . Hot pot is her favorite and she always eats it on Saturday and Sunday. Sophia has a daughter and a son. Her daughter's name is May. Her son's name is Jack. They are 8 years old. They go to the same school. They like hot pot, too. They are all in Chongqing now.
We have English from Monday to Friday. So Sophia is very busy. But she is always nice and happy. All my classmates like her and her classes very much. She often plays English games and sings English songs with us. When we have questions, we like to ask her for help.
Now I think I can do well in English because I have the best English teacher, Sophia. | middle4281.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "orange skin"
},
"options": [
"an orange coat",
"orange skin",
"an orange dress",
"yellow skin"
],
"question": "The woman has _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_... | Different people have different colors of skin . Some have black skin. Some have yellow skin, and some have white skin. There's a woman in America. Her skin is orange. It's the color of orange juice.
Why does she become orange ? She eats too many tomatoes , carrots and squashes . She eats many orange things. That's why she becomes orange.
The woman doesn't want to be orange. She goes to the doctor . The doctor says, "Don't eat any orange things again! Eat some green things. " The woman does so ,and she isn't orange now. | middle2828.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "was on TV for the first time"
},
"options": [
"watched a TV programme with his parents",
"was on TV for the first time",
"played soccer in the park with his friends",
"saw the hosts of the programme Kid's Speak Out"
... | I'm Jack, and I am a middle school student. Yesterday was the most exciting day in my life. I was on TV! This is my first time on TV. In the evening, Mum, Dad and I were watching a TV programme in the sitting room and there I was! This is how it happened.
I was playing soccer in the park with my friends when a man and a woman came to us. The man had a camera. The woman had a microphone. "I'm from Channel 9," she said. "Do you know the programme Kid's Speak Out?" I did know it. I watched it often. It's a weekly programme where kids say what they think about different things.
"Would you like to be on it?" the woman asked me.
I wanted to be on it and I thought my friends might also want to be on it, so I asked, "Can my friends be on it too?"
"Sorry, only one of you can," the woman said. "You can talk about it and decide which of you is going to be on the programme."
I asked my friends if they wanted to be on the programme. They didn't, so I went on it. The woman asked me a lot of questions. I thought carefully and tried to give _ answers. When she finished, she said I was one of the best kids she'd spoken to! I felt very proud of myself. My mum and dad were proud of me too! | middle2196.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "September 28,551 BC"
},
"options": [
"September 28,551 AD",
"September 28,551 BC",
"December 28,551 BC",
"December 28,551 AD"
],
"question": "Confucius was born on _ . '",
"question_type": "cloze_questi... | Confucius was born on September 28,551 BC.Chinese regard Confucius as the greatest thinker and also the greatest teacher.He had about 3,000 students.For more that 2,000 years,Confucius's ideas have been around in people's everyday life.Now they have gone far into east and south Asia.People can still hear them today.
Why are his ideas so popular? Because they help a 1ot in everyday life.Confucius said young people should take care of the old.People should give up thinking of themselves and work for others.As a great teacher,Confucius said all should go to school if they could. | middle3288.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He tries to get on well with others."
},
"options": [
"He never fights against others.",
"He tries to get on well with others.",
"It is hard for him to live with other wolves.",
"Sometimes he had a terrible fight becaus... | A Lesson from the Elder
Grandfather was an elder Cherokee Native American who had a wrinkled, nut brown face and kind dark eyes. His grandson often came in the evening to sit on his knee and asked the many questions that children would ask.
One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger on his face and the following story. "Father and I went to the store today and because I helped him, he bought me a present---a jack-knife. I went outside to wait for father and to admire my new knife in the sunlight. Some town boys came by and saw me. They surrounded me and started saying bad things. They called me dirty and stupid and said that I should not have such a fine knife. The largest of these boys pushed me back and I fell over one of the other boys. I dropped my knife and one of them picked it up and they all ran away laughing. I hate them. I hate them all."
The elder Cherokee, with eyes that had seen too much, lifted his grandson's face so his eyes looked into the boy's face. Grandfather said, "Let me tell you a story. I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy. It is like drinking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times. It is as if two wolves are inside me.... It is a terrible fight.
One wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. It will only fight when it is right to do so and in the right way. This wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, modesty, kindness, friendship, sympathy, generosity, truth, and faith.
The other wolf is full of anger. The least thing will set off his fiercest temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so much. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. This wolf represents fear, envy, greed, self-pity, guilt, lies, false pride and superiority.
Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me for both of them try to control my spirit. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too."
The boy looked into his grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied.... "The one you feed." | middle2182.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Yes, he did."
},
"options": [
"Yes, he has.",
"No, he wasn't.",
"Yes, he did.",
"No, he didn't."
],
"question": "Did the thief steal anything from Brown's house?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
... | Mr Brown is one of my friends. He can run very fast and likes to show people how fast he can run. One day, a thief got into his house, took some of his things and ran out of the house fast. Mr Brown found it and ran after him, and shouted, "Hey! Don't you know you can't get away from me."But the thief ran much faster, Mr Brown got angry and ran faster, too. He was soon a few kilometers away from his house, he was running hard when he met me. "Why are you running so fast?" I asked. "I want to catch a thief," said Mr Brown. "But where is the thief?" I asked. "Kilometers and kilometers behind," said Mr Brown _ , "He thought he could run faster than me, but you see he is wrong." | middle5835.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Why the writer likes Pisa"
},
"options": [
"Italian pizza",
"Italy's problems",
"How the leaning Tower of Pisa got its name",
"Why the writer likes Pisa"
],
"question": "This passage is about _",
"question_... | I often dreamed about Pisa when I was a boy .I read about the famous building called the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But when I read the word Pisa, I was thinking of pizza. I thought this tower was a place to buy pizza. It must be the best place to buy pizza in the world, I thought.
Many years later finally saw the Leaning Tower . I knew then that it was Pisa and no pizza. But there was still something special about it for me. The tower got its name because it really does lean to one side. Some people want to try to fix it. They are afraid it may fall over and they don't like it leans over city.
I do not think it's a good idea to try to fix it. The tower probably will not fall down. It is 600 years old. Why should anything happen to it now? And , if you ask me, I like what it looks like. To me it is a very human kind of leaning. Nothing is perfect, it seems to say.
And who cares? Why do people want things to be perfect? Imperfect things may be more interesting. Let's take the tower in Pisa. Why is it so famous? There are many other older, more beautiful towers in Italy. But Pisa tower is the most famous. People come all over the world to see it. | middle4295.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A problem about a farm animal."
},
"options": [
"The digging of the creek.",
"A problem about a farm animal.",
"Who owned the field between the farms.",
"Who would pay for building the fence."
],
"question": "Wh... | Paul and Jason were brothers who lived and worked on neighbouring farms.For 35 years they farmed side by side,sharing machinery and goods as needed,without a single problem.
However,one autumn,things changed.It began with a tiny disagreement about a horse,which grew into a major difference.The difference led to angry words,followed by weeks of silence between the two brothers.
One morning there was a knock on Paul's door.He opened it and saw a builder holding his toolbox."I'm looking for a few days'work,"the builder said."Are there any jobs here I could help with?"
"Yes,"answered Paul,extremely pleased to see the builder."I do have a job for you.Look at that farm across the creek .That's my brother's farm.That creek used to be a grass field,but last week my brother dug a path from the fiver and made the creek.But I'll _ .See that pile of wood?1 want you to build me a fence,two metres tall,so 1 won't need to see him anymore."
The builder said thoughtfully."I think I understand the situation and I'll be able to do a job that pleases you."
Paul had business in town that day and left the builder to his work.When he returned,the builder had just finished his job.Paul was shocked.Instead of a fence there was a bridge,stretching from one side of the creek to the other.
As Paul stood on the bridge,staring in amazement,his younger brother Jason,came across,and took Paul's hand."You are a good man to have built this bridge after a11 I've done,"said Jason.
Then,Paul,with tears in his eyes,said to the builder who was packing his bag to go,"Thank you so much. Please stay.I have much more for you to do."
"I'd love to."the builder said quietly,"but,I have many more bridges to build." | middle679.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "\"Fukushima 50\" stayed in the nuclear power plant bravely"
},
"options": [
"what happened in America on September 1l th, 2001",
"\"Fukushima 50\" stayed in the nuclear power plant bravely",
"who saved many lives from the big... | At a nation's saddest moment, its greatest heroes are born.
On September 11th, 2001, many police officers and government officials in America worked day and night to save lives from the big fire at the World Trade Centre. And in Japan, after the serious earthquake, a group of workers showed their courage.
The earthquake on March 11th made Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant turn off and stop its protective cooling systems. And later, a fire broke out. Workers were told that the plant's radiation could be harmful to human health. Hundreds of workers left the plant quickly. However, a group of workers decided to fight against the fire and the damage, though they knew it could cause very serious health problems. There were 50 workers in all, so they were also named the "Fukushima 50". The workers worked in shifts .
People knew little about the workers, who were mainly experts with the skills to control the situation. One woman said that her father had volunteered to stay there. "I heard that he volunteered even though he would retire in just half a year and my eyes were filled with tears. I am really proud of him. And I pray for his safe return. | middle7944.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because there have been theme parks named Angry Birds."
},
"options": [
"Because the screens of mobile phones and computers have become bigger.",
"Because Angry Birds has become more and more popular.",
"Because people spend ... | Now the game Angry Birds has become more and more popular with the young and the old. I'm sure you also enjoy it a lot. But is it too small to play the game on your mobile phone or on your computer? Do you want to visit a park where you can find some bigger birds and pigs? As this picture shows, Angry Birds has now become much bigger. Copying the action of the real computer game, players pull a real catapult and shoot Angry Birds toys at green piggy balloons. I think that must be very exciting to touch such big birds.
Angry Birds Land recently opened inside Sarkanniemi Amusement Park in Tampere, Finland . It is the first Angry Birds theme park in the world. Finland is a country in northern Europe. And then other countries will copy Finland's example. The UK government says that they plan to build Angry Birds theme parks in the UK. What's more, you can see such theme parks not only in the UK, but also in other countries. The game, Angry Birds, is created by the Finnish company Rovio. _ agrees to help build the theme parks all over the world. | middle6482.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "write a thank-you note"
},
"options": [
"return it",
"give it to one of our friends",
"do nothing",
"write a thank-you note"
],
"question": "When we receive a birthday present, we have to_.",
"question_type"... | What must you do when you receive a present for your birthday? You have to sit down and write a thank-you note. The word "thanks" is very important. We have to use them very often. We say them when someone gives us drink, helps us to pick up things, hands us a letter or lends us a book. It is rude to ask someone to do something without saying "please". We have to use it when we ask for something, too. It may be a book or a pencil, more rice or help. We have to use "please" to make request pleasant.
We have to learn to say "sorry", too. When we have hurt someone, we'll have to go up and say we're sorry. When we have forgotten something, we will say "sorry". We can make people forget wrong by saying it.
These three words are simple but important. Our children must learn to use them. They are pleasing words to use in any language. | middle2814.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "No one can change weather"
},
"options": [
"No one can make weather",
"No one can change weather",
"Asking each other's name",
"Talking what they eat"
],
"question": "\"No one does anything about the weather\"me... | Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it. It is true. People usually begin their talks with"Isn't it a nice day?"
Many people think they can tell what the weather is going to be like. But they hardly agree with each other. One man may say,"Do you see how cloudy it is in the east? It's going to rain tomorrow."Another man will say,"No, it's going to be fine tomorrow."
People often look for the weather they want. When a farmer needs water, he looks for
something to tell him it's going to rain; he won't believe anything else. When friends have a travel, they are sure the weather is going to clear up very quickly.
Almost everyone listens to what the weatherman says, but he doesn't always tell us what we want, and sometimes he makes mistakes. Still , he probably comes closer to being right than anyone else. | middle651.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "She feels bored."
},
"options": [
"She doesn't have a job.",
"She feels bored.",
"She hates rainy days.",
"She feels awful at school."
],
"question": "What's Linda's problem?",
"question_type": "factiod_ques... | Problem:
I'm bored. We have a day off because of the heavy rain. If you didn't go to school today, what would you do? Why? Linda
Some advice:
If I were you, I would be at home doing something, such as making my bed or helping my mother do some chores. That way, my room would be clean and my parents would be happy. Tina
I would do what I love! Maybe I would help Mom do some cooking. I would learn how to make dumplings. Kathy
I don't have enough time in one day to do all the things I want to. People who get bored usually don't have a good imagination . There are lots of different books to read, websites to surf, people to visit and things to make. June
Well, if I were you, I would watch a good movie and then take a good nap . Your brain and body will then be relaxed and ready for classes the next day. Lisa
,. (10) | middle889.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the migrant workers of China"
},
"options": [
"the factory owners of China",
"the business men and women of China",
"the migrant workers of China",
"the people in Chinese cities"
],
"question": "The journalist t... | Who's building the new China? It's not the factory owners or the business men and women of China. It's someone else. We see them every day, They work day and night in the terrible working conditions and weather. They build the roads, the theaters, the cinemas and the supermarkets. They even clean up our rubbish. They are China's migrant workers .
More than 140 million workers have left their homes in the countryside to look for jobs in big cities all over China. They hope to be rich, but they realize they have many difficulties in making enough money. And one of the difficulties that these workers have is the pride and discrimination from the people in cities. When night falls, everywhere I look I see the sad faces of the migrant workers. Many are living far away from those whom they love. Yes,they dress differently, they speak differently, and they have different habits, but they work hard .The people in cities regard them as outsiders, and most governments refuse to give them medical care and public schooling for their children. If China hopes to move into the future, many things need to change. The first is discrimination! We need to stop our discrimination against the migrant workers of China! They may not make as much money as some people in cities, but they are good honest people just trying to _ this game of life. These workers are very important and necessary to China's economic development and have become an important force for the change of Chinese society. They are building the new China, so we should help them. | middle137.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The Mid-Autumn festival."
},
"options": [
"The Mid-Autumn festival.",
"New Year's Day.",
"Deepavali.",
"Songkran."
],
"question": "What is Sandy's favorite holiday?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
}... | What is your favorite holiday? Here are some students' opinions.
Sandy from Taiwan says:
My favorite holiday is the Mid-Autumn festival. I always visit my grandfather and grandmother, and we always go to the same restaurant on the mountain. At night, we always have a picnic, and watch the moon together. I enjoy it a lot.
Yagna from India says:
My favorite day is Deepavali , which is also called Festival of Lights. People do some cleaning at home and light their oil lamps to thank for the defeat of the bad king. To celebrate it, we also eat sweets and delicious food, wear new clothes, and give presents to our friends and relatives.
Pat from Thailand says:
My name is Pat. My favorite holiday is _ It takes place from the 13th to 15th of April. On the holiday people pour water on each other. It is a lot of fun. People also buy new clothes and they have big parties. | middle5809.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Gmeiner built the first SOS Children's Village"
},
"options": [
"People gave Gmeiner some money.",
"There were many orphans at the end of the war",
"Gmeiner built the first SOS Children's Village",
"A man called Hermann... | In Europe many people died during the Second World War. As a result, at the end of the war there were many orphans there. A man called Hermann Gmeiner wanted to help these children. His idea was simple. He wanted orphans to have a home, and he wanted them to have the care and kindness of parents. Gmeiner asked people to give him some money. With this money he built the first SOS Children's Village at Imst, in Austria. It opened in1949. This is how the SOS stand for "Save Our Souls ." This means "Please help us!" An SOS Children' village gives help to orphans.
Hermann Gmeiner's idea for helping orphans soon spread all over the world. By 1983 there were 170 SOS Children's Villages in the world. People in many countries give money to help the villages. Today the children from the first village have grown up. Now some of them work in other SOS Children's Villages.
In SOS Villages orphans live in family groups. There are several houses in each village. The biggest village has 40 or 50 houses! Between seven and ten children live in a house. A woman lives with each group of children and looks after them. She gives the children a lot of love and kindness. She cooks meals for them and makes comfortable, happy home for them.
Of course, the children don't spend all their time in the village. They go to school, they go out with their friends. But the village gives them a home--sometimes for the first time in their lives. | middle7978.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "bookseller"
},
"options": [
"driver",
"judge",
"policeman",
"bookseller"
],
"question": "Mike found a job as a _ when he left school.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"... | Mike found a job in a bookstore after he finished middle school. He wouldn't do anything but wanted to get rich.
It was a cold morning. It snowed and there was thin ice on the streets. Few people went to buy books and the young man had nothing to do. He hated to read, so he watched the traffic. Suddenly he saw a bag fall off a truck and it landed by the other side of the street.
"It is full of expensive things." Mike said to himself. "I have to get it right now, or others will take it away."
He went out of the bookstore and ran across the street. A driver saw him and began to whistle , but he didn't hear it and went on running. The man drove to the side, hit a big tree and hurt himself in the accident. Two weeks later, Mike was taken to the court . A judge asked if he heard the whistle when he was running across the street. He said that something was wrong with his ears and he could hear nothing.
"But you heard me this time," said the judge.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Now I can hear with one ear."
"Cover the ear with your hand and listen to me with your deaf one. Well, can you hear me?"
"No, I can't , sir."
"You told a lie. There is nothing wrong with either of your ears," the judge said. | middle645.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "English"
},
"options": [
"Chinese",
"English",
"Maths",
"Art"
],
"question": "My _ is not good.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text":... | There are many clubs in our school. My English is not good. I want to join the English club. Wang Ying wants to learn to paint. So he wants to join the art club. Zhang Ping likes running. He wants to join the running club. Li Nan is good at singing and she wants to join the music club. What club does Han Mei join? Oh, she likes eating and she joins the cooking club. | middle2800.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a fig tree"
},
"options": [
"an apple tree",
"a fig tree",
"a pear tree",
"a banana tree"
],
"question": "The old man was planting _ when the rich man saw him.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | A rich man was riding along the road and saw an old man digging in his garden. There was a young tree lying on the ground. The rich man asked the old man. "What kind of tree are you planting there. My good man?"
"This is a fig tree, sir." He said.
"A fig tree? The rich man was very surprised. "Why, how old are you, may I ask?"
"I am ninety years old."
"What!" shouted the rich man. "You're ninety years old, you are planting a very young tree now and it'll take years to give fruit. You certainly don t hope to live long enough to get any fruit from this tree. "The old man smiled and said, "Tell me, sir, did you eat figs when you were a boy?" Sure," the man did not know why he asked this question.
The old man asked, "Who planted the fig trees?"
"Why - why: I don't know."
"You see, sir." The old man said slowly, "our forefathers planted trees for us to enjoy and l am doing the same for the people after me."
The rich man was quiet, then said," you are right, my good man. We should do some things for the people after us. Thank you very much." Then he rode away. | middle2633.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Jean-Marc"
},
"options": [
"English Climbing Team",
"Jean-Marc",
"Jean-Marc and his wife",
"K2 in the Himlayas"
],
"question": "_ climbed up the peak.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answ... | London Time, July 7, 1992
Mountaineer Jean-Marc came back to London yesterday. He was welcomed by all the people in the city. But the 28-year-old Frenchman was very modest. "I'm not a hero," he said in London Guild Hall, "It was something I wanted to do, so I did it."
Jean-Marc climbed the world's highest mountain, K2 in the Himlayas, with English Climbing Team one month ago. He was the only one who climbed up. He was the first Frenchman to reach the peak . When he got to the peak, his tears fell. He was so glad.
Yesterday his wife went to London to meet him. These years she always helping him to do his job. Jean-Marc said, "Because my wife gave me so much help, I won. I love her very much. And now we'll have a month's holiday in America." | middle876.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Both A and B"
},
"options": [
"Because the weather there is changeable.",
"Because they do not like to talk about private things.",
"Because then they can talk about other things naturally.",
"Both A and B"
],
"... | Walking in the street in the USA or the UK, you can often hear people talking about the weather. "Lovely day, isn't it?" "It's cold, isn't it?" and so ox
Americans and English people like talking about the weather. This makes lots of Chinese puzzled . But they talk about the weather not only because the weather there changes a lot, but also they do not like to talk with others about private things like age, family and income. Stay with strangers, people all like talking about the weather, then they can talk about other things naturally . They think if you like spring, you have a warm heart; if you like summer, you have a great will; if you like autumn, you have abundant feeling ;if you like winter, you have a vast mind . | middle7993.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The challenges traditional bookstores face."
},
"options": [
"The development of online bookstores.",
"The disadvantages of traditional bookstores.",
"The great advantages of online bookstores.",
"The challenges traditi... | Online shopping is growing fast in China, and more and more Chinese are buying books online. At the same time, traditional bookstores are facing new challenges. A bookstore in Beijing is going out of business . All of its books are on sale. Bookstore owner Wang Jian says hot sales of books on the Internet pushed him to change the way he did business.
China has the highest online book buying rate in the world. More than years ago, dangdang.com became the first online bookseller, and now becomes very important in the Chinese online book market.
Facing this challenge, the Xinhua Bookstore also built its online store a few years ago. Zhang Jian, CEO of the Xinhuabookstore.com, says now they are enlarging their online services.
A "price war "is taking shape between traditional bookstores and online bookstores. Faced with the low-cost advantage of online bookstores, traditional ones can do nothing but lower their prices. At the same time, online bookstores are also starting price wars between each other.
Now some traditional bookstores are trying their best to attract buyers in their own way. They exhibit books better and provide a very relaxed reading environment in the bookstore. Even though, traditional bookstores can hardly compete with some of the advantages of online bookstores, for example 24-hour service. | middle36.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "two inches longer than"
},
"options": [
"as long as",
"two inches longer than",
"as big as",
"two inches shorter than"
],
"question": "The young man bought the new trousers _ his size.",
"question_type":... | Here's a story about a very interesting family. A young man once went into town and bought himself a pair of trousers. When he got home, he went upstairs to his bedroom and put them on. He found that they were about two inches too long.
He came downstairs, where his mother and his two sisters were washing up tea things in the kitchen. "These new trousers are too long." He said. " They need shortening by about two inches. Would one of you mind doing this for me, please?" His mother and sisters were busy and they said nothing.
But as soon as his mother had finished washing up, she went quietly upstairs to her son's bedroom and shortened the trousers by two inches. She came downstairs without saying anything to her daughters.
Later on, after supper, the elder sister remembered her brother's trousers. She was a kind-hearted girl, so she went quietly upstairs without saying anything to anyone and shortened the trousers by two inches.
The younger sister went to the cinema, but when she came back, she, too, remembered what her brother had said. So she ran upstairs and took two inches off the legs of the new trousers. | middle6455.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "friend"
},
"options": [
"sister",
"cousin",
"friend",
"aunt"
],
"question": "Anna is Sally's _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text":... | My name is Sally Miller. I am a student in No. 3 Middle School. Look! This is a ruler. It's yellow. It's not my ruler. Who lost it?
"Anna, is this your ruler?" I ask my friend.
"No, it isn't. My ruler is white. And it's in my pencil box now," Anna answers.
"Excuse me, Jack. Is this your ruler?"
"No, it isn't. My ruler is black." Jack answers.
"You can ask your cousin Jenny. She can't find her ruler."
"Hi, Jenny! Is this your ruler?" I ask.
"Yes, it's mine. Thank you very much," Jenny says. She is very happy to find her ruler. | middle6333.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "people in North America"
},
"options": [
"people in the Middle East",
"people in North America",
"people in the South America",
"people in North China"
],
"question": "From the passage, we should give _ more p... | Our new foreign students are going to arrive very soon, and here are some ways to communicate with them politely.
How close do you stand when you talk to a friend? You can stand close to people in the Middle East but don't stand too close to North Americans! Give them more personal space.
Do you know How to _ people correctly? Chinese girls often walk arm in arm with their friends. South Americans sometimes hold your arm when they talk to you, so you can't move away! But in Britain many people don't like other people to touch them at all.
Do you look at people when you talk? In some places, it isn't polite to look at people when you talk, but in other countries it isn't polite to look somewhere else. In Britain and the US, people usually look at each other when they talk.
And how do you say goodbye? That's easy, wave to say goodbye. But be careful! In Greece, it's not at all polite! In fact, it's very rude! | middle4524.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "find the morning news"
},
"options": [
"learn the latest news",
"meet their own different needs",
"read the short stories",
"find the morning news"
],
"question": "People read newspapers in order to _ .",
... | Reading newspapers has become an important part of everyday life. Some people read newspapers as the first thing to do in the morning, others read newspapers as soon as they have free time during the day so that they can learn what is happening in the world.
Sometimes, we do not have enough time to read all the news carefully, so we just take a quick loot at the front page. At other times, we may be in such a hurry that we only have a few minutes to look at the headlines of te passage.
Newspapers can be found everywhere in the world. We can get many different kinds of newspapers in big cities, but in some mountain villages we can see few newspapers.
Some newspapers are published once a week, but most of the papers are published once a day with many pages, some even published twice a day! You know different people enjoy reading different newspapers. Some like world news, and others prefer short stories. They just choose what they are interested in.
Today newspapers in English have the largest numbers of readers in the world, The English language is so popular that many Chinese students are reading English newspapers such as China Daily or 21stCentury. Also they bring us more and more information with internet. | middle2155.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "One"
},
"options": [
"One",
"Two",
"Three",
"Four"
],
"question": "How many Chinese festivals does the passage talk about?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"ans... | We call the Chinese New Year the Spring Festival. There is a name for each Chinese year. We may call it the year of the sheep, the monkey, the snake, the tiger, the rabbit, the horse or the year of the pig. And this year is the year of the Sheep.
Before New Year's Day, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. They are busy buying new clothes, new shoes, and candies. On New Year's Eve, there is a big family dinner. After the dinner, all the family members stay up late to welcome the New Year. On the first day of the New Year, people put on their new clothes and go to visit their friends. They say "Happy New Year" and some other greetings to each other. And on that day, children can get money in red packets. Besides, children have a lot of candies to eat. People wear new clothes and shoes.
People usually have a very good time during the Festival. | middle4530.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Thanks to the development of traffic and communication"
},
"options": [
"Because of the rise in pollution.",
"Thanks to the development of traffic and communication",
"Because the earth is blown away by the wind every year.",... | The world itself is becoming much smaller by using modern traffic and modern communication. Life today is much easier than it was hundreds of years ago, but it has brought new problems. One of the biggest problems is pollution. To pollute means to make things dirty. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, drink it and even eat it.
Man has been polluting the earth. The more people, the more pollution. Many years ago, the problems was not so serious because there were not so many people. When the land was used up or the river was dirty in one place, man moved to another place. But this is no longer true. Man is now slowly polluting the whole world.
Air pollution is still the most serious. It's bad for all living things in the world, but it is not the only one kind of pollution. Water pollution kills our fish and pollutes our drinking water. Noise pollution makes us angry more easily.
Many countries are making rules to fight pollution. They stop people from burning coal in houses and factories in the city, and from putting dirty smoke into the air. Pollution by SO2 is now the most dangerous kind of air pollutions. It is caused by heavy traffic. We are sure that if there are fewer people driving there will be less air pollution.
The earth is our home. We must take care of it. That means keeping the land, water and air clean. And we must take care of the rise in pollution at the same time.
: | middle2141.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "until 1750"
},
"options": [
"until 1750",
"after 1750",
"since 1750",
"from 1750"
],
"question": "The idea of roller skating didn't exist _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Today, roller skating is easy and fun. But, before 1750, the idea of skating didn't exist . That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin. Merlin's work was making musical instruments.
One day Merlin was invited to a music party. He was very pleased and a little excited. As the day of the party came near, Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party. He had an idea. He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room.
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll. Finally, he decided to put two wheels under each shoe. These were the first roller skates in the world. Merlin was very proud of his invention and dreamed of getting to the party on wheels while playing the violin.
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin. Everyone was surprised to see him. There was just one problem. Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates. He rolled on and on, suddenly, he ran into a huge mirror that was hanging on the wall. Down fell the mirror, breaking into pieces. Nobody forgot Merlin's entrance! | middle6327.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "seven"
},
"options": [
"three",
"five",
"six",
"seven"
],
"question": "This is a family of _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "from... | I am an American student. My name is Vicky King. I have a big family. I have two brothers. They and I are in the same school. My grandma and grandpa live with us. They are my father's parents.
My father is from England, but my mother's hometown is at the foot of the Great Wall of China. My brothers and I were all born in New York. Because my father works in a school in New York. He teaches English.
People often ask us, "What do you like eating?" It is not easy to answer this question! Well, let me tell you.
My grandpa has been to India, so he likes Indian food. My father likes hot dogs, potato chips and hamburgers. My mother likes rice, noodles and dumplings. She often does very nice Chinese food for us. So my brothers and I like Chinese food a lot but English food a little. We don't like Indian food at all. | middle1448.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Three."
},
"options": [
"One",
"Two.",
"Three.",
"Four."
],
"question": "How many tips are there in the passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text":... | It's easy to get lost in a _ city. Here are some tips to help you find the way and get to your destination .
Take a map with you when you go to a new place. If you lose your way, look at the map, you'll find the place where you want to go.
If you still can't find the place on the map, ask the police for help.They will tell you the right way to go.
Remember the name of your hotel and the street where it is. If you can't find the way back, take a taix.
I hope these tips can help you. | middle7039.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in"
},
"options": [
"near",
"in",
"outside",
"far from"
],
"question": "Kate lives in a tall building _ London.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | Kate is an English girl. She lives in a tall building in the city of London. There are sixteen floors in the building, and she lives on the tenth floor. She uses a lift to go up and down. Kate studies in a middle school near her house and she works hard. She goes to school early. Every day she leaves her home at half past six. She walks to the lift, and it takes her down to the first floor. There is a bus stop near the building. Usually she takes No.7 bus to her school, but sometimes she goes on foot. It is only four kilometers to her school from the building. She gets to school at about seven twenty. Classes begin at eight. She goes to play games at three forty. She gets home at a quarter past five. She begins to do her homework at eight and finishes it at half past nine. | middle862.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Happy experience."
},
"options": [
"Happy experience.",
"A strong society",
"Too much work",
"A flight"
],
"question": "What does the writer expect family life to be like?",
"question_type": "factiod_questio... | In a few years, most people will know that a healthy, happy, loving family is a joy and it is a necessary part for building a strong society. But there are still some people who don't believe family life can be an enjoyable experience.
Some people already accepted the idea of the "me generation" so they fail to understand that there is a time in life when they have to give up their time to something more valuable.
At a time when adults need to think about the needs of their family, they will be doing other important things. Some people will spend too much time working for a more powerful car or a bigger house so that they can proudly say that they have them. Some will be doing dangerous things so that they may tell their stories to their friends, and others will recite things like " I must become the best I can be." or "I don't want to be at the bottom." The needs of their family will be forgotten and they never seem to have time for the family.
Many people have not experienced a strong helpful perfect family life, so they have never discovered its worth. Many people have always experienced family life as a flight, so they can't find time and energy for work.
But it is really very important that we all expect good family relations. We need to realize and value the importance of what can be achieved by loving each other in the family. It is also important for our society to encourage family members to create happiness. | middle7987.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They thought the boy was foolish."
},
"options": [
"They thought the boy was very clever.",
"They thought the boy was foolish.",
"They thought the boy couldn't speak.",
"They thought the boy was a good student."
],
... | A boy couldn't speak when he was 3 years old. A lot of people thought he was a foolish boy. When the boy was 9 years old, he could speak but he still couldn't speak well. His teacher didn't like him at all and his classmates laughed at him. He felt very sad, One day his father had a walk with him. They went to a wood and there were a lot of trees there. Then his father took him to two trees and said to him."Boy, this tree is sabal (,)and this tree is fir . Sabal grows very quickly at first but a few years later, it will stop growing, so the tallest Sabal can't reach ten meters. But the fir is different, it grows very slowly at first but it never stops growing so it can grow very tall."
Then his father took him to another fir. It was so tall, so strong. It can reach the sky. The father said to his son, "Son, you are the fir."The boy understood his father's words. The boy became a very great scientist. Do you know who he is? He is the world-famous scientist. His name is Einstein. | middle6441.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a factory"
},
"options": [
"a factory",
"an office",
"a school",
"a hospital"
],
"question": "Mike works in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | Mike is a factory worker. He is often very tired after a day's work. His wife, Jenny, has no job, so she stays at home to cook the meals. Every day he can have his dinner when he gets home from his factory.
One day, Mike came home very late because he was very busy in the factory. He was very hungry when he got home.
He was not happy when he found his dinner was not ready. He was very angry with his wife. He shouted at her, "I'm going out to eat in a restaurant." "Wait for five minutes," said his wife. "Why? Do you think that dinner will be ready in five minutes?" asked Mike.
"Of course not," she answered. "But I can be ready to go with you in five minutes." | middle22.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "after he had a fight"
},
"options": [
"before he went to school",
"when he went to school",
"after school was over",
"after he had a fight"
],
"question": "The boy went to his grandfather _ .",
"question_... | One day, a boy had a fight with one of his classmates. He didn't wait until school was over, and hurried home to his grandfather. He told him his story angrily. "He is really bad," the boy said, "and I hate him."
The grandfather said, "Let me tell you a story. When I was a boy, I, too, sometimes hated others for what they did..."
As the boy listened carefully, the grandfather went on,"There are always two tigers inside my heart. One is good and kind. He gets on well with everything around him. But the other is bad and unfriendly. Even the smallest thing will make him angry. He fights with everyone all the time, and for no reason. He can't think carefully because he always hates others. It is difficult to live with these two tigers inside my heart. They both try to control me."
The boy looked into his grandfather's eyes and asked,"Which tiger always controls you, Grandfather?"
The old man said slowly and seriously, "The one that I feed. I always feed the good and kind tiger, so I never hate others and seldom get angry now."
,. | middle2627.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Moscow"
},
"options": [
"Spain",
"London",
"Paris",
"Moscow"
],
"question": "Samaranch became the president of the IOC in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_in... | Within IOC, Samaranch was a man much admired and sometimes loved, the Spanish who made the organization into one that is rich and so powerful.
No one doubted Samaranch's ability to make something impossible come true. In 1981 he ensured that Seoul was elected to be the host of the 1988 Olympics. Remember, that was a time when the two Koreas were at war with each other. And because Samaranch helped swing Spanish votes across to London, rather than to Paris, London was made host for the 2012. To China and the Chinese people, Samaranch was considered a great friend. Thanks to his efforts during his last term as IOC president, Beijing and China won the Olympics for the first time.
Samaranch led the IOC from 1980 to 2001. Certainly, throughout his IOC presidential term, he had a soft spot for Moscow, for it was there that he was elected president of the IOC in 1980, and it was there that he managed to reach his final wishes as IOC president. Very early on in that 2001 Moscow session he wanted the Belgian surgeon, Jacques Rogge, a newcomer to the Olympic Movement, to replace him as president, for China to host the 2008 Olympic Games and for his son, Juan Antonio Samaranch junior, to become an IOC member. He got all three wishes.
Samaranch's death came three months before his 90th birthday on April 21st, 2010. | middle3539.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He is looking for a hotel to live in"
},
"options": [
"He is walking in the country",
"He is working for a restaurant",
"He is looking for a hotel to live in",
"He is driving a small bus"
],
"question": "What's ... | One morning , Mr. Black is driving in the country and looking for the Sun Hotel. When he sees an old woman on the side of the road, he stops his car and says to the woman, "Excuse me, I want to go to the Sun Hotel, do you know it?"
"Yes, "the woman says, "I'll show you the way. "She gets into Mr. Black's car, and they drive about twelve kilometers. When they come to a small house, the old woman says, "stop here. "Mr. Black stops, and looks at house. "But this is not a hotel. "He says to the old woman.
"No, "the old woman answers, "This is my house. And I'll show you the way to the hotel. Turn round and go back nine kilometers. Then you'll see the hotel!" | middle4256.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Six"
},
"options": [
"Five",
"Six",
"Seven",
"Eight"
],
"question": "How many people were there in grandparents' family before the writer was born?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer... | A long time before I was born, my grandma and grandpa moved into the house on Beechwood Avenue. They had a young family of 4 little girls.
During that time, work was hard to find, so Grandpa did whatever jobs he could. He worked on a farm during the week and at weekends he and Grandpa grew some of their own food in the garden .
Everybody worked to keep the garden growing. All summer long, the family ate food from the garden and enjoyed the beautiful flowers. Grandma made jam with strawberry, tomatoes, beans, peppers, pears and peaches. It was good to eat through the long winter.
The family grew up, and before too many years had passed, the grandchildren came to visit. Grandma and Grandpa still planted their garden every spring. Everyone still enjoyed the good food from the garden and always took some home.
Grandchildren grew up, and grandparents grew older. It became harder for Grandma and Grandpa to keep up the garden. So they made it a little smaller. There was still plenty to eat from the garden and lovely flowers to enjoy.
Then one summer when Grandpa was eighty-nine years old, all he could do was to watch from his chair as the vegetables grew and the flowers came out. Summer slowly went away, and Grandpa died before it was time to bring in the harvest . | middle7777.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "autumn"
},
"options": [
"spring",
"summer",
"autumn",
"winter"
],
"question": "The writer started walking more slowly in the _ of his life.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Life is like the four seasons. Now I am very old, but when I was young, it was the spring of my life. After I was born, I played a lot, and then I started school. I learned many new things. Like a flower, I grew bigger every day. There were happy days and _ ldays: some days the sun shone, and some days it didn't.
In my twenties, I had a good job. I was strong and happy. Then I married and had a child. In those days, I didn't have much time to think. Every day I was busy and worked very hard. And so, I started to get some white hairs. The summer of my life passed quickly.
Then the days got shorter. Leaves fell from the trees. My child was a university student, and then an engineer. My home was much quieter. I started walking more slowly. One day I stopped working. I had more time. I understood this was my autumn, a beautiful time when the trees change color and give us delicious fruits.
But the days kept getting shorter and colder. Winter has come. I am older and weaker. I know I do not have many days left, but I will enjoy them to the end. | middle1306.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "600."
},
"options": [
"900.",
"600.",
"400.",
"300."
],
"question": "How many rooms does Buckingham Palace have?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
... | Buckingham Palace is in London, England. Buckingham Palace is famous because Queen Elizabeth of England lives there. She became queen in 1952.
Buckingham Palace is a big and beautiful building. Queen Elizabeth and her family live on the second floor of the palace. The queen also has her office at the palace. Queen Elizabeth often asks important people to eat dinner at the palace. She invites 9,000 people to each party!
Buckingham Palace is like a small town. It has a police station, a hospital, two post offices, a movie theatre, a swimming pool, two sports clubs, a garden and a lake. The palace has about six hundred rooms. About four hundred people work there. Two people have very _ jobs. They take care of the clocks. There are 300 clocks in Buckingham Palace.
Queen Elizabeth's day starts at 7:00 in the morning. Seven people take care of her. One person prepares her bath, and another person prepares her clothes. Another person takes care of her dogs. The queen loves dogs.
It's very interesting to have dinner at Buckingham Palace. You have to follow rules. Queen Elizabeth starts to eat first, and then everybody eats. When the queen finishes eating, everybody finishes eating. You can't leave the table during dinner.
People visit the rooms in Buckingham Palace in August and September. There are wonderful things to see. Don't forget that Queen Elizabeth is one of the richest people in the world. | middle692.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "England"
},
"options": [
"China",
"America",
"England",
"Japan"
],
"question": "People in _ begin their talks with the weather.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | In Britain, people usually begin their talks with weather. For example, they will say"It's a fine day, isn't it?""Do you think it will rain?"
Many people believe that they are able to tell what the weather will be like. But they never agree with each other. One man may say, "How cloudy it is now! It's going to rain." Another man will say, "No, it's going to be fine later."
People always hope the weather they want. For example, when a farmer needs water, he looks for something to tell him it's going to rain. When a man wants to travel, he is sure the weather will be fine quickly.
Now almost everyone listens to the weather report. It doesn't always tell us the weather we want, it only tells us what the weather will be like. But sometimes it makes mistakes .
,. | middle6469.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "was over 50 years old"
},
"options": [
"was in a hospital",
"worked in a library",
"was over 50 years old",
"studied at a university"
],
"question": "William thought about the people that he hadn't thanked in hi... | When William Stidger taught at Boston University, he once thought about the people he hadn't thanked in his life. They taught him, encouraged him or cared a lot about him.
One was a teacher. She once taught William geography, and William loved geography all his life. So he wrote a letter of thanks to her.
He got the teacher's letter later. It began, "My dear Willie." He was very happy. Now over 50, he didn't think someone would call him "Willie". Here is that letter.
My dear Willie,
I can't tell you how much your letter meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room and cooking my own meals. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first letter of appreciation I ever got. It came on a cold morning and it made me feel very warm.
...
William cried when he read the letter. She was one of the people that William hadn't thanked in his past. She helped him to believe in himself. He would never forget her.
There are some people we should always remember, because they helped to shape our life. William Stidger found a way to show his appreciation--he wrote them letters.
Who are some of the people that you need to say thank you to in your past? It may not be too late to say "Thanks". | middle5160.txt |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.