questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The girls' creativity."
},
"options": [
"The girls' poor marks.",
"The girls' skills against their mothers.",
"The girls' creativity.",
"The girls' tough attitude to their mothers."
],
"question": "What amazed C... | "When your mother scolds you, you can look elsewhere and think about other things. Just ignore her words. But remember: such a tough attitude cannot be used often."
These words are from a series of cartoons which outline skills for children to fight against their mothers. The images have created heated debate among Chinese netizens.
Regarded as "a book for children aged 6 to 12 who are always scolded by their parents", the cartoons, drawn by two 10yearold Beijing girls, list over 20 skills which children can use to deal with their mothers' anger such as crying, pretending to be ashamed, fleeing into the toilet and pleasing her afterwards.
Each skill is described with vivid pictures and humorous notes. The creativity of the young girls has amazed netizens, the Yangtse Evening Post reported on Thursday.
According to one of the girls' mothers, her daughter once received a poor mark in an exam, and the mother blamed her and compared her performance with another classmate. The daughter's feelings led to her creating the cartoons.
The girl's father, who first posted the pictures on his Sohu Microblog on Monday, said he hopes parents pay close attention to the pictures, allow children to feel free to develop their own characteristics and try not to criticize them so often.
The father said the cartoons aren't finished yet; his daughter will continue with them when she has time.
"The cartoons, although an individual case, reflect a modern phenomenon and some of the problems within Chinese family education," said Yu Qinfang, an expert on family education.
According to a survey of 104 children and their parents, Yu discovered that as many as 51.9 percent of primary school students hate being urged to do things by their mothers.
"Not giving children enough time and hurrying them to do things seems to be a very tiny detail within family life, but it is potentially a huge problem which can easily be ignored by parents. A mother's blame may lead to negative feelings within her child's heart," Yu said. "Parents should learn to blame less and be more patient." | high5962.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "she was overcome with homesickness"
},
"options": [
"she thought she loved music more",
"she was overcome with homesickness",
"an Olympic gold was beyond her reach",
"the training for the Olympics was too hard"
],
... | In October 2010, I left my hometown and family in Virginia and moved to Iowa so I could be coached by Liang Chow. I'd been dreaming of an Olympic gold medal since I was eight -- but gradually, that dream seemed like a million miles away.
On January 2, 2012, while Mom was visiting me in Iowa, I told her, "I don't like gymnastics anymore. I want to try dancing, or become a singer. I can get a job in Virginia. I just want to come home."
Mom's eyes narrowed and her expression turned to stone. "You're breaking my heart, Brie," she said. "You've been doing gymnastics for ten years, and now you want to quit? Have you lost your mind?"
I hadn't lost my mind, but I had lost my fire. It's an entirely different thing to push toward that dream when you feel alone.
"I'm not trying to break your heart, Mom," I said. "I just don't want to do it anymore."
"I know you miss home. But you've signed a contract that says you will represent your country to the best of your ability. You've got a responsibility to your teammates. And now you just want to walk away? I will not let you be dishonorable. If you don't like gymnastics, then at the very least, you will finish the season."
The next afternoon as I dragged myself into Chow's gym, I thought of the efforts Mom had made in order to pay for my training. I thought of my two sisters: Arielle, who gave up ballroom dancing, and Joyelle, who stopped ice skating so that our single mom could afford to keep me in gymnastics.
For now, here's what you need to know: Exactly 210 days before I ever attempted my first vault in the London Summer Olympics, my leap of faith came this close to ending in a crash of disaster. | high17362.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Central America"
},
"options": [
"South America",
"Central America",
"Spain.",
"Africa"
],
"question": "According to historians, cacao trees were first planted in_.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | Farmers grow cocoa trees in the shady areas of rainforests near the Earth's equator. These trees can be difficult to grow. They require an exact amount of water, warmth, soil and protection. After about five years, cocoa trees start producing large fruits called pods. The seeds inside these pods are harvested to make chocolate.
Today we travel around the world exploring the history of chocolate. Its story begins with a plant whose scientific name, Theobroma cocoa, means "food of the gods". People have been enjoying the rich flavor of chocolate, a product made from this plant.
Most people know that chocolate is made from cocoa and that the origins of chocolate can be traced back to Central and South America. For centuries, the natives there regarded cocoa as a gift from the gods. But how did chocolate go from being the food of the gods to being the food of love?
Historians believe the Maya of Central America first learned to farm cocoa plants around two thousand years ago. The Maya took the cocoa trees from the rainforests and grew them in their gardens. They cooked the cocoa seeds, and then crushed them into a soft substance. They used the cocoa bean as the main part in a dark, bitter drink that we would call "chocolate". They believed that chocolate had mystical characteristics -- but cocoa also had commercial value. In fact, cocoa beans were used as a form of currency that was worth its weight in gold!
The explorer Christopher Columbus brought cocoa seeds to Spain after his trip to Central America in 1502. But the Spanish explorer Conquistador Hernando Cortez was the first European explorer to realize cocoa's commercial possibilities. When he arrived in the New World in 1519, he soon established his own cocoa plantation. In 1529, Cortez returned to Spain and introduced chocolate -- as a drink mixed with sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon -- to European society.
The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed a sweetened type of the chocolate drink. Later, the popularity of the drink spread throughout Europe. The English, Dutch and French began to plant cocoa trees in their own colonies. Chocolate remained a drink that only wealthy people could afford to drink until the eighteenth century. During the period known as the Industrial Revolution, new technologies helped make chocolate less costly to produce.
It caught on -- especially with the noble people, who enjoyed hot chocolate as an aphrodisiac (a kind of medicine). As its popularity spread, people found new ways to make and use chocolate. These days, chocolate is enjoyed as both a tasty treat and a romantic indulgence everywhere. | high18051.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "live a better life"
},
"options": [
"earn a lot of money",
"live a better life",
"pay attention to their health",
"keep healthy"
],
"question": "According to the passage, the reason why many people have to work ... | Nowadays many people have to work very hard in order to live a better life. And the hard they work, the less they pay attention to their health. But it's very important for us to keep healthy in our everyday life. Here are some ways for you to follow.
First, you should have a healthy diet. It's necessary to eat enough fish and vegetables, as they contain many kinds of vitamin you need every day. Do not eat too much fat, such as butter or anything too fatty. Too many sweets can do harm to your teeth, so you'd better not eat too many sweets or chocolates and keep off coffee.
Second, good habits can help you keep fit. Doing regular exercise is certainly a good way to ensure that your body is healthy. After a day's work, an eight-hour sleep is needed. And avoid working or studying too hard. | high21808.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Someone or something appearing different from others."
},
"options": [
"Someone or something appearing different from others.",
"Someone or something standing out of the group.",
"Someone or something arranged in pairs.",
... | Among the four skills in learning English ,which of these is the "Odd-Man-Out"?The answer is speaking. The other three you can do alone on your own. But you can't really speak alone! Speaking to yourself can be "dangerous" because men in white coats may come and take you away!
Where can you find people to speak English? And how can you practise speaking when you are alone?At school if you pay to go to a language school ,you should use the chance to speak .If your teacher asks you to speak in pairs or groups with other students ,try to say as much as possible. Don't worry about your mistakes. Just speak!
Conversation Clubs Many cities around the world have conversation clubs where people can exchange one language for another .Look in your local newspaper to find a conversation club near you .They are usually free although some may charge a small entrance fee.
Shopping Even if you don't want to buy anything ,you can ask questions about products that interest you in a shop."How much does this cost?" "Can I pay by cheque?" Often you can start a real conversation--and it costs you nothing!
Cafe and Bars There are often American, Britain, Irish and Australian bars in many large cities .If you can find one, you'll probably meet many people speaking English as a first or second language.
Language is all around you Everywhere you go, you find language .Shop names, street names ,advertisements ,notices ,and car numbers....When you walk down the street ,practise reading the words and numbers that you see .Say them to yourself .It's not exactly a conversation ,but it will help you to "think" in English .But don't speak too loud!
Songs and Video Repeat the words of an English-language song singing with the music until it becomes automatic. It's good practice for your memory and for the mouth muscles that you need for English.
Above all ,speak as much as possible! Make as many mistakes as possible! When you know that you have made a mistake, you know that you have made progress! | high3254.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "University graduates in the state are well trained."
},
"options": [
"University graduates in the state are well trained.",
"There's much support from the local government.",
"Many students in the state hope to be workers.",
... | Should universities focus on training workers for the next decade or curing diseases for the next century? A group of governors, educators, and CEOs weighed in on the best way universities can prepare for the future. They debated how the U.S. can take the responsibility for research while still preparing students for real jobs.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said that the first thing she thinks about as governor is educating Oklahoma students and strengthening the workforce. So she's carrying out a program called "America Works: Education and Training for Tomorrow's Jobs" that aims to "reorganize our education system with the current needs of our employers".
The state governor added that this new educational approach doesn't just benefit students and companies, but also improves the state economy. "We've been able to attract new companies to our state because of what we're doing with our universities, because our students are a pipeline for the workforce," she said. "General Electric Company (one of the world's biggest companies) is coming to Oklahoma."
Other group members were more focused on the long-term goals of a research university. Amy Gutmann pointed out that "basic research is the foundation for everything else that happens at a university. And if we don't do it, nobody else will."
"And if nobody does that research, we'll pay the price in health care bills," argued Vagelos, who is a former CEO of Merck & Co., Inc, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. "The jobs of universities are basic research, which is what is needed for attacks on disease," he said. "There has been a reduction in coronary heart disease by 60% in the last forty years because of this research, and that reduces health care costs."
James Hunt, former North Carolina governor, argued for a happy medium. Effective communication, he said, would help the public see that the research conducted at universities actually serves a practical purpose.
Eli Broad, founder of the Broad Foundations, agreed. "We have to show the public what research has achieved," he said. "We have to show how it actually goes from basic research to something they can understand." | high11713.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "feel it harder to experience happiness ."
},
"options": [
"feel it harder to experience happiness .",
"associate their happiness less with others",
"will take fewer risks in pursuing happiness",
"tend to believe respons... | When asked about happiness, we usually think of something extraordinary, an absolute delight, which seems to get rarer the older we get.
For kids, happiness has a magical quality. Their delight at winning a race or getting a new bike is unreserved .
In the teenage years the concept of happiness changes. Suddenly it's conditional on such things as excitement, love and popularity. I can still recall the excitement of being invited to dance with the most attractive boy at the school party.
In adulthood the things that bring deep joy--love, marriage, birth--also bring responsibility and the risk of loss.For adults, happiness is complicated .
My definition of happiness is "the capacity for enjoyment".The more we can enjoy what we have, the happier we are.It's easy to overlook the pleasure we get from the company of friends, the freedom to live where we please, and even good health.
I experienced my little moments of pleasure yesterday. First I was overjoyed when I shut the last lunch-box and had the house to myself. Then I spent an uninterrupted morning writing, which I love. When the kids and my husband came home, I enjoyed their noise after the quiet of the day.
Psychologists tell us that to be happy we need a mix of enjoyable leisure time and satisfying work.I don't think that my grandmother, who raised 14 children, had much of either. She did have a network of close friends and family, and maybe this is what satisfied her.
We, however, with so many choices and such pressure to succeed in every area, have turned happiness into one more thing we've got to have. We're so self-conscious about our "right" to it that it's making us miserable. So we chase it and equal it with wealth and success, without noticing that the people who have those things aren't necessarily happier.
Happiness isn't about what happens to us--it's about how we see what happens to us. It's the skillful way of finding a positive for every negative. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess. | high7032.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because she was too tired to talk to Lydia."
},
"options": [
"Because she thought her keeping silence was better for Lydia.",
"Because she didn't know how to comfort Lydia.",
"Because she was too tired to talk to Lydia.",
... | After a very busy afternoon,as I walked into my house,I heard the phone ringing. It was my friend Lydia,upset over an argument with her husband. My usual approach is to offer advice,but this time,exhausted from chores,I simply sat down in a chair and listened to my friend's frustration and sadness. Without the disturbance of judgment or the desire to comfort her,I stayed totally quiet while she talked. Eventually Lydia's depression eased and we said our goodbyes. The next day she phoned to thank me. "I'm so grateful for the way you helped me through this,"she said.
At first I was surprised. After all,I had done nothing except be there for her. But after I had my own venting experience with another friend later that evening,I realized that my focused silence had some value. In fact,most relationship experts agree that talk is cheap;it's listening that's rare and valuable It allows you not only to hear what the other person is saying,but also to have a clear understanding of her thoughts and feelings. And for the speaker,that level of understanding translates into concern and respect.
Unfortunately,listening isn't as easy as it sounds. Thanks to schedules filled with family and work,multitasking has become a barrier to listening. My tiredness may have been the only thing stopping me from folding laundry or checking my email while Lydia talked that afternoon.
Another barrier to listening is our listening system:Most of us take in only about half of what's being said during a conversation,according to the International Listening Association. Research shows that we speak at 125 to 150 words per minute,yet think at 500 words a minute. Therefore,because we think much more quickly than we speak,it is easy for us to lose our concentration when listening to speakers.
While it can be hard to focus at times,it's a skill worth developing. With a little practice (employing some techniques),you can become a better listener. | high15575.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "respect your opinion even if he/she disagrees with it"
},
"options": [
"follow your advice",
"offer a solution for your problems",
"listen immediately to your problems",
"respect your opinion even if he/she disagrees wi... | People all need friends because nobody wants to be lonely and a friend can help you in good and bad times. You've made friends since childhood, but you still don't know who your true friends are. Here are some signs to tell you if your friend is a true friend:
Always honest
Honesty is important to keep a relationship alive. A true friend always tells you the truth. It may be hard sometimes but lying can destroy a friendship. It is important that your friend speaks honestly and never makes up stories.
There are always periods in your life when you have problems or difficulties. A true friend will always have time to listen to your problems and give advice. It may not be able to offer a solution to your problems but the fact that your friend made time to listen is a sign he/ she cares for you. Your friend is not a true friend if he/ she can never make time for you when you are in trouble. You also need to be reasonable and accept that your friend also has other things to do so he/she can't always listen immediately to your problems.
Always respectful
A true friend will always respect your opinion no matter whether he/she agrees or not. Your true friend may disagree but never insists that he/she is correct.
Always understanding
It is possible that some problems will arise between you and your friend. A true friend will always be forgiving and understanding even if it isn't his /her fault. We are all different people and we all make mistakes. A true friend is always forgiving and understanding because he/she doesn't want to take the risk of losing his/her best friend. | high8301.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The former is closer to the nature of scientific research."
},
"options": [
"They cannot exist in a research at the same time.",
"The former one is of greater importance than the latter.",
"The latter one is more scientific t... | "Hypotheses ," said Medawarin 1964, "are imaginative and inspirational in character"; they are "adventures of the mind". He was arguing in favour of the position taken by Karl Popper that the nature of scientific method is hypothetico-deductive and not, as is generally believed, inductive.
The myth of scientific method is that it is inductive: that the formulation of scientific theory starts with the basic, raw evidence of the senses -- simple, fair, unprejudiced observation. Out of these sensory data -- commonly referred to as "facts" -- generalisations will form. The myth is that from a disorderly collection of factual information an orderly, relevant theory will somehow come out. However, the starting point of induction is an impossible one.
There is no such thing as an unprejudiced observation. Every act of observation we make is a function of what we have seen or otherwise experienced in the past. All scientific work of an experimental or exploratory nature starts with some expectation about the outcome. This expectation is a hypothesis. Hypotheses provide the motivation for the inquiry and influence the method. It is in the light of an expectation that some observations are held to be relevant and some irrelevant, that one method is chosen and others abandoned, that some experiments are conducted and others are not.
Hypotheses arise by guesswork, or by inspiration, but having been started they can and must be tested thoroughly, using the appropriate method. If the predictions you make as a result of deducing certain consequences from your hypothesis are not shown to be correct then you abandon or adjust your hypothesis. If the predictions turn out to be correct then your hypothesis has been supported and may be kept until such time as some further test shows it not to be correct. Once you have arrived at your hypothesis, which is a product of your imagination, you then move on to a strictly logical and thorough process, based upon deductive argument -- therefore the term "hypothetico-deductive".
So don't worry if you have some idea of what your results will tell you before you even begin to collect data; there are no scientists in existence who really wait until they have all the evidence in front of them before they try to work out what it might possibly mean.
The hypothetico-deductive method describes the logical approach to much research work, but it does not describe the psychological behaviour that brings it about. The psychological behaviour is a much more complicated process -- involving guesses, reworkings, corrections, and above all inspiration, in the deductive as well as the hypothetic component. However, describing the logical approach is like writing the final thesis or published papers of research work. These theses and papers have been, quite properly, organised into a more logical order so that the worth of the output may be evaluated independently of the behavioural processes by which it was obtained. It is the difference, for example between the academic papers with which Crick and Watson demonstrated the structure of the DNA molecule and the fascinating book The Double Helix in which Watson (1968) described how they did it. From this point of view, the scientific method may more usefully be thought of as a way of writing up research rather than as a way of carrying it out. | high13104.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Google raised almost two billion dollars from its first public stock sale."
},
"options": [
"Google's first public stock sale began in 2005.",
"Google is the world's most valuable company.",
"Google's share price rose after i... | Investors soon will be able to own shares of Facebook stock. The world's biggest social media network presented documents to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday. The documents are required before the company can make its initial public offering or IPO. A date for the stock sale has yet to be announced.
Experts say Facebook could raise about five billion dollars. That would be one of the biggest IPO sales ever. And it would be much bigger than Google's first public stock sale in 2004. At that time, the Internet search company raised almost two billion dollars.
Facebook has 800 million users around the world. It is the second most visited website after Google. Now, experts say the social media network is in a position to become one of the most valuable Internet companies.
Stock expert Anupam Palit at Greencrest Capital says that among social media sites, Facebook is in a class by itself.
"It is the biggest company in this space and we believe what makes it very unique from every other company that went public last year in this space is that it is very, very profitable." said Anupam Palit.
Early estimates place the total value of the social network between 75 and 100 billion dollars. That includes earlier investments by other companies. David Kirkpatrick wrote the book The Facebook Effect. He says Facebook's IPO will be historic.
The stock sale could also make Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg one of the world's youngest billionaires. He is only 27.
Investment companies are likely to buy Facebook stock first. But investment manager Jim O'Shaugnessy says that is not so bad. He says the prices of some IPO stocks are too high and fall not long after they first go on sale.
Recently, share prices of some Internet businesses have fallen after their stocks were first offered. For example, stocks of Linkedln, Groupon and Zynga, dropped in price by as much as 25% after going public.
There were similar questions eight years ago when Google first sold stock to the public. Today, Google is one of the world's most valuable technology companies. | high29.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "what kind of person we should make friends with"
},
"options": [
"how to make friends with others",
"how to help friends",
"what kind of person the writer's friend is",
"what kind of person we should make friends with"
... | A friend is better than fortune. A friend is worse than poison in some cases.
The two sentences above have opposite meanings and seem to be unreasonable, but they can be explained as follows: the first refers to all good friends who drive us towards good while the second all bad ones who lead us into bad ways.
My ideal friend is of course a good friend whose goodness is shown below -- he has no bad habits, such as smoking and drinking. He lives in frugality . He studies hard so as not to waste his golden time. At home he honors his parents and loves his brothers; at school he respects his teachers and shares the feelings of his classmates. He treats those truly who are true to him. In a word, he has all the good characteristics that I don't have. I can follow him as a model. With his help I can be free from all difficulties.
Indeed, if I have such a person as my friend, I shall never fear difficulty and I shall never know the existence of the word "failure". | high1325.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Eighty."
},
"options": [
"Sixty.",
"Seventy.",
"Eighty.",
"Not known."
],
"question": "According to the passage, how old is the author now?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_inde... | My passage into eighties a few weeks ago gave me a moment's reflection and the thought that I should watch how others in this situation have been affected. After a while it seemed to me that the first 80 years are the hardest.
Once you reach 80, everyone wants to carry your baggage and help you up steps. If you forget your name or anybody else's name, or an appointment or your own telephone number, or promise to be three places at the same time, or you can't remember how many grandchildren you have, you need only explain that you are 80.
Being 80 is a lot better than being 70. At 70 people are mad at you for everything. At 80, you have a perfect excuse no matter what you do. If you act foolishly, it's your second childhood. Everybody is looking for symptoms of your failure of the brain.
Being 70 is not fun at all. At that age they expect you to retire to a house in Florida and complain about your arthritis and you ask everybody to stop mumbling because you can' understand them. (Actually your hearing is about 50% gone.)
If you survive until you are 80, everybody is surprised that you are still alive. They treat you with respect just for having lived so long. Actually they seem surprised that you can walk and talk sensibly.
So please, folks, try to make it to 80. It's the best time of life. People forgive you for anything. In response to the question of what years were the most difficult, an 80-year-old responded "those between 10 and 70". | high23979.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "criticize the old beliefs and superstitions as silly or childish"
},
"options": [
"collect as many records of old beliefs and practices as possible",
"compare the present customs with those of the olden times",
"criticize the... | Folklore is the branch of the study of man which deals with local customs, tales and traditions. Everybody is a storehouse of folklore, though not everybody realizes it. Often, in deed, those who have never heard the word folklore have the greatest store of it, for the people with least book education commonly cherish most firmly old ideas and superstitions which have been passed on by word of mouth for generations. Everyone has heard stories of ghosts, witches, fairies, and giants. We all know some proverbs and have come across such ideas as, for example, that it is lucky to see black cat and unlucky to see a single magpie . We keep certain seasons of the year as festivals, such as Christmas, and we are familiar with the special customs connected with weddings and funerals. All such things are of interest to those who study folklore.
People who study folklore won't criticize the old beliefs and practices they come across as silly, childish, or old-fashioned. Instead, they will try to collect accurate records of them and then see how these are connected with other ideas and customs of other places or times. By comparing with what is known of olden times or the folklore of other countries, they try to discover how certain beliefs and practices came into being, and what purpose _ serve now or used to serve in the past.
Often we find that the beliefs which seem most peculiar and unreasonable, and the customs which appear least practical, are of the greatest interest and importance because they are commonly the oldest. Sometimes they were part of an ancient ritual or served a useful purpose when people's way of life was different from what it is now. So we not only learn about what people thought and did in the past but are better able to understand present customs. People often keep up customs when they have forgotten the original reason for them, and in the course of time a fresh reason gets attached to the custom. Thus, when some joker ties an old shoe to the back of the taxi taking the bride and bridegroom to the station for their honeymoon, he would say it was "for luck", but actually a shoe is an old fertility symbol and has a place in the wedding customs of China and Palestine. | high7754.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "What's a University Education worth in the UK?"
},
"options": [
"What's a University Education worth in the UK?",
"There is a lot of competition in the UK",
"There won't be any University Place left for British students",
... | In 2006, the UK government started to allow universities in England and Wales to charge British students tuition fees. More than 80 percent of students in England and Wales now take out a student loan in order to go to university. They use the loan to pay for tuition fees, books and living expenses. Although the interest on student loans is quite low, it begins as soon as the student receives the loan. The average student in England and Wales now graduates from university with debts of around PS12,000. Students of medicine usually have debts of more than PS20,000. That is a lot of money. It means graduates cannot afford to buy a house for many years. They even struggle to pay rent on a flat, because they have to start paying back the student loan after graduating. If you start to earn over PS15,000 a year, the government takes repayments directly from your monthly salary. Is it any surprise, therefore, that the average British person does not leave their parents' home until they are 30 years old?
You might think that a British person with a degree will find it easy to get a well-paid job. However, most people in white-collar jobs seem to have a degree these days, so there is a lot of competition. Also, British companies tend to value work experience over a piece of paper. Like everyone else, graduates usually have to start at the bottom and work their way up. That can be very frustrating for them, since they are often over-qualified for the work they are doing. While at university, they have dreams of getting an exciting, challenging job. Therefore, life after university ends up being quite disappointing for a lot of graduates.
All of the above is beginning to make British people question whether a university degree is really worth the money. | high869.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "things didn't go on smoothly"
},
"options": [
"Fujiyama was supported by many friends",
"things didn't go on smoothly",
"Fujiyama had little idea of Honduras",
"many famous people joined in"
],
"question": "At t... | Born in a fishing village in Japan, Fujiyama, 25, recalls a childhood dominated by health concerns. Doctors told his parents that he had a hole in his heart and "they didn't think I had a lot longer to live". But during a later visit to the doctor, his family learned the hole had closed. "Somehow I was cured and I became a normal kid," Fujiyama says. "And I had a second chance."
During his second year at the University of Mary Washington, he volunteered in Honduras with a campus group and was struck by the extreme poverty he saw--barefoot children collecting cans and sleeping in the streets. Fujiyama realized he could help give other children their own second chance.
Today, his organization, Students Helping Honduras, brings education and community projects to children and families in need.
He started by telling his friends about his experience and collecting spare change at his two campus jobs. "When I had my very first meeting, only two people showed up," he says. "I knew I had to keep fighting." He persuaded his younger sister, Cosmo, to join the cause. "She's dynamite,." He says. "When she talks in front of a crowd, she can move mountains. Knowing that she was behind it, I knew I could do anything." Since 2006, the _ organization has grown to 25 campuses and raised more than $750,000 to fund projects, including the construction of two schools and the establishment of scholarships to help young women attend college.
Fujiyama says students are deeply committed to the organization. They raise money and then travel to Honduras to help building houses. While Fujiyama spends his summers in Honduras working alongside volunteers, he spends a large portion of the year on the road visiting colleges to raise funds. Cosmo Fujiyama, 23, lives in Honduras full time to coordinate the group's building efforts on the ground.
Students Helping Honduras is working with community members of Siete de Abril to build a new village. Many of the families lost their belongings in Hurricane Mitch in 1998. A lot of them didn't have access to clean water or health care, and they didn't have a school. Fujiyama's group helped build 44 homes in the village named "Sunshine Village". The organization is also raising funds to build a water tower, an eco-friendly sanitation system and a library. | high15213.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because he never thought he had so many annoyances in his wife's eyes."
},
"options": [
"Because he had no courage to face his shortcomings.",
"Because he never thought he had so many annoyances in his wife's eyes.",
"Because... | A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a piece of advice, "I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage," she offered. "Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together."
The husband agreed. So each of them tried to think of the things that annoyed them about the other and wrote down what they came up with. The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
"I'll start," offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband's eyes because he never thought that he had so many shortcomings.
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. "Now, you read your list and then we'll talk about the things on both of our lists," she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated, "I don't have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect. I don't want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn't want to try and change anything about you." The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don't really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us and see the wonderful things before us? | high8467.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "he thought the light house were more important than him"
},
"options": [
"he thought the light house were more important than him",
"he had to help the keeper make his way",
"he was forgotten by all the people",
"his la... | The Oil Lamp and the Lighthouse
On an island off the coast of a rocky shore stood a great lighthouse. During the day, the white walls of the lighthouse shined under the sunlight, while at night it burned a light for those at sea. Many people visited the lighthouse, and when they did, they commented on its size and strength and admired the beauty that it added to the surroundings. Some told its keeper how its light had saved them during a storm.
All loved the lighthouse except a little oil lamp that lived in the lighthouse. By day it hung forgotten at the bottom of the stairs. At dusk it helped the keeper of the lighthouse make his way from the bottom of the stairs to his bedroom. It seemed to the oil lamp that he is not important. To his way of thinking, his shortcomings were made clear by his nearness to one so much greater than he. Always, the oil lamp labored under this heaviness of heart.
Then one day, after a brilliant afternoon when many visitors had come to play on the sandy beach, there was a knock at the door. It was a boy, searching for a friend who was lost. The sun had set and what had seemed such friendly shores hours before was now dark and cold.
The keeper quickly took the youth inside and hugged him into a blanket. Then he reached to the hook between the door and the stairs and took down the little oil lamp. After carefully making sure that the tank was full of oil, the keeper lit the lamp and whispered, "Burn bright tonight, my dear friend. I cannot take the lighthouse with me. He serves his purpose here, but you were made for times like this. It is now that I need you most!"
In that instant, all of the oil lamp's misgivings were replaced by joy---joy in knowing that here was something only he could do. All through the night, through bushes, the oil lamp burned brighter and more steadily than ever before. He had to; the keeper was depending on him. At last the lost boy was found and brought safely back to the lighthouse and his friend.
Never again did the oil lamp doubt his place or purpose. He had learned a great lesson that night: he was happiest and most useful being himself. | high19429.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It was ruled by Russia, and Poles served in the Russian army."
},
"options": [
"Polish officers in the Russian army had to return to Poland.",
"Russia was at war with Poland, so the Poles were enemies.",
"The Russians were ve... | Prince Roman was a Polish nobleman, a captain in the army of Czar Nicholas of Russia. When his young wife died, the prince left the army and returned in sorrow to his native Poland.
In time, love for his country and its people took the place of his lost love. He joined a Polish rising against the Russians. The rising was crushed, and Prince Roman was taken prisoner. His relatives and friends begged the military court to have mercy on him.
The president of the court received these appeals kindly. He was a good Russian, but he was also a good-natured man. Russian hatred of Poles was not as fierce at that time as it became later; and the Russian felt sympathetic as soon as he saw the prince's thin, tired, sun-burnt face.
The court of three officers sat in a bare room, behind a long black table. Some clerks sat at the two ends, but no one else was there when the guards brought in the prince.
Those four walls shut out from Prince Roman all sights and sounds of freedom, all hopes of the future, all comforting thoughts. How much love for Poland remained in him then? How much love of life? He stood before his judges alone, having refused their permission to sit. He answered their first formal questions -- his name and so on -- clearly and politely although he felt too weary to talk.
Then the president of the court seemed to suggest how the young man could best help himself. He asked questions in a way that almost put the right answers in the prisoner's mouth.
"Didn't your wife's death drive you to despair? Wasn't your mind unbalanced by that sad event ?"
Prince Roman was silent.
"You were not fully responsible for you conduct, were you?"
Prince Roman was silent.
"You made a sudden blind decision to join the rising. You didn't realize that your actions were dangerous and dishonourable. Isn't that the truth of this unfortunate matter?"
The judges looked at the prisoner hopefully. In silence the prince reached for a pen and some paper. He wrote, "I joined the rising because I believe it was just." He pushed the paper towards the president, who took it and read it in silence.
Prince Roman was sentenced to hard work for life in the Siberian salt mines. It was a sentence of delayed death.
When Czar Nicholas read the report and sentence, he added in his own handwriting, "Make sure that this prisoner walks in chains every step of the way to Siberia." | high3532.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Kind."
},
"options": [
"Lovely.",
"Strict.",
"Clever.",
"Kind."
],
"question": "Which of the following can best describe Mrs. Amatuli?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1... | Mrs. Amatuli was my teacher in the fourth grade.
One day at lunch time, I was getting ready to eat my same old tuna fish sandwich and suddenly Mrs. Amatuli asked me if she could buy my sandwich from me. She explained that I could use the money to buy a hot lunch from the cafeteria.
I was thrilled. I never bought my lunch at the cafeteria. It was too expensive for my family, and we always carried our lunch and brought the bah back home to use again the next day. My sandwiches were either bologna or tuna fish. It rarely varied beyond that.
You can understand my delight when I had the opportunity to buy a hot lunch.
When we finished lunch that day, Mrs. Amatuli took me aside and said she wanted to explain why she had bought my sandwich.
Oh, I couldn't wait to get home and tell my Mama that form now on I wanted tuna fish on Fridays. After my Mama understood why, she gladly fixed tuna fish for me on Friday. She even fixed it on brown bread because she knew Mrs. Amatuli liked brown bread.
From then on every Friday I cold get in line with the rest of the kids for a hot lunch. I didn't care how many of the ids complained about cafeteria food--it tasted _ to me!
I realize now that Mrs. Amatuli could have fixed herself a tuna sandwich of Friday. But she bought my sandwich because she saw a little girll who was thrilled over the simple act of having a hot lunch.
I will never forget her for her compassion and generosity. | high11075.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "these companies had not enough money to buy such expensive computers"
},
"options": [
"these companies had not enough money to buy such expensive computers",
"these computers could not do the work that small computers can do today"... | Without most people realizing it, there has been a revolution in office work over the last ten years. Before that time, large computers were only used by large, rich companies that could afford the investment. With the advancement of technology, small computers have come onto the market, which are capable of doing the work that used to be done by much larger and expensive computers, so now most smaller companies can use them.
The main development in small computers has been in the field of word processors , or WPS as they are often called. 40% of British offices are now estimated to have a word processor and this percentage is growing fast.
There are many advantages in using a word processor for both secretary and manager. The secretary is freed from a lot of daily work, such as re-typing letters and storing papers. He or she can use this time to do other more interesting work for the boss. From a manager's point of view, secretarial time is being made better use of and money can be saved by doing daily jobs automatically outside office hours.
But is it all good? If a lot of daily secretarial work can be done automatically, surely this will mean that fewer secretaries will be needed. Another worry is the increasing medical problems related to work with visual display units . The case of a slow loss of sight among people using word processors seems to have risen greatly. It is also feared that if a woman works at a VDU for long hours, the unborn child in her body might be killed. Safety screens to put over a VDU have been invented but few companies in prefix = st1 /Englandbother to buy them.
Whatever the arguments for and against word processor are, they are a key feature of this revolution in office practice. | high17404.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "taboo"
},
"options": [
"cheerful topics",
"taboo",
"rude topics",
"topics that can never be talked about"
],
"question": "The author considers politics and religion _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions... | Informal conversation is an important part of any business relationship.Before you start a discussion,however,make sure you understand which topics are suitable and which are considered taboo in a particular culture. Latin Americans enjoy sharing information about their local history, art and customs.You may expect questions about your family,and be sure to show pictures of your children.You may feel free to ask similar questions of your Latin American friends.The French think of conversation as an art form,and they enjoy the value of lively discussions as well as disagreements. For them,arguments can be interesting and they can cover pretty much or any topic ---- as long as they occur in are respectful and intelligent manner.
In the United States,business people like to discuss a wide range of topics,including opinions about work,family,hobbies,and politics. In Japan,China,and Korea,however,people are much more private.They do not share much about their thoughts,feelings,or emotions because they feel that doing so might take away from the harmonious business relationship they're trying to build.Middle Easterners are also private about their personal lives and family matters.It is considered rude,for example,to ask a businessman from Saudi Arabia about his wife or children.
As a general rule,it's best not to talk about politics or religion with your business friends.This can get you into trouble,even in the United States,where people hold different religious views.In addition,discussing one's salary is usually considered unsuitable.Sports is typically a friendly subject in most parts of the world,although be careful not to criticize national sport.Instead,be friendly and praise your host's team. | high5143.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "ideas and views in the book Emotional Intelligence"
},
"options": [
"the widespread reports in American newspapers",
"own observations and doubts about life and emotions",
"ideas and views in the book Emotional Intelligence",... | The first time that I had heard the term"EQ"was in the fall of 1995 when the book Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman, was widely covered by the American press. The widespread research presented in the book supported my own observations and doubts about life and emotions, and told me that I was on the right track to go after happiness. The research continues to confirm what I had concluded on my own: These feelings are extremely important to individual health, happiness, and social harmony. This might seem a bit obvious, but it was not always obvious to me.
I grew up in a family where we didn't talk about feelings. We talked about ideas, concepts and principles. As a result, I could tell you what I thought about everything, but I couldn't tell you how I felt about anything. After several failed relationships, I took time off to reflect on my life and realized I had made many decisions which resulted in unhappiness for myself and others. After studying the literature on emotions and feelings, I concluded that most of my poor decisions could be directly due to what is now called low emotional intelligence, or low EQ, for short. Previously, I struggled to find happiness through the traditional routes--material success. Now, however, I realize that:
There's not much point having either wealth or relationships if you aren't happy.
It is hard to be happy with others if you aren't happy yourself.
It is hard to be happy alone if you don't feel good about yourself, i.e. have high selfesteem and selfconfidence.
It is hard to have good feelings about yourself if you don't have good emotional management skills.
Emotional management skills, the main subject of EQ, are, therefore, one of the most basic elements of happiness. | high18737.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "protein"
},
"options": [
"fat",
"carbohydrates",
"protein",
"calories"
],
"question": "According to Wycherley's analysis, dieters should take in more _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Dieters' who eat meals high in protein might lose a bit more weight than those who get less protein and more carbohydrates all other things being equal, a new analysis of past studies suggests. Researchers found that over an average of 12 weeks, people having a highprotein diet lost about 1.8 extra pounds, and more body fat, than those having a standard-protein diet.
Wycherley from the University of South" Australia in Adelaide, the lead author on the study says it's possible that the body may spend more energy and bum more calories while dealing with protein, compared to carbohydrates. Another explanation for the link his team observed is that eating protein helps preserve muscle mass and muscle mass bums more calories, even when the body is resting, than other types of mass. He says people in the studies tend to get protein from a variety of animal and vegetable sources. Vegetable sources of protein include beans.
It is not obvious why a higher protein-to-carbohydrate ratio might help people lose more pounds----and one obesity researcher not involved in the new analysis questioned whether the trials were strong enough to make that conclusion. "The studies are generally far too short to tell effect," Dr. James Levine from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, told Reuters Health in an e-mail. But given the limitations of the present evidence, Levine said, "It makes no real difference which of the weight-loss ways one chooses." | high4249.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She became blind and deaf sometime about January 1882."
},
"options": [
"Helen Keller was born blind and deaf.",
"She first became blind and then deaf.",
"She became blind and deaf in 1880.",
"She became blind and deaf ... | Helen Keller was born in America in June, 1880. Everything was all right when she was born. But when she was 19 months old, an attack of fever left her blind and deaf for the rest of her life. She was so young when she became blind that as she grew older she did not remember being able to see; and she became deaf before she had any idea of the importance of human speech. She lived in darkness and silence.
As she grew older, she, too, wanted to express her ideas and feelings. But she realized she was cut off from others. Her parents were greatly worried. How could anyone make touch with Helen's mind and intelligence in darkness and silence without speech? Helen was nearly seven before a teacher was found. Her name was Miss Sullivan.
Miss Sullivan had a lot of difficulties in teaching Helen Keller. As the child could neither see nor hear, she had to use manual alphabet. But Helen's energy and intelligence and strong spirit as well as Miss Sullivan's skill and patience, overcame all the difficulties. As Helen grew up, she became an able student, passed examination and finally took a university degree in English literature. She then devoted all herself to helping the blind and the deaf. Her personal success, together with the work she had done for others, made her one of the greatest women in modern times. She wrote many books and "The Story of My Life"is a wonderful one. | high3526.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "realize the dream of JP Gibson"
},
"options": [
"make the team more famous",
"realize the dream of JP Gibson",
"satisfy the taste of the fans",
"promote the\"Anything Can Be\" project"
],
"question": "Utah Jazz ... | SALT LAKE CITY--The Utah Jazz basketball team signed a 5-year-old.Free-agent player to a one-day contract for a special performance in October.The Utah Jazz has just made his dream come true.The boy has suffered from blood cancer since 2012.
JP Gibson,who was diagnosed with severe blood cancer,signed his contract with Jazz President Randy Rigby before joining the team for the pre-season training play at Utah Jazz's sport center.JP was joined by his parents,Josh and Megan,and his 2-year-old sister,Elsie.
The activity was hosted by the Jazz and photographer Jon Diaz's"Anything Can Be"project,which provides support and hope to families like the Gibsons.Jon Diaz asks children with cancer what their dreams and wishes are,and he writes their stories in a book.
JP,wearing a No.1 shirt,even got to play in the play.He passed the ball,and Rudy obert,a player of Utah Jazz,lifted him up so he could dunk and shake hands with some players as fans were cheerful.
"JP loves most sports,but basketball is absolutely his favorite," Megan Gibson said in a statement released by the Jazz."When he was just over one year old,he would sit with my husband,Josh,watching games.He started insisting on shooting hoops for an hour each night before bedtime when he was just 15 months old.He knows he has to be 6 before he can play Junior Jazz,and he reminds us all the time that he can't wait until he's 6." | high11061.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "is heavier than that in the South and the North Poles"
},
"options": [
"is heavier than that in the South and the North Poles",
"has never occurred near the Equator of the earth",
"brings less of the water the world uses than... | Snow falls in the Earth's extreme North and South throughout the year. However, the heaviest snowfalls have been reported in the mountains of other areas during winter. Snow is even known to fall near the Equator ,but only on the highest mountains.
Snow contains much less water than rain, but much of the water the world uses comes from snow. Melting snow provides water for rivers, electric power stations and agricultural crops. In the western United States, mountain snow provides up to seventy-five percent of all surface water supplies.
Snowfall helps to protect plants and some wild animals from winter weather. Fresh snow is made largely of air trapped among the snow crystals . Because the air has trouble moving, the movement of heat is limited. Snow also influences the movement of sound waves. The surface of the snow takes in, or absorbs, sound waves. As snow grows older or if there have been strong winds, it can become hard and flat. Then, the snow,s surface will help to send back sound waves.
Snow may be beautiful, but it can be deadly. It is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of people. Many people die in traffic accidents on roads covered with snow and ice or from being seriously stuck in the winter storm. Others die from heart attacks caused by too much physical activity out in the cold.
People may not be able to avoid living in areas where it snows often. However, they can avoid becoming victims of snowstorms. People should stop driving and stay at home until the storm has passed. People living in these areas should carry emergency supplies in their vehicle. These include food,emergency medical supplies,and extra clothing to stay warm and dry. | high2638.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "have achieved a great deal in"
},
"options": [
"have completed what was started",
"get ready to start",
"have achieved a great deal in",
"put an end to"
],
"question": "The phrase \"be well on with ......\" (Par... | With fifteen years prefix = st1 /Britainand other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste . The word rubbish could lose its meaning because everything which goes into the dumps would be made into something useful . Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else .
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out . The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant for recycling waste were built just outside the city . This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel , lead and copper , but also paper and rubber as well .
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish . When this project is complete , the rubbish will be processed like this : First , it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed ; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids ; after that founders and rollers will break up everything that can be broken . Finally , the rubbish will pass under magnets , which will remove the bits of iron and steel ; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage .
The first full-scale giant recycling plants are perhaps fifteen years away . Indeed , with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps , some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long . | high17410.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Translation work remains to be strengthened."
},
"options": [
"There are. no good translators in the west.",
"No Chinese writers have ever won the Nobel Prize.",
"Western readers don't like Chinese literature.",
"Transl... | Swedish sinologist Malmqvist celebrated his 85th birthday with his 20 more students in the Dragon House restaurant in Stockholm on Monday. During the dinner, he accepted a brief interview with the people's Daily Online.
While refusing to answer the question relating to the Nobel Prize since he himself is a member of the Nobel Prize Committee in Literature,he said his greatest wish is to have a Chinese writer to wit]the Nobel Prize.
He said that there had been a Chinese writer who won the Nobel Prize. That was Gao Xingjian who is a French citizen but writes in Chinese. He also quoted former premier Zhu Rongji's remark on Gao's winning. "I'm glad to hear that Chinese literature works can win the Nobel Prize. Chinese language has some thousand years of history and has great attraction. I believe more Chinese literature works will win the prize. "
Being asked whether translation is an obstacle for Chinese literature to be widely recognized in the west,professor Malmqvist agreed. "Chinese literature has entered world. For me,it is not an obstacle. I have translated more than 40 Chinese books,Anna Chen also translated about 30,but it is not enough. Translation work needs to be strengthened so that more western readers Call appreciate Chinese literature. But the translation must be good. One cannot rewrite the story. One must obey the original,learn the original language. "
Professor Malmqvist came toprefix = st1 /Chinain 1948 to study Chinese and has translated Chinese classic novels such as the Journey to the West. He said Chinese language is one of the greatest and most beautiful languages. | high18723.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "some people are against the woodfire controlling regulations"
},
"options": [
"uncertified fireplaces are forbidden in Idaho",
"some people are against the woodfire controlling regulations",
"only energy-efficient wood stoves... | In Greek mythology , fire is a gift form God, stolen from Zeus by Prometheus and handed over to humans suffering from cold. What could be more natural than sitting around a beautiful fire on a winter night, at a campsite in the Berkshires?
Hard as it may be to believe, the fireplace--long considered a trophy , particularly in a city like New York--is acquiring a social shame. Among those who desire to be environmentally responsible, it is joining the ranks of bottled water and big houses.
Sally Treadwell, a 51-year-old public relations executive in Boone, N.C., said nothing makes her happier than building a fire on a cold winter night. But most of the time she doesn't, because she feels too guilty about the damage it may do to the environment. Every time she builds a fire, it causes " _ ," she said. "It's a guilty pleasure".
"The smoke from a fire smells very nice," said Diane Bailey, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco. "But it can cause a lot of harm. The tiny particles can cause illness, and can cross into the bloodstream, causing heart attacks as well as worsening other conditions."
Growing concerns about the air pollution and health problems caused by smoke from wood fires are urging a number of areas across the country to pass laws regulating them. Idaho offers a tax cut to people who replace uncertified wood stoves with "greener" ones; San Joaquin County in California forbids selling a home unless its wood stove is replaced with an E.P.A. certified one;and Palo Alto and other governments in California forbid wood-burning fireplaces in new construction.
Certainly, many think otherwise. In any case, most fireplaces are used far too infrequently to cause any real damage to the environment, said Stephen Sears, the vice president of the Brick Industry Association, voicing an opinion shared by some.
Perhaps not coincidentally, sales of wood-burning equipment dropped to 235,000 in 2009 from 800,000 in 1999, according to the Brick Industry Association. It also reports that approximately 35,000 fireplaces were installed in the United States in 2009, compared to 80,000 in 2005. Certainly those numbers reflect the economic slowdown, but the may also be affected by growing mixed feelings to wood fries. | high5157.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It mainly offers seafood."
},
"options": [
"It offers breakfast on weekends.",
"It is closed on Sundays.",
"It mainly offers seafood.",
"It is next to the sea."
],
"question": "What is special about Skull Creek ... | Hilton Head Island, in South Carolina, is a popular vacation spot on the East Coast of the US. There are 250 restaurants on the island. You can try the following excellent restaurants.
Skull Creek Boathouse
397 Squire Pope Road
843-681-3663
It's a good place for seafood lovers. Lunch is served daily from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., dinner from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., and weekend lunch is served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The menu is mostly seafood.
Quarterdeck
32 Greenwood Road
1-866-561-8802
The view from this restaurant is wonderful. You have many choices, such as beef, burgers and soups. Open for lunch and dinner, the hours are 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for lunch, and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. for dinner.
Frankie Bones
1301 Main Street
843-842-4033
They are open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. For lunch you can enjoy sandwiches, salads, rice, and pasta dishes. The entree is served with soup or salad. The salad also has cheese, pine nuts and dried berries.
Mellow Mushroom
33 Office Park Road
843-686-2474
If you want something different, stop in at the Mellow Mushroom. They have specialty pizzas, salads, and sandwiches. If you enjoy wines, you'll surely find something you like. It is open 7 days a week -- Sunday through Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. | high13676.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A cat that falls from the fourth story of a building is more likely to die than one that falls from the 10th story."
},
"options": [
"A pet cat that falls out of a tall building is not really at risk.",
"Sugar was lucky that she wa... | Is it true that cats have nine lives? One 4-year-old American cat named Sugar definitely seems to have more than one. Sugar fell from the 19th floor of her owner's home in Boston last month and was only hurt a little on her chest.
"This story isn't much of a surprise," said Jake Socha, a scientist at Virginia Tech University, US, in an interview with the BBC. "There have been lots of records of these cats surviving."
Back in 1987, scientists studied 132 cats. All of them had been brought to a vet's clinic in New York after falling from tall buildings. Around 90 percent of these cats were alive after their fall and only 37 percent had been seriously injured.
"Being able to survive falls is a _ thing for animals that live in trees, and cats are one of them," said Socha.
Cats have developed special body structures to survive accidental falls. Their legs are muscular. This can protect their bones from breaking, Professor Andrew Biewener from Harvard University told the BBC. Cats can also spread out their legs like a parachute to reduce their falling speed, he said.
The strange part, according to scientists, is that cats have a better chance of survival if they fall from higher than seven stories. This is because cats have a good sense of which way is down. They can twist their bodies as they fall to make sure they land on their feet. A higher fall means more time for the cat to change its body position.
However, you should not throw your cat out of the window to see how this works. Most pet cats are overweight nowadays. They are not fit enough to change their position in midair, warned Steve Dale, an American cat behavior scientist.
"This cat (Sugar) was lucky," Dale said. In fact, most cats would suffer serious lung damage, a broken leg or a broken jaw or teeth damage, he said. | high1331.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The group was founded by a PE teacher."
},
"options": [
"The group was first established in 2009.",
"The group was founded by a PE teacher.",
"The singers usually sing popular folk songs.",
"The singers learn to sing fr... | In 2009, the Taiwu Elementary School Folk Singers were invited to perform in Belgium, France, Germany, and Luxemburg. In 2011, they were voted as one of the world's top five performance groups by audiences of Japan Broadcasting Corporation's Amazing Voice program.
Thinking back the group's first tour in Europe, Camake Valaule, a physical education teacher and the founder of the Taiwu Elementary School Folk Singers, admitted that he felt very nervous. He was worried that the audience would fall asleep since most of the 75-minute performance was a cappella, that is, singing without instrumental sound. Surprisingly, the audience listened with full focus and high spirits. Camake said, "They told me afterward that through our performance, they had a vision of our country, our village, without having to visit it. This experience greatly increased our confidence."
According to Camake Valaule, singing traditional ballads has helped students and their parents to re-understand their culture. "It used to be that the only ones who could sing these songs were tribal elders aged between 50 and 60. Now with the children performing the pieces, parents are beginning to ask, 'Why do we not know how to sing these ballads?' Many times nowadays, it is the children who teach the songs to their parents, putting back _ ."
Winning international fame, however, was neither the original intention nor the main reason why Camake founded the group in 2006. The most important thing was to make children understand why they sing these songs and to preserve and pass on their culture. Referring to the relocation of Taiwu Elementary School and Taiwu Village following Typhoon Morakot in August 2009, Camake said, "We could not take the forest or our houses in the mountains with us; but we were able to bring our culture along. As long as the children are willing to sing, I will always be there for them, singing with them and leading them to experience the meaning of the ballads." | high12568.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "will spend less money"
},
"options": [
"wish to make alternations",
"will spend less money",
"want to make it better",
"can fit into the sizes"
],
"question": "According to the passage, people who buy ready-made... | Department stores sell ready- to-wear clothing, which is also called ready-made clothing. Such clothing is made in fixed sizes. Those people who find that ready-made clothing fits them well can save money by buying it. Most often, people do not fit exactly into a producer's size. Their clothing must be altered to make it fit better. However, most alterations are not very expensive. The small cost of most alterations means that ready-made clothing can meet the needs of most customers.
Those who can afford it often get someone to design and make their clothing. Such clothing is called custom-made. The person who makes it measures the customer, and then sews it so that it fits perfectly. Alterations are not needed. Custom-made clothing is largely sewn by hand, has better quality, better material, and is of the style you have chosen. Of course, it costs much more than ready-to-wear clothing. You need to pay the difference for the special fitting and better skill that you are receiving. This often means that you spend double or more than you would for a ready-made garment.
Custom-made clothing is not always that much better than ready-made clothing. It costs more partly because only one garment has been made, just for you. Companies that produce ready-made products make thousands of garments at a time. This means they can buy large quantities of material. Workers cut each size by the hundreds. Companies work out ways to make the garments quickly by machine and pay workers according to their skill. Thus they can sell the finished products at a low price while still making money. Most of the clothing sold in the United States is made in this way. Customers gain from the lower prices which are made possible by mass production. It may or may not give them high quality. | high15207.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because Prahlada loves Lord Vishnu."
},
"options": [
"Because Prahlada doesn't love him.",
"Because Prahlada is rude to Holika.",
"Because Prahlada loves Lord Vishnu.",
"Because Prahlada concentrates on his own success.... | India has many festivals, with some celebrations that last for weeks. However, none of them come even close to Holi, India's most colorful and fun festival. Celebrated on the day following the full moon, this year's festival happens to be on March 19th.
As with most Indian festivals, this one also has many different folk stories. Most of them center around the success of good over evil. The most popular one is about a king, who hates his son Prahlada for loving the creator of the Universe--Lord Vishnu. When every attempt to stop him fails, his sister, Holika believed to be immune to fire, joins in the effort by inviting the young boy to sit with her inside a huge fire. Helped by the power of Lord Vishnu, Prahlada escapes safely, while the evil Holika is burned to death. To remember this event, huge outdoor fires are lit in the night before Holi in order to clean the air of evil spirits and to celebrate the death of the evil.
So what's so great about this day? While there are some fun parades and folk songs and dance performances, the most fun of all is walking to the streets and splashing people with water guns and dry colors and even covering them with entire buckets of colored water. On this day, everybody is _ , no matter how old or how young.
At about midday, the splashing comes to an end and people living close to oceans or rivers usually take a bath in the water to clean themselves before going home to a delicious home-made big dinner and a well-deserved short sleep, following this full day of fun and activities. | high7026.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Mary Had a Little Lamb"
},
"options": [
"Mary Had a Little Lamb",
"The Life of Mary Sawyer",
"The Origin of a Poem",
"An Animal Friend"
],
"question": "What is the best title for the passage?",
"question_ty... | One of the most famous nursery rhymes in the English language is Mary Had a Little Lamb .It has touched many children who have read it. It is about the deep love between a young girl and her pet lamb. The poem is from a true story that happened in the early part of the 19th century in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, in the USA.
Mary Sawyer (1806-1889) lived on a farm with her family.One day, when she was about nine years old, she saw a little lamb that had just been born and left behind by its mother. It was very weak and looked as if it would die at very moment.Mary took pity on the lamb and spent the whole night looking after it. _ , it grew strong and became a very close friend with Mary, following her everywhere she went.
One day, the lamb even followed Mary to school.At first she wanted to turn it back but her brother suggested that it would be fun to take the lamb to school.During the class, she hid the lamb under her desk.But when she was called to go to the front of the class, to her surprise, the lamb followed her.Though the students and the teacher thought it was funny to see a lamb at school, the teacher had to ask Mary to keep the lamb outside of the school.
That very day, a young man called John Roulstone was visiting Mary's school. He was so moved by the love between the child and her little pet lamb that he wrote a poem which he handed to Mary the next day. His poem contained twelve lines.
Later, Sara Josepha Hale added another twelve lines to the poem and published it in 1930 under the title "Mary Had a Little Lamb". The poem has become a classic, loved by children all over the world. The appeal of the poem lies not only in the funny idea of a sheep going to school but also in the true love between the little girl and her pet. The town of Sterling has honoured Mary's lamb by building a statue of the lamb with Mr Roulstone's poem below the statue. | high8315.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "LCA can help manufacturing industries decrease carbon release a lot."
},
"options": [
"LCA is used to study the impact on a product.",
"LCA is one of the exhibitions at this year's fair.",
"LCA can help manufacturing industri... | "Developed and developing nations can learn from each other seeking a low-carbon economy. In terms of energy saving and green economy, China doesn't _ developed nations," said Zhou Changyi, director of the energy saving department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
"While we can learn many aspects from developed nations, they also should learn something from us, such as water conservation," Zhou said in a speech during the new Path of China's Industrialization forum at the ongoing China International Industry Fair.
He said industrialized nations and China are dealing with different issues to fight climate change. The United Kingdom, for example, is concerned about transport, buildings and new energy in reducing carbon emissions. For China, the most urgent task is how to realize new type of industrialization and avoid mistakes that other countries made when they industrialized.
Swiss power and automation technology group ABB called for a stronger focus on product life-cycle assessment, or LCA, which is used to study the environmental impact of a product from the research and manufacturing stage through its usage and recycling.
Tobias Becker, head of ABB' s process automation division for North Asia and China, said LCA is an effective tool in helping manufacturing industries to reduce carbon emissions.
LCA shows that industrial customers should focus on a product's environmental impact throughout its life-cycle instead of on its initial investment.
Richard Hausmann, North East Asia CEO of Siemens, said, "The color of future industrialization is green. "
The Germany company recently announces that it wants to receive orders worth more than 6 billion Euros ( US 8. 8 billion) for intelligent power networks, Smart Grid, over the next five years. Siemens has set a 20 percent market share target for the global smart grid business.
A smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using digital technology, advanced sensors specialized computers that save energy, reduce costs and increase reliability. The United States and China are considered the two biggest markets for smart grid. | high13110.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "forgiveness"
},
"options": [
"pleasure",
"forgiveness",
"happiness",
"education"
],
"question": "According to the passage, the white ribbon in the big apple tree means _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questi... | John once told me a story about his friend, Michael. Michael happened to be on a train sitting next to a young man who seemed worried. Finally the young man told the friend that he was a convict returning home from a prison far away. What he did had brought shame on his family, and they had neither visited him nor written to him. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too busy to write.
When he was set free he had written to tell them he wanted to go home. To make matters easy for them, however, he had asked them to put up a signal for him when the train passed their little farm. If the family had forgiven him, they were to put up a white ribbon in the big apple tree near the railway. If they didn't want him back, they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, and go far away.
As the train neared his hometown his _ became so great that he was afraid to look out of the window. He asked Michael to watch for the big apple tree. They changed seats. In a minute, Michael put his hand on the young convict's shoulder, "There it is," His eyes was filled with sudden tears. "It's all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons." | high1457.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Melissa Hawkinson was kind and courageous."
},
"options": [
"Melissa Hawkinson was a 41-year-old nurse",
"it was spring when the accident happened",
"Melissa Hawkinson was picking up her five-year-old son",
"Melissa Haw... | On a cool November afternoon in Fleming Island, Florida, Melissa Hawkinson, 41, was driving her five-year-old twins home from school when she saw a sudden splash in Doctors Lake just ahead. What was that? She thought. As she drove up to the scene, she saw a half-submerged car sinking about 30 yards offshore. "It was going down pretty quickly," Hawkinson recalls. She stopped the car near the boat ramp and ran toward the water. Water is going to be cold, she thought.
She took off her vest and leather boots, got into the icy water, and swam to the car, where she found Cameron Dorsey, five, trapped into his car as the swirling water rose around him.
Hawkinson tried to open the door, but it was locked. So she pushed and pulled hard on the partially open window until she could reach through and unlock the door. She pulled the boy free, swam to shore, and handed him off to onlookers who were only watching them on a dock. The driver, the boy's suicidal father, swam back to land on his own. Afterward, Hawkinson sat on the shore wrapped in a blanket. "For ten or 15 minutes, I couldn't stop shaking," she said.
There's nothing visibly extraordinary about Melissa Hawkinson, an energetic stay-at-home mom with brown hair and a sweet smile. Yet something made her different from the dockside onlookers that day. Why do some people act quickly, willing to take a risk for a stranger? What makes them run toward danger rather than away from it? Hawkinson, the Granite Mountain Hotshots (,)---19 of whom lost their life this past summer in Arizona--- every hero who puts his or her life on the line to save another: what makes them brave?
Moreover, can bravery be learned, or is it a quality with which you are born? The answer is complex. Bravery taps the mind, brain and heart. It comes from instinct, training and sympathy. Today, neurologists, psychologists and other researchers are studying bravery, trying to uncover the mystery. | high6338.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the Dragon Boat Festival"
},
"options": [
"Chinese New Year",
"Mid-Autumn Festival",
"the Dragon Boat Festival",
"Halloween"
],
"question": "What's the name of this special festival? It's called _ .",
"qu... | There is an interesting festival in China. On that special day, people in Hunan province always have a dragon boat match. The dragon boat is quite long, like a dragon. There are pictures of dragons on each side. The front of the boat is like the head of a dragon. During the match, about twenty men in the boat make it move as fast as it can. Among them stands another man. He beats a drum to make the others boat in the same rhythm . It's an exciting match, especially when they are reaching the end. The audience along the lake shout for their favourite team. From this match, we have the name of the festival--the Dragon Boat Festival.
This special day has another name---Duanwu Festival. In it we have a story. Long, long ago, there was a famous poet called Qu Yuan. He was famous not only for his poems, but also for thinking a lot for the people. After he died, people eat rice dumplings in memory of him on this special day. | high17376.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He doesn't seem to be an animal lover."
},
"options": [
"He is disappointed with his first wife.",
"His daughter treats him as her best friend.",
"He and Carmen don't have much in common.",
"He doesn't seem to be an ani... | My first wife and I only had one child. It might have been nice to have more. I would have liked a son, but we just had Carmen.
I see her as my best friend. I think she always comes to me first if she has a problem. We have the same sense of humor and share many interests; except that she's crazy about animals, obsessed with them she has always had dogs, cats, and horses in her life.
We were closest when she was about four, which I think is a wonderful age for a child. That's when they need their parents most. But as soon as Carmen went to school, she seemed to grow up and grow apart from her family, and any father finds it difficult with a teenage daughter. She was very moody and had an odd group of friends. There was an endless stream of strange young men coming to our house. I remember once got annoyed with her in front of her friends and she didn't talk to me for days.
I've always wanted the best for her. We sent her to a good school, but she wasn't happy there. She left because she wanted to become an actress, so with my connections I got her into a drama school, but she didn't like that either. She worked for a while doing small roles in films, but she must have found it boring although she never really said why. She got married a few years ago, her husband's a vet. They must be happy because they work together, and she loves animals.
We have the same tastes in books and music. When she was younger, I used to take her to the opera that's my passion-but she can't have liked it very much because she hasn't come with me for years. I don't think she goes to the cinema or watches TV much. She might watch my films, but I don't know. It's not the kind of thing she talks to me about.
I'm very pleased to have Carmen. She's a good daughter, but I don't think she likes my new wife very much because she doesn't visit us very often. I'm looking forward to being a grandfather one day. I hope she'll have a son. | high18045.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "According to FDA , Seanol reaches the agreed standard."
},
"options": [
"According to FDA , Seanol reaches the agreed standard.",
"Seanol can be fat soluble entirely.",
"Seanol is a common seaweed extract fromEcklonia Cava.",... | Today, the biggest killers stem as much from our lifestyles as from bacteria and viruses. One of the worst of these is heart disease, and specifically high blood pressure. It's a slow, but efficient killer that robs many people of what should be the last 10, 20 or 30 years of their lives.
Scientists are claiming that they have now separated unusual ingredients in a rare seaweed discovered by fishermen off the coast of Korea that offer incredible health benefits--including the ability to restore blood pressure to normal levels.
Dr. Haengwoo Lee, a famous biochemist conducted a clinical study on these two ingredients. The first is Seanol, an extremely rare seaweed extract from Ecklonia Cava that's proven to be 100 times more powerful than any land-based antioxidant . That's because it stays working in your body for 12 hours, compared to land-based antioxidants that work for 30 minutes. "Its secret is its make-up of special chemicals that are a huge 40% fat soluble( )," Dr. Lee explains. "Unlike nearly all land-based antioxidants that are water soluble, Seanol's protective compounds can get into things like the fatty tissues of your brain and penetrate all three layers of your cells, including the outside, the oil-based cell membranes , and your DNA." Indeed, Seanol is so powerful, it's the only FDA-approved Ecklonia Cava marine-algae extract in existence.
The second ingredient is Calamarine, a deep-sea omega-3 discovery that delivers 85% more DHA omega-3s to your heart, brain, joints, and eyes. It's known to reduce the problems from tiredness and poor memory, joint pain, mood swings and depression.
With that research in mind, Dr. Lee combined Seanol and Calamarine with a high dose of vitamin D to form Marine-D3, the newest supplement in the fight against age-related illnesses and high blood pressure.
Dr. Lee found that Calamarine delivers some of the greatest concentration of omega-3s known to science. Combined with Seanol's ability to reduce body inflammation , as well as help cells get the nutrients they need to thrive, stay healthy and protected, Marine-D3 is able to boost a body's entire well being.
The makers of Marine-D3 are so confident that you'll see fast dramatic results from this product, that if you aren't happy after two full months, simply return the unused portion and they'll buy it back. They'll even give you ten dollars extra just for giving it an honest try! That kind of faith, combined with Dr. Lee's exhaustive research, shows that Marine-D3 really is a one-of-a-kind product. | high5631.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "escape from the adults and schoolwork"
},
"options": [
"have a taste of her favorite vegetables",
"help her grandfather cultivate the garden",
"escape from the adults and schoolwork",
"admire her grandfather's hard work... | My grandfather spent most of his life in a turbulent India. After settling in New York, he took up his true passion: gardening.
Grandfather's garden was where I took refuge from a world of adults and schoolwork. My grandfather cultivated squash and tomatoes -- it was not rare to find me somewhere in the garden, either secretly eating a tomato, or just sitting and admiring my grandfather's hard work. However, as time went by, I did not have the chance to visit his house as often as I used to.
On my eleventh birthday, I received a gift bag wrapped in pretty paper from my grandfather. Excited to see what he had given to me for my birthday, I tore apart the paper only to find a yellow squash. I was very angry. What a stupid present!
But gradually, I realized that in my developing a relationship with his garden, I had unknowingly grown very close to my grandfather himself, something he wished to remind me of through his gift. His commitment towards doing things definitely influenced me. It could bring him a sense of accomplishment. Because of him, I try to model the idea of approaching everything with both drive and passion.
My grandfather passed away five years ago, but his influence on me could not be bigger than it is today. As I prepare to enter college and move on from my relatively sheltered high school life toward achieving complete independence, allowing my passions to find their way into whatever I may be doing will be very necessary. I still look up to my grandfather very much to this day, and I hope that one day I will be able to sow in my own garden, and give someone else a squash on his or her birthday -- it was the most meaningful gift I have ever received.[:ZXXK] | high10419.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It could be the symbol of a university"
},
"options": [
"It was not historically recorded",
"Its horn was first used in France",
"It was similar to the Indian Ass and the Oryx",
"It could be the symbol of a university"
... | Despite the fact that it has never been seen almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn . Descriptions of unicorns have been found dating from ancient times. The great philosopher Aristotle theorized that there were two types of unicorn--- the so-called Indian Ass and the Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noble family, town council or university as their special sign. Even Scotland is represented by a unicorn.
According to the legend, anyone attempting to catch a unicorn had to be extremely careful as it was very fierce and dangerous. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers, in order to catch this amazing animal without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand in front of a tree and then to move quickly behind it as the unicorn dashed angrily. Hopefully, the creature could then be caught when its horn was stuck in the tree.
When hollowed out and used as a drinking-cup, the unicorn's horn was said to have the power to offer protection against person. It was believed that nobody could be harmed-by drinking the contents of a unicorn's horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, the French court was said to have used cups made of "unicorn" horn in order to protect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicinal value, so much so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the same weight of gold. What, then, was "unicorn" horn? We know at times the rhino was confused with this legendary creature. A drinking-cup supposedly made of "unicorn" horn was discovered to be made of the horn of a rhino. | high3240.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "professional yoga teacher."
},
"options": [
"favorite yoga teacher.",
"professional yoga teacher.",
"world-known yoga teacher.",
"private yoga teacher."
],
"question": "Who will teach general learners yoga?",
... | Pure Yoga is devoted to serving the yoga community in Asia and beyond,offering a wide variety of classes such as Hatha Yoga,Hot Yoga,Yin Yoga Vinyasa,etc. Our yoga classes are offered and taught by nearly 200 professional yoga teachers. Private Yoga is also available for learners of all levels. Pure Yoga constantly invites world-known teachers to lead guest teacher workshops.
Class Booking
Class bookings can be made 2 days in advance of the class. It is important that you book your class in advance since some classes are more heavily attended than others.
We also limit our class sizes so that they are not overcrowded. If a class you wish to take is full, we will place you on the wait list and inform you of an opening as soon as possible. To create the best experience for yourself and others,please follow these guidelines:
No talking
The yoga studio is a silent room. Please do not talk while in the studio and studio corridors .
No eating
Do not eat in the studio.
No shoes
Remove your shoes before entering the practice rooms. Keep your shoes in your locker .Shoe lockers are also available for rental.
No mobile phones
Turn your mobile phones off or to "vibrate" mode. Do not take phones into the practice rooms.
Personal Belongings
Daily lockers are not for overnight use. Locks from any daily lockers that are kept overnight will be cut. | high11707.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "American Watersports"
},
"options": [
"Jet Ski Tours of Miami",
"Coconut's Watersports",
"15",
"American Watersports"
],
"question": "You should especially protect yourself from sun burnt while visiting _ ."... | American Watersports Tuesday-Saturday
Located on the beach of the Sea Gardens Beach Resort, there are fun things to
rent for the whole family. They offer rentals for kayaks, jet skis, and even parasail!
Enjoy the water up-close or from a bird's eye view! No matter what activity you're
enjoying, be sure to protect yourself and your family from the sun's powerful rays and apply plenty of sun block!
15
Street Boat Company Monday-Saturday
15
Street Boat Company offers rental boats of all kinds. They're sure to have what you are looking for, whether it's a small boat for a quick and simple outing or an extravagant boat with comfortable seats with a stereo and high tech navigation. You can rent a boat for half a day or a couple of days, or even weeks at a time. If you want it, they've got it. It's fun for everyone!
Coconut's Watersports 9am-5pm Monday-Sunday
Coconut's Watersports is open 7 days a week and offers tons of water fun for the whole family. Jet Ski activities last 30 minutes or 1 hour and can make stops along the way. You must be at least 14 years of age to ride alone and can be as young as 3 to ride along with an adult. Everybody is required to wear a life jacket and a license is required to operate the Jet Ski. Bathing suits and shorts are recommended.
Jet Ski Tours of Miami 10am-7pm Thursday-Sunday
Jet Ski Tours of Miami includes onsite parking, indoor restrooms, lockers, and life jackets for participants. You may choose a one or two tour and each Jet Ski can hold up to 3 people. You must be at least 18 years old in order to ride. As long as you are accompanied by an adult, there is no age limitation for any passenger. There is a restaurant nearby to eat at. The tour visits 6 different islands and passes by Bayside and Hard Rock. You may even catch sight of dolphins, turtles or a crab resting in these splendid Florida waters. | high15549.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "do not need to write the answers down"
},
"options": [
"do not need to write the answers down",
"must write the answers clearly with a mouse",
"have to answer the questions very quickly",
"can answer the questions for a... | Scottish pupils recently were part of a new scheme that allowed them to take their exams online. Those examinations provided a glimpse of the future in May when 120 _ in 10 centers in Scotland sat in front of computers to take a multiple-choice online exam. Although candidates were using a computer mouse instead of a pen, in all other ways the exam was the same as normal.
Exam rooms were set out to ensure that only the candidates and the teachers were able to see the individual screens. The online answers were sent directly to a safe area. According to the students at St Ninian's in East Renfrewshire who took an online French exam, it was definitely the most motivated they had ever felt when taking an exam.
"I could go as fast as I wanted to, rather than as slow as everyone else wanted to," said one. "It was better than looking back and forth between the questions," said another. One pupil even described it as fun.
Their head teacher, Dorothy Graham, was not so surprised, "They are so used to doing things on computers that it seems natural for them. The boys liked it because they didn't have to worry about how neat their work was." The only things that worried her were power cuts and systems' crashing.
It's thought that online exams could be the norm in about five years. However, last year there were warnings about computerizing exams in England and Wales. It's thought that it could be unfair to some students if they come from homes without access to a computer. | high12226.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "keep dead bodies in the church buildings"
},
"options": [
"keep dead bodies in the church buildings",
"burn piles of rotting garbage in the streets",
"carry the dead for church burials in the daytime",
"unlock the house... | The Great Plague of London in 1665 was the last in a long senies of plague that first began in London in June 1499.1t killed between 75,000 and 100,000. First suspected in late 1664,it began to spread eastwards in April 1665 from the poor suburb of St. Giles to the crowded and dirty communities on its way to the walled City of London.
The Great Plague at Its Peak
By September 1665 ,the death rate had reached 8,000 per week. Helpless city authorities began to abandon quarantine measures. Houses containing the dead and dying were no longer locked. London's mournful silence was broken by the noise of carts carrying the dead for burial in churches or public plague pits.
Well-off residents soon fled to the countryside, leaving the poor behind in poor old commun/ties. Thousands of dogs and cats were killed to remove a feared source of contagion ,and piles of rotting garbage were burned. Doctors cut swellings and bled black spots in attempts to cure plague victims.
Plague Orders prohibited churches from keeping dead bodies in their buildings during public assemblies or services, and camers of the dead had to identify themselves and could not mix with the public.
Samuel Pepys: Eyewitness Accounts
In his famous diary, Samuel Pepys, a member of Parliament, conveyed the sad image of desperate people wandering the streets in search of relief from the ruins of the plague. His notes during 1665 indicated the severity of London's Great Plague. In July, he mourned " the sad news of the death of so manv in the community, forty last night, the bell always going either for deaths or burials. " A month later, when London's death rate rose sharply, Pepys noted that surviors are forced to carry the dead to be buried by daylight, the nights not enough to do it
The Plague Declines and the Government Reacts
By February 1666,the Great Plague had nearly run its course.lt died out during the Great Fire that same year and never returned. Central parts of London were rebuilt with wider streets to relieve crowding and better waste water svstems to improve public cleanliness. New Plague Orders were issued in May 1666,which banned the burial of future plague victims in churches and small churchyards, enforced the use of quicklime at chosen burial sites, and strictly prohibited opening graves less than one year after burial as a safeguard against the spread of infection. | high13138.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "we can express ourselves in a free way"
},
"options": [
"it can be useful all over the world",
"it is the fastest way to communicate",
"we can express ourselves in a free way",
"we can save a lot of paper"
],
"q... | Email has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good.
Email is a form of communication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we interact and build relationship. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, which should cause individuals and organizations to rethink the way they use email.
"Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits," says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at an American university. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect a growing unconcern about the way we write.
Baron argues that we shouldn't forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in email. "The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing," the professor says.
Others say that despite its poor writing, email has finished what several generations of English teachers couldn't: it has made writing fashionable again.
"Email is a critical new communication technology." says Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at Toronto University. "It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the purest form of written speech."
Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of email's close similarity to speech. "It's like a circle of four or five people around a campfire," he says.
Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. Emails sent in a day almost exceed the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact. | high9023.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to sell or buy goods across the border of the country"
},
"options": [
"when buying goods",
"to sell or buy products of foreign brand names",
"to sell or buy goods across the border of the country",
"to go through the c... | Beijing's markets will soon be flooded with more and cheaper colorful fruit such as orange, mangos and green durian all year round.
Thanks to a new free trade agreement signed last Monday between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN),more and more tropical Southeast Asian fruit will enter the country.
The agreement means that from July 1,2005, China and ASEAN countries will begin to cut tariffs. There are about 7,000 products included in the cuts. As global communication develops, countries are trading more and more goods with each other. When products are sold across national borders, countries put a tax on them. This type of tax is called a tariff. Just like removing an obstacle from the path of these goods, the reduction of tariffs will encourage trade between China and ASEAN countries. It means more products and lower prices.
The agreement will bring real benefits for Chinese customers, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman. "In the Beijing markets you will easily find more tropical fruit like durian, which used to very, very, very expensive. Now they will be cheaper." The current tariff rate on durian is 22 per cent but will fall to zero in 2005.
In the first 10 months of this year China did US$84.6 billion of trade with ASEAN countries. Experts believe this may reach US$100 billion next year. Founded in 1967, ASEAN now includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Viet Nam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. | high14657.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "teens may develop a different sense of values"
},
"options": [
"nothing is wrong with teens' chatting online",
"teens may develop a different sense of values",
"teens can manage their social connections",
"spending hour... | Teens don't understand the big fuss . As the first generation to grow up in a wired world, they hardly know a time when computers weren't around, and they eagerly catch the chance to spend hours online, chatting with friends. So what?
But researchers nationwide are increasingly worried that teens are becoming isolated , less skillful at person-to-person relationships , and perhaps numb to the cheatings that are so much a part of the e-mail world . "And a teen's sense of self and values may be changed in a world where personal connections can be limitless," said Sherry Turkle .
Another researcher , Robert Kraut , said he's worried about the "opportunity costs" of so much online time for youths . He found that teens who used computers, even just a few hours a week, showed increased signs of loneliness and social isolation. "Chatting online may be better than watching television , but it's worse than hanging out with real friends," he said .
Today's teens, however, don't see anything strange in the fact that the computer takes up a central place in their social lives. "School is busy and full of pressure. There's almost no time to just hang out," said Parker Rice, 17. "Talking online is just catch-up time."
Teens say they feel good about what they say online or taking the time to think about a reply. Some teens admit that asking someone for a date, or breaking up, can be easier in message form, though they don't want to do so. But they insist there's no harm. | high6310.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "on his side"
},
"options": [
"on his side",
"on his back",
"curled up",
"on his stomach"
],
"question": "According to the passage, a person, who is not willing to change his mind and hard to deal with, probably ... | Everyone has got two personalities-the one that is shown to the world and the other that is secret and real. You don't show your secret personality when you're awake because you can control your behavior, but when you're asleep, your sleeping position shows the real you. In a normal night, of course, people frequently change their positions. The important position is the one that you go to sleep in.
If you go to sleep on your back, you're a very open person. You normally trust people and you are easily influenced by fashion or new ideas. You don't like to displease people. So you never express your real feelings. You're quite shy and you aren't quite sure of yourself.
If you sleep on your stomach, you are a rather secretive person. You worry a lot and you're always easily upset. You always stick to your own opinions or judgment, but you don't raise your hopes too much. You usually live for today not tomorrow. This means that you enjoy having a good time.
If you sleep curled up, you are probably a very nervous person. You have a low opinion of yourself and so you're often defensive. You're shy and you don't normally like meeting people. You prefer to be on your own. You're easily hurt.
If you sleep on your side, you have usually got a well--balanced personality. You know your strengths and weakness. You're usually careful. You believe in yourself. You sometimes feel anxious, but you don't often get sad. You always insist on what you think even if it makes people rather angry. | high5619.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the writer didn't know whether his master was his father"
},
"options": [
"the slaves forgot the exact time when they were born",
"the writer didn't know whether his master was his father",
"the writer was about twentyseven y... | I was born in Tuckahoe,Talbot Country,Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age,never having seen any record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs,and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant .I do not remember having ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to _ than plantingtime,harvesting,springtime,or falltime. A lack of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages,but I could not tell. Why the same right ought to be taken away from me!I was not allowed to ask my master about it. He considered all such questions on the part of a slave improper and impolite. The nearest estimate I can live makes me now between twentyseven and twentyeight years of age. I come to this,from hearing my master say,some time during 1835,I was about seventeen years old. My mother was named Harriet Bailey. She was the daughter of Isaac and Betsey Bailey,both colored,and quite dark.
My father was a white man. The opinion was also whispered that my master was my father;but of the correctness of this opinion,I know nothing and I have no means to know. My mother and I were separated when I was but an infant--before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom,in the part of Maryland from which I ran away,to part children from their mothers at a very early age. Frequently,before the child has reached its twelfth month,its mother is taken from it,and hired out on some farm a considerable distance off,and the child is placed under the care of an older woman,too old for field labor. | high10431.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "make John find out the differences between them two."
},
"options": [
"show watermelons were in great need on the market",
"test their abilities to make market research",
"make John find out the differences between them two."... | John and Bobby joined a wholesale company together just after graduation from college the same year. Both worked very hard. After several years, however, the boss promoted Bobby to the position of manager but John remained an ordinary employee. John couldn't understand it anymore, gave his resignation to the boss and complained that the boss didn't value hardworking workers, but only promoted those who flattered him.
The boss knew that John worked very hard for the years. He thought for a moment and said, "Thank you for your criticism , but I have a request. I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave. Perhaps you will change your mind and take back your resignation."
John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find out anyone selling watermelon in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found out a man selling watermelon. The boss asked how much per kg? John shook his head and went back to the market to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 per kg.
Boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office. He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelon in the market. Bobby went, returned and said, "Boss, only one person selling watermelon. $1.2 per kg, and $10 for 10kg. He has 340 melons in all, 58 of which are on the table. Every melon weighs about 2 kg. Bought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red, good quality."
John was very impressed and realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided not to resign but to learn from Bobby.
My dear friends, chances exist in the daily details. For the same matter, a more successful person sees more and farther so that he can find out an opportunity and catch it to realize his aim. | high21834.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "WHO Says Children are Dying for Lack of Child-sized Drugs"
},
"options": [
"A Global Campaign to Promote Research into AIDS Medicine",
"WHO Says Children are Dying for Lack of Child-sized Drugs",
"Many People are Concerned ab... | LONDON (Reuters) -- Children are dying for lack of drugs tailored to their needs, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which launched a global campaign on Thursday to promote more research into child medicine.
More than half of the drugs currently used to treat children in the industrialized world have not been specifically tested on youngsters.
The problem is even worse in developing countries where price remains a major barrier and 6 million children die each year from treatable conditions.
In the case of HIV/AIDS, the few existing pediatric therapies developed for children generally cost three times more than adult ones.
As a result, clinicians lack clear guidelines on the best drug to use and often have to guess at the correct dose.
Fortunately, the WHO has drawn up the first international List of Essential Medicines for Children, containing 206 products considered safe for children.
"But a lot remains to be done. There are priority medicines that have not been adapted for children's use or are not available when needed," said Dr Hans, the U.N. agency's director of medicines policy and standards.
Medicines that need to be adapted to children's needs include many antibiotics, pain drugs as well as combination pills for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The agency is building an Internet entrance linking to clinical trials carried out in children and will launch a Web site with the information early next year.
Testing medicines on children has always been a controversial issue, since good ethical practice requires informed agreement from people participating in clinical trials, which is difficult to obtain in the case of children.
As a result, research-based drug companies have been _ of developing child-friendly medicines and general companies have been slow to produce them at lower cost.
In an attempt to deal with the issue, both Europe and the United States now have special rules offering extended patent protection for drugs that have been tested on children. | high3268.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "she may spend less and lose weight"
},
"options": [
"she is happier and her garden bigger",
"she may spend less and lose weight",
"she is selling more and buying less",
"she has grown more varieties of vegetables"
]... | Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husband's income. So this year she did something more than a hobby :She planted vegetables in her yard. For her first garden, Ms. Feeley has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The family's old farm house has become a chicken house, its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms. Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said, "The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds, too;so it's a win-win situation all around."
They are among the growing number of Americans who, driven by higher living costs and a falling economy , have taken up vegetable gardening for the first time. Others have increased the size of their existing gardens. Seed companies and garden shops say that not since the 1970s there has been such an increase in interest in growing food at home. Now many gardens across the country have been sold out for several months. In Austin, Tex, some of the gardens have a three-year waiting list.
George C.Ball Jr., owner of a company, said sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40% over last year, double the average growth of the last five years. Mr. Ball argues that some of the reasons have been building for the last few years. The big one is the striking rise in the cost of food like bread and milk, together with the increases in the price of fruits and vegetables. Food prices have increased because of higher oil prices. People are now driving less, taking fewer vacations, so there is more time to garden. | high19373.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it could bring good fortune to Tabor"
},
"options": [
"Tabor became its leading citizen.",
"great deposits of lead is expected to be found there.",
"it could bring good fortune to Tabor",
"it was renamed"
],
"qu... | Among the more colorful characters of Leadville's golden age were H. A. W. Tabor and his wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as "Baby Doe". Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West.
Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. Then he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. "Great deposits of lead are sure to be found here." he said.
As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadville's fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. It was his custom to " _ " prospective miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or "grub", while they looked for ore , in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.
Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for "grub". Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way. These were persistent, however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. "Oh help yourself. One more time won't make any difference," He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They picked a barren place on the mountain side and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the "Pittsburgh Mine," made $1,300,000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.
Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117,000. This turned out to be even more fabulous than the Pittsburgh, yielding $35,000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became lieutenant governor of the state. | high4507.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The fact that people have different experience in the same simple fact"
},
"options": [
"The fact that simple facts differ from one another",
"The fact that people have different experience in the same simple fact",
"The fact... | Do you sometimes argue about what seems to you to be a simple fact ? Do you argue whether it's cold outdoors or whether the car in front of you is going faster than the speed limit ?
If you get into such arguments, try to think about the story about the six blind men and the elephant.The first blind man who felt the elephant's trunk said it was like a snake.The second who felt the elephant's side said it was like a wall, while the third said it was like a spear as he touched the animal's tusk.The fourth, who had hold of the elephant's tail insisted that it was like a rope.The fifth man said it looked like a tree as he put his arm around one the elephant's legs.
The sixth, who was tall and got hold of the elephant's ears, said it was like a huge fan.
Each man's idea of the animal came from his own experience.So if someone disagrees with you about a "simple fact", it's often because his experience in the matter is different from yours.
To see how hard it is for even one person to make up his mind about a "simple fact", try this simple experiment.Get three large bowls.Put ice water in one.Put hot water in the second.Put lukewarm water in the third.Now put your left hand in the ice water.Put your right hand in the hot water.After thirty seconds, put both hands in the lukewarm water.Your right hand will tell you the water is cold.Your left hand will tell you it's hot ! | high16040.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Their effort doesn't pay off."
},
"options": [
"They haven't tried their best for their children.",
"They have no common sense or parental nature.",
"It's wrong for them to care about children's education.",
"Their effo... | Parents are anxious about their children's education and should be more detached to allow them to develop naturally,a leading headteacher,Peter Tait,says.
Writing in Attain,the magazine of the Independent Association of Prep Schools,Mr Tait said:"While parents are determined to do the very best for their child,they can end up doing the opposite."He said parents need to exercise"common sense and parental nature"when it comes to raising their children.
He added:"Parents also need to have confidence in those whose job it is to look after their children's education.To do this requires a certain detachment,a willingness to trust the passage of time,focusing on whether their children are happy,challenged and purposeful and are learning the right values.If so,they will be fine."
However,he said,some parents are changing from"sensible"and"moderate "people,who have faith in their schools and teachers,and are"turning into fighters ready to battle with anything and anyone on behalf of'their'child."What has made some parents put their own child at the centre of the universe and never to care about the rest?" And he also blamed the obsession over league tables for some parents'anxiety.He said:"League tables have caused too much anxiety for parents and have led to a boom in the number of tutoring agencies as parents feel they have no choice but to give their children a chance."
Mr Tait acknowledged that being a parent has become increasingly difficult.He concluded:"While teachers may occasionally feel discouraged by over-sensitive and demanding parents,they should note that this parenting lark is rather more difficult than it used to be." | high19415.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "applied green building techniques to the construction work"
},
"options": [
"recycled 2 million tons of contaminated soil",
"removed 99 percent of the debris from the city",
"built the Olympic Stadium mostly with recycled mat... | Was the London Olympics a success? Many people hold different opinions. However one thing is certain, London could win a gold medal for hosting the "greenest" Games ever, BBC News reported.
Previous Olympic hosts have been criticized for the environmental damage they have caused through construction, waste. and transport. But things had to be different in London because seven years ago it bid for the Olympics through the concept of "a One Planet Olympics".
What is most impressive is that London used the construction of the Olympic Park as an opportunity to clean up polluted areas -- 2 million tons of contaminated soil were removed and 200 old factory buildings, were torn down, according to sustainablebusiness.com. But that's not all --. 99 percent of the debris were reused to build the Olympic Park. For example, part of the Olympic Stadium's roof is made from 2,500 tons of steel tubes recycled from old gas pipelines.
As well as using recycled materials, all venues were built with green building techniques. The Olympic Stadium is the lightest one ever built, which _ the amount of steel and concrete needed. Also, the handball field has lighting pipes on the roof that reduce electricity use by 40 percent, according to sustainablebusiness.com.
The effort that London made to deal with waste also deserves praise. Water used for drinking and watering plants was from collected rainwater or recycled wastewater. In this way. about 30-40 percent less water was used in total. Waste food packages were either recycled or processed and turned into renewable energy.
As one of the best connected places in Europe, London tried to solve traffic jams by encouraging the use of public transport. For example, it had trains deliver half of the building materials, instead of cars, which greatly reduced carbon emissions.
The clean anti-doping result also added to the greenness of the Games. The International Olympics Committee (IOC) said that the devices used this time were the most accurate and advanced. Only one athlete tested positive for a banned drug on the day of competing, which is why the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, has praised anti-doping efforts at the London Games. | high4261.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "until 1890"
},
"options": [
"since 1890",
"after 1890",
"until 1890",
"by 1890"
],
"question": "People did not have lunch _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | It is surprising that eating three meals a day--breakfast,lunch and dinner-has been a custom only since 1890. Before this time,people only had two meals a day--breakfast and dinner.
In the 16th century,breakfast was only to break one's fast . But 200 years later it had become a large meal,not just for family,but for numbers of guests as well. It was a social event. It began at 10 a.m. and lasted until 1 p.m. Then breakfast began to be less popular. It became,instead,a lighter meal and was taken at a much earlier hour. By 1850 it had been pushed back to 8 a.m. and became a family meal.
Dinner,however,went to the other way. In the 16th century it was eaten at 11 a.m. Years later,it had moved to the early afternoon,then to 5 p.m. By 1850 dinner time had reached 7 p.m. Lunch is a recent idea. It first appeared as a snack to fill the gap between breakfast and dinner. | high16726.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The author couldn't speak the local language."
},
"options": [
"People might look down on the author.",
"The author couldn't speak the local language.",
"The author wasn't familiar with local customs.",
"It might be dif... | When I began planning to move to Auckland to study,my mother was a little worried about the uncertainty of living in a place that was so different from India,where we lived. She worried particularly about the lack of jobs,the cultural differences and the chance that I would face racism.
Despite these worries,I came to New Zealand in July 2009. I have found the place and people very nice and supportive. Soon after I arrived,I realized the importance of getting a job to supply my living expenses.
Determined to do this on my own ,I spent a whole day going from door to door asking for a job. However,I received little or no response. This became my routine every day after college for a few weeks.
One afternoon,I walked into a building to ask if there were any job opportunities. The people there were very surprised,and advised me not to continue my job search in that manner.
As I was about to leave,a clerk in the building,who had been listening to what the others had said, approached me and asked if I would wait outside. Fifteen minutes later,he returned. He asked me what my plans were and encouraged me to stay confident. He then offered to take me to the Royal Oak area to search for a job.
I was a little surprised,but had a good feeling about him,so I went along. Along the way, I realized that I had run out of copies of my resume .The man stopped at his business partner's office to make me 15 extra copies. He also gave me tips on dressing and speaking,and added that I should give him, a call if I ever needed anything. I handed out my resumes and went home feeling very satisfied. The following day,I received:call from. store in Royal Oak offering me a job.
It seems that the world always gives back to you when you need it. And this time,it was a complete stranger who turned out to be a real blessing. | high11049.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To protect our children from harm."
},
"options": [
"To look after our children.",
"To clean the street",
"To clean our children",
"To protect our children from harm."
],
"question": "What has the author done in... | The fighting against youth smoking since I took office I've done everything in my power to protect our children from harm. We've worked to make their streets and their schools safer, and to give them something positive to do after school before their parents get home. We've worked to teach our children that drugs are dangerous, illegal and wrong.
Today, I want to talk to you about the historic opportunity we now have to protect our nation's children form an even more deadly threat: smoking. Smoking kills more people every day than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, drugs and fires combined. Nearly 90 percent of those smokers lit their first cigarette before they turned 18. Consider this: 3,000 children start to smoke every day illegally, and 1,000 of them will die sooner because of it. This is a national tragedy that every American should be honor-bound to help prevent. For more than five years we've worked to stop our children from smoking before they start, launching a nationwide campaign to educate them about the dangers of smoking, to reduce their access to tobacco products, and to severely restrict tobacco companies from advertising to young people. If we do these, we'll cut teen smoking by almost half over the next five years. That means if we act now, we have it in our power to stop 3 million children from smoking and to save a million lives as a result. | high10357.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They are protected by patents."
},
"options": [
"They are protected by patents.",
"They are produced in rich countries.",
"They are imported.",
"They can cure the deadly diseases."
],
"question": "Why are medici... | Most of the news in the newspapers is bad but sometimes there is a story with good news. This is one of those stories. Millions of people around the world suffer from AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases. There are medicines to treat these diseases but for people in poor countries, these medicines are too expensive to buy. When a pharmaceutical company produces a new medicine, they receive a special license called a _ This license means that the new medicine or drug is protected for a period of 20 years. The company that produced the drug can fix the price of the drug and no other company is allowed to produce the same drug or a copy of the drug for 20 years. At the moment, these patents operate all over the world, both in rich countries and in poor countries. The drugs companies say that they need patents so that they can get the money to pay for research to find new drugs and medicines. In rich countries people usually have enough money to pay for these drugs but in poor countries people can't afford to buy them and cannot treat diseases like AIDS and malaria.
Last month, however, a group of experts published a report which says that patents are very bad for poor countries. The report says that drug companies do not want to find new medicines for diseases of poor people in poor countries. It says that poor countries should be allowed to buy cheap drugs without patents from other countries.
The authors of the report were lawyers, scientists and a senior director from the drug company Pfizer. Of course, the pharmaceuticals industry doesn't agree with the report, "We need patents so that we can develop new medicines to fight disease both in the developed and developing world," said a spokesman. But the report is the first sign that there might be a change in the patent system. This change could save millions of lives in the world's poorest countries. This really is good news. | high20294.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "are usually considered to be lazy"
},
"options": [
"have more pressure in their studies",
"are usually considered to be lazy",
"don't need to work hard at their lessons",
"are more diligent than American children"
]... | Americans like to think of themselves as martyrs to work. At this time of the year they admire the laziness of their European cousins, particularly the French. Studies show that the average American gets only four weeks of paid leave a year compared with seven for the French and eight for the German. In Paris many shops close down for August; in Washington, where the weather is really hot, they remain open, some for 24 hours a day.
But when it comes to the young, the situation is just opposite. American children have it easier than most other children in the world, including the supposedly lazy European children. They have one of the shortest school years anywhere, a mere 180 days compared with an average of 195 for OECD countries and more than 200 for East Asian countries. German children spend 20 more days in school than American ones, and South Koreans over a month more. Over 12 years, a 15-day deficit means American children lose out on 180 days of school, equal to an entire year.
Americans also divide up their school time strangely. They cram the school day into the morning and early afternoon, and close their schools for three months in the summer. The long summer vacation acts like a mental eraser, with the average child reportedly forgetting about a month's worth of instruction in many subjects and almost three times that in mathematics. American academics have invented a term for this phenomenon, "summer learning loss". It is leaving American children ill-equipped to compete. They usually perform poorly in international educational tests, coming behind Asian countries that spend less on education but work their children harder. California's state universities have to send over a third of their classes to take some extra courses in English and math. | high17438.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Introduction to a mechanical device to make walk easier"
},
"options": [
"How to reduce energy whiling walking.",
"Ways to make walking easy.",
"Introduction to a mechanical device to make walk easier",
"Guidelines for ... | Burning less calories while walking seems like a bad idea, but making the walk easier may actually keep people on their feet longer, and that scientists say, has substantial health benefits.
Analyzing the human walk, biomedical engineers Steven Collins and Greg Sawicki concluded that our ankles and calves perform motions similar to a spring coupled with a clutch that intermittently stores and releases energy.
Sawicki, from the University of North Carolina, explained what's involved.
"We found in basic science experiments that that system, your calf and Achilles tendon, works a lot like a catapult. So, the muscle holds on to the tendon and your body actually stretches your Achilles tendon quite a bit and then stores the energy in the tissue and then it's given back to _ you forward in the world," he said.
Sawicki said he and his colleague Steven Collins at Carnegie Mellon University designed a mechanical device, made of carbon fiber and metal, that performs the same sequence of energy give-and-take outside the body. The system takes over part of the work of walking, and reduces the amount of required energy by as much as seven percent.
Wearing the unpowered ankle exoskeleton can help people either walk farther with the same amount of energy, or restore the normal movement pattern for people who have trouble walking.
Sawicki said it takes only a few minutes to get used to the exoskeleton but the wearer quickly learns to tone down the muscle energy as the device takes over part of the load.
"You really don't notice it until when you take it off. And when you take it off you realize that it was there and giving you the boost," he said.
Sawicki added that the device is primarily intended for people recovering from surgery or a stroke. But all persons who spend a lot of time walking, such as police officers or hospital personnel, could benefit from it.
At the moment there are no plans to develop the ankle exoskeleton for the market, but the inventors say some manufacturers have expressed interest. | high9745.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The worker can come back with new energy."
},
"options": [
"The manager can be more creative.",
"The worker can come back with new energy.",
"The worker can adapt to pressure much better.",
"The worker can step back and... | Vacation is a time for refreshment. In work, we are often called to think. Sometimes, it's good to give our brains a rest. Without a break, we may not be able to perform up to our potential. This can be a problem, not only for the employee, but for the employer as well.
"The main benefit of vacation is for the worker to come back energized," says Weaver. "If they haven't had a break, then they're not coming back with new energy. They haven't had a chance to step back and get perspective , and come back with renewed enthusiasm."
Long working hours without a break, insecurity about one's job, and other work-related worries can lead to burnout and stress. Humans can usually adapt to pressure, but not for a limitless amount of time.
"It is a problem of relating good workers and having them loyal to the firm while they're _ ," says David Maume, PhD, professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati. He says burnout can also affect employees' productivity, creativity, and effectiveness.
In addition, high levels of stress are likely to be precursors to depression, which can hit both the employer and employee's pocketbook. Even people who manage to remain productive at work can have problems. If they're always at work, then they're not with their family and friends. If they're working while on vacation, for the time that they're on the job, they're not really present.
An unbalanced emphasis on work can strain family and social life. When you come up for air, you may see that you're alone, or that your relationships have gone on without you. | high14131.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he hadn't studied hard before the examination"
},
"options": [
"it was too late at night",
"he was very tired",
"his eyelids were so heavy that he couldn't keep them open",
"he hadn't studied hard before the examination... | The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before me at a huge pile of that troublesome stuff they call "books".
I was going to have my examination the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn't answer. In fact I dared not.
The clock struck twelve. "Oh, dear!" I cried. "Ten more books to read before I can go to bed!" We pupils are the most _ creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite desperate now. I forgot all I had learned. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, "Oh God, please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen." My eyes were so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep. | high15.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Wood"
},
"options": [
"Wood",
"glass",
"Paper",
"chair"
],
"question": "The table was made of _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text"... | Henry was a carpenter of our village. Once I asked him to make a table for my family. A week later, Henry sent us the table and the bill as well.
My wife said to me, "It's a beautiful table, dear, isn't it?"
"I won't decide about that until I see the bill." I said.
Henry was drinking a glass of water. He laughed and gave me a piece of paper. It said,
Bill
One dining table June 10, 2011
Cost of wood 17.00
Paint 1.50
Work, 8 hours (1 an hour) 8.00
Total 36.50
When I was looking at the bill, Henry said," It's a fine day, isn't it? Quite sunny."
"Yes," I said. "I'm glad it is only the 10th of June."
"Me too, " said Henry." You wait. It will be a bit hotter by the end of the month."
"Yes, hotter and more expensive. The table will be 20 more expensive on June 30th, won't they, Henry? " I said, "If it isn't too much trouble, please add it up again. You can forget the date."
"OK, man. You are such a guy." Henry said with a smile in his two blue eyes, and he left with the money he should get. | high1319.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "in primary school"
},
"options": [
"from parents",
"in primary school",
"at home",
"at three years old"
],
"question": "Most pupils in China begin to learn English _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | In China most people these days know what it means to have an "English teacher", since almost all pupils study English from their third year. In primary school the first English teacher will usually be a young and lovely lady. But my first English teacher is _ . Looking back, I can see that, when I was only a little girl, he created an English environment by providing me with flashcards ,fun English- language toys and even dolls which can sing English songs! My interest in English had certainly been awakened when I began to learn English at school. Just imagine, he went a step further and asked me to learn New Concept English by myself! I was confused and even angry. I could not understand why a father could be so strict with his little girl. All the same, he never gave up and he gently insisted that I follow through with his idea. At first, I read stories with tears and I actually hated them because they were too difficult for me. In the end, I came to love the funny stories and, to be honest, my father was always there with a helping hand. I am sure that my English would never have got so far without his support. And that's why my father is not only my first English teacher but also my lifelong teacher. He is the one who aroused my interest, gave me confidence and offered me much needed help. | high22483.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Wedding ceremonies are often held there."
},
"options": [
"630,000 people have visited it.",
"Its rooms all look alike.",
"It stays open for two months each year.",
"Wedding ceremonies are often held there."
],
... | A winter wonderland on the outskirts of Quebec City has become one of Canada's hottest attractions and most sought out accommodations. Guests stay close for warmth in sleeping bags on beds of ice, hats pulled over their ears to prevent frostbite, while sipping cocktails in glasses also made of ice.
A cool place to host a memorable wedding or for a romantic getaway, the Quebec Ice Hotel has attracted 600,000 curious tourists, including 30,000 who stayed overnight, since opening seasonally 11 years ago. Like Victoria and Jeremy Martin, dozens of couples will exchange vows this winter in a temporary church next to the hotel, made entirely from blocks of ice with seats covered in furs.
Average temperatures fall below minus 20 degrees C (minus four F) in winter, but inside the hotel's 36 rooms it is relatively comfortable. Thick walls of packed snow and ice act as an _ , trapping body heat inside. Each room is uniquely decorated, using designs created by Quebec architecture students. Two hotel bars also sell special cocktails in ice glasses.
First-time guests of the hotel, however, are recommended to stay only one night as sleeping in sub-zero temperatures is not very refreshing. This year for the first time the ice hotel has teamed up with a brick and concrete Quebec City hotel to offer packages for one-night accommodations at each. Prices for one night only at the ice hotel start at 200 US dollars per person.
The 3,000-square-metre (32,300-square-feet) buildings take six weeks starting in December to build, using 15,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice, at a cost of some 750,000 US dollars. Eleven weeks after its seasonal grand opening, the hotel will close on March 27 and then melt away with the arrival of spring. | high855.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Finding the cause why the shuttle Columbia came apart."
},
"options": [
"Delivering supplies to the International Space Station.",
"Conducting different spacewalks.",
"Testing new repair techniques.",
"Finding the cause... | After an extra day in space,the crew of Discovery returned to Earth,landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California early on Tuesday morning.The shuttle and its crew spent two weeks in space,most of it aboard the International Space Station.It was the first flight of NASA's spaceshuttle fleet since February 2003,when the shuttle Columbia came apart while reentering Earth's atmosphere.
NASA officials delayed Discovery's return for one day because of cloudy weather in Florida,where the shuttle was supposed to lanD. On Tuesday morning,mission controllers directed Discovery to a landing site in California,where the skies were clear.The crew members will have to wait until Wednesday to see their families when they all meet together in Houston at the Johnson Space Center.
Discovery had a very busy mission in space,compared to past missions.The space shuttle docked with the International Space Station most of the journey,delivering badly needed supplies and repairing damaged parts.The crew spent a lot of time testing new repair techniques on their own shuttle,conducting three different spacewalks(where astronauts exit the space shuttle to do work outside).On the third spacewalk,astronaut Steve Robinson went underneath the shuttle to remove material sticking out from between the spacecraft's protective tiles.
There were concerns in the last remaining days of Discovery's mission that a torn heat blanket--another shield against overheating in the space shuttle--may pose a problem to crew members. NASA officials and technicians worked on ways that the crew could fix the problem, but later decided it was not a risk.
With the shuttle and its crew safely back on firm ground, NASA is hailing this mission, labeled STS114,as a huge success. "I hope this shows people that we're coming back," NASA spaceflight chief Bill Readdy said after Discovery's successful landing. "We've got some more work to do. We know what we need to do and we'll do it. | high7768.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "have watched a lot of TV"
},
"options": [
"have watched a lot of TV",
"not be interested in math",
"be unable to go to college",
"have had computers in their bedrooms"
],
"question": "According to the California... | Too much TV-watching can harm children's ability to learn and even reduce their chances of getting a college degree, new studies suggest in the latest effort to examine the effects of television on children.
One of the studies looked at nearly 400 northern California third-graders. Those with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children without bedroom TVs.
A second study ,looking at nearly 1000 grown-ups in New Zealand, found lower education levels among 26-year -olds who had watched lots of TV during childhood. But the results don't prove that TV is the cause and don't rule out that already poorly motivated youngsters may watch lots of TV.
Their study measured the TV habits of 26-year-olds between ages5 and 15. These with college degrees had watched an average of less than two hours of TV per week night during childhood, compared with an average of more than 2 1/2 hours for those who had no education beyond high school.
In the California study, children with TVs in their rooms but no computer at home scored the lowest while those with no bedroom TV but who had home computers scored the highest.
While this study does not prove that bedroom TV sets caused the lower scores, it adds to accumulating findings that children shouldn't have TVs in their bedrooms | high13886.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "hasn't got many published results about it"
},
"options": [
"was not allowed to be researched in the past",
"attracts little attention because it is common",
"hasn't got many published results about it",
"is becoming mo... | Parents say that honesty is the best policy, but they regularly lie to their children as a way of influencing their behavior and emotions, finds new research from the University of Toronto and the University of California.
Surprisingly little has been published on the subject of parental lying, so Gail Heyman, professor of psychology at the University of California, Diem Luu, a former student of the University of California, and Kang Lee, professor at the University Toronto, set out to explore the under - researched phenomenon.They asked US participants in two related studies about parents lying to their children - either for the purpose of promoting appropriate behavior or to make them happy.
In one of the studies, many parents reported they told their young children that bad things would happen if they didn't go to bed or eat what they were supposed to.Other parents reported inventing magical creatures.One explained, "We told our daughter that if she wrapped up all her pacifiers like gifts, the fair would come and give them to the children who needed them."
In the other study, the researchers surveyed college students'recollections about their parents'lying and obtained similar results: parents often lie to their children even as they tell them that lying is unacceptable.
The researchers refer to this practice as "parenting by lying"."We are surprised by how often parenting by lying takes place," said LEE.Though Heyman thinks that there are occasions when it is appropriate to be less than truthful with a child, she urges parents to think through the issues and consider alternatives before using lies." Children sometimes behave in ways that are disruptive or are likely to harm their long - term interests," said Heyman."It is common for them to try out a range of strategies, including lying, to stop them.However, parents should be concerned about the possible long - term negative consequences tochildren's beliefs about honesty." | high23789.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "played an important part in human evolution"
},
"options": [
"was only recently described in a scientific journal",
"played an important part in human evolution",
"was considered more natural than the ability to live in trees... | An article published recently in the scientific journal Nature is shedding new light on an important, but so far little has been appreciated, aspect of human evolution. In this article, Professors Dennis Bramble, and Daniel Lieberman suggest that the ability to run was a decisive factor in the development of our species. According to the two scientists, humans possess a number of anatomical features that make them surprisingly good runners. "We are very confident that strong selection for running,which came at the expense of the historical ability to live in trees-was helpful in the origin of the modern human body form," says Bramble, a biology professor at the University of Utah.
Traditional thinking up to now has been that the upright body form of modern humans has come about as a result of the ability to walk, and that running is simply a by-product of walking. Furthermore, humans have usually been regarded as poor runners compared to such animals as dogs, horses or antelopes. However, this is only true if we consider fast running over short distances. Even Olympic athlete can hardly run as fast as a horse can gallop, and can only keep up a top speed for fifteen seconds or so. Horses and antelopes, on the other hand, can run at top speed for several minutes, clearly outperforming us in this respect. But when it comes to long-distance running, humans do astonishingly well. They can maintain a steady pace for miles, and their overall speed compares favorably with that of horses or dogs.
Bramble and Lieberman examined twenty-six anatomical features found in humans. One of the most interesting of these is the nuchal ligament . When we run, it is this ligament that prevents our head from pitching back and forth or from side to side. Therefore, we are able to run with steady heads held high. The nuchal ligament is not found in any other surviving primates , although the fossil record shows that Homo erectus, an early human species that walked upright, much as we do, also had one. Then there are our Achilles tendons at the backs of our legs, which have nothing to do with walking. When we run, these tendons behave like springs, helping to push us forward. Furthermore, we have low, wide shoulders, virtually disconnected from our skulls (the bony part of the head), another anatomical adaptation which allows us to run more efficiently.
But what evolutionary advantage is gained from being good long-distance runners? One assumption is that this ability may have permitted early humans to obtain food more effectively. "What these features and fossil facts appear to be telling us is that running evolved in order for our direct ancestors to compete with other carnivores (animals that eat meat) for access to the protein needed to grow the big brains that we enjoy today." says Lieberman. | high14125.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To show gratitude for others."
},
"options": [
"To celebrate Thanksgiving Day.",
"To show gratitude for others.",
"To improve students' art level.",
"To make the festival fun."
],
"question": "What's the purpose... | Thanksgiving Day was near. The first grade teacher gave her class a fun assignment--to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful.
Most of the class might be considered economically disadvantaged, but still many would celebrate the holiday with turkey and other traditional goodies of the season. These, the teacher thought, would be the subjects of most of her student's art. And they were.
But Douglas made a different kind of picture. Douglas was a different kind of boy. He was the teacher's true child of misery, frail and unhappy. As other children played at recess, Douglas was likely to stand close by her side. One could only guess at the pain Douglas felt behind those sad eyes.
Yes, his picture was different. When asked to draw a picture of something for which he was thankful, he drew a hand. Nothing else. Just an empty hand.
His abstract image _ the imagination of his peers. Whose hand could it be?One child guessed it was the hand of a farmer, because farmers raise turkeys. Another suggested a police officer, because the police protect and care for people. And so the discussion went--until the teacher almost forgot the young artist himself.
When the children had gone on to other assignments, she paused at Douglas' desk, bent down, and asked him whose hand it was. The little boy looked away and murmured, "It's yours, teacher."
She recalled the times she had taken his hand and walked with him here and there, as she had the other students. How often had she said, "Take my hand, Douglas, we'll go outside." Or, "Let me show you how to hold your pencil." Or, "Let's do this together." Douglas was most thankful for his teacher's hand.
Brushing aside a tear, she went on with her work.
In fact, people might not always say "thanks". But they'll remember the hand that reaches out. | high9751.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "both enjoy the strong points at the other age by looking back or looking forward"
},
"options": [
"both aren't satisfied with the weak points at their ages",
"both enjoy the strong points at the other age by looking back or looking... | How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and the old wishing they were young again! Each age has its pleasure and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting any time in useless regrets.
Children is a time when there are few duties to make life hard. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after, and loved whatever he may do. It's impossible for him to be given so much again in his life without having to do anything in return. Besides, life is always giving new things to the child. A child finds pleasure in playing in the rain, or in the snow. His first visit to the seaside makes him wild. But a child has his pains; he is not so free to do as he wishes. He is continually being told not to do this, not to do that, or being punished for what he has done wrong. His life is therefore not perfectly happy.
When the young man starts to make his own living, he becomes free from the rules of school and parents; but at the time he is forced to accept duties. He can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes and his room, but has to work for them if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry and suffer. And if he breaks the law of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison, lf, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble, and has good health, he can have the great happiness of seeing himself make steady progress in his job and of building up his own position in society and enjoy success and good reputation..
Old age has always been thought of as the worst age to be, but it is not necessary for the old to be unhappy. Old age has its own happiness. They can have the joy of seeing their children making progress in life; they can watch their grandchildren growing up around them and, perhaps, best of all, they can, if their life has been a useful one, feel the happiness of having come through the battle of life safely and of having reached a time when they can lie back and rest, leaving others to continue the fight. | high699.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "To ask for help for the dying bird."
},
"options": [
"To thank her for saving him.",
"To look for food to feed the dying bird.",
"To warn her of danger.",
"To ask for help for the dying bird."
],
"question": "Wh... | I was born in Minneapolis. The city is in my blood. But I live in the country, and have been forced to deal with things that are difficult. One thing I've always had trouble with is birds. How could anyone enjoy staring out of the window for hours at these creatures? My mother had always been one of those ridiculous birdwatcher types. She tried to raise her children to have respect for wildlife, but with little effect on me.
One evening, a bird had been sitting on the same perch , as if frozen, for ten minutes. My mother got a ladder and took the bird from his perch. She inspected him. It seemed that his tongue was hurt, and that he was unable to drink from the feeder. My mother handed him to me while she went inside for an eyedropper .
Never in my life had I felt as frightened as when I was holding that tiny life in my hands. I placed the eyedropper inside the long beak. At first, the bird only trembled, but finally he managed to swallow. After a few minutes, he glided to a tree nearby and returned again. He flew to the tree and then back to me again and again. It didn't take me long to realize that he was sending me a message, a sort of "SOS".
I walked toward the tree, where I found the tiny creature trembling in the evening air. I slowly reached into the grass to pick up the bird. "Please, be okay." He had asked me for help. Now he owed me a favor in return and I was asking him to stay alive.
However, what I saw was another dead bird lying besides the bird. It must have been a very sad picture: a child wiping her face with her one free hand, while the other palm was cupped around a tiny, dying creature. Fate was taking its own course. Its pulse was hardly noticeable, and the body was growing colder.
I realized there were some things I could change and some I must simply accept. In either way, the two worlds sometimes collide and strangers must ask for, and be willing to receive, help from others. Without this, survival is not only impossible, but meaningless. | high23951.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "magazine"
},
"options": [
"magazine",
"news agency",
"research center",
"advertising company"
],
"question": "We can conclude from the passage that Teen Ink is a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | l.Your NAME,YEAR OF BIRTH,HOME ADDRESS/CITY/STATE/PHONE NUMBER,SCHOOL NAME(and English teacher)and EMAIL ADDRESS so we can email you if you're published.
For photos,place the information on the back of each envelope:PLEASE DON'T FOLD.
2.This statement MUST BE WRITTEN on each work;"I promise the above work is completely original,"and sign your name.
SEND IT ALL SUMMER!
By mail-Teen Ink Box 30 Newton,MA 02461
On the web-Teelnk.com/Submissions
By email-Submissions@TeenInk.com
THE FINE PRINT
*Type print carefully in ink.Keep a copy
*Writing may be edited;we reserve the right to publish it without your permission.
* If due to the personal nature of a piece you don't want your name published.we will respect your request,but you MUST include your name and address for our records.
* Include a self-addressed envelope,and we'11 send a coupon for any Pepsi product and an announcement to let you know we got your work.
* If published.you will receive a copy of Teen Ink.and a wooden pen.
* A11 Works _ will not be returned and all copyrights belong to Teen Ink.We keep the rights to publish all such works in any forms.All material in Teen Ink is copyrighted to protect US and prevent others from republishing your work. | high9989.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "show Jennifer's eased mind"
},
"options": [
"tell us the time of the story",
"show Jennifer's eased mind",
"show Jennifer's loneliness",
"indicate the beauty of nature"
],
"question": "The author mentions the vi... | Towards evening, Jennifer was walking on the beach with a gentle breeze blowing through her hair. Looking up at the golden red sun ball, she was surprised by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow. She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.
The atmosphere relaxed her. This was what she needed. "It's getting late," she thought, "I must go home. My parents will be wondering where I am." She wondered how her parents would react when she got home after the three days she was missing. She kept on walking, directing herself to bungalow 163, where she spent every summer holiday. The road was deserted. She walked slowly and silently. Just in a few hundred meters, she would have been safe in her house.
It was really getting dark now. She wished she had her favorite coat on. It might keep her really warm. She imagined having it with her. This thought dissipated when she finally saw her front door. It seemed different. Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days. She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now...
She entered the house. First, she went into the kitchen and saw a note written by her father, "Dear Ellen, there's some coffee ready; I went looking." But where was Ellen? On the right side of the hallway was her parents' room. She went in and saw her. Her mother, lying on the bed, was sleeping. Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn't slept for days. She was really pale. Jennifer would have wanted to wake her up, but she looked too tired. So Jennifer just fell asleep beside her. When Jennifer woke up something was different. She wasn't in her mother's room and she wasn't wearing the old clothes she ran away in. She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas .
It felt so good being back home. Suddenly she heard a voice. "Are you feeling better now, dear?
You know you got us very, very scared." | high12554.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "About 16. 5 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village."
},
"options": [
"Nearly one-third of Asian people speak Mandarin in the village.",
"About 8.25 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.",
"About ... | If the world were a village of 1,000 people, it would include:
* 584 Asians
* 124 Africans
* 95 Eastern and Western Europeans
* 84 Latin Americans
* 55 former Soviets (including Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other national groups)
* 52 North Americans
* 6 Australians and New Zealanders
The people of the village would speak:
* 165 Mandarin
* 86 English
* 83 Hindu/Urdu
* 64 Spanish
* 58 Russian
* 37 Arabic
The above list covers the mother tongues of only half the village.
One-third of the people in the village are children, and only 60 are over the age of 65. Just under half of the married women in the village have access to modem equipments.
This year 28 babies will be born. Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from cancer. Two of the deaths will be of babies born within the year. With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018.
In this village of 1,000 persons, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 receive only 2 percent of the income.
About one-third _ clean, safe drinking water.
Of the 670 adults in the village, half can not read nor write.
The village has a total yearly budget , public and private, of over $3 million--$ 3 ,000 per person if it is distributed evenly. Of the total $3 million:
$ 181,000 goes to weapons and warfare
$ 159,000 to education
$ 132,000 to health care
These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together. | high841.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she's a famous woman climber"
},
"options": [
"she won a competition in 1995",
"she loves rocks",
"she's a famous woman climber",
"she found a new route up to the Dru Mountain"
],
"question": "Catherine Destivet... | Catherine Destivelle is a rock star. She loves rock, but she can't sing or play the guitar! She is a rock climber and a big star in France and Italy. She is the most famous woman climber in the world because she often climbs without ropes. She climbs in many countries but most often in the French Alps near Chamonix, where she lives. She started climbing near her home in Paris when she was five. Then, at fourteen, she joined the French Alpine Club to learn more, but immediately she climbed better and more quickly than the older members of the club. She won her first competition in Italy in 1995.
Three years ago she found a new route up the Dru Mountain near Chamonix. The climb took eleven days and for four days the snow was so heavy that she could not move. Last year other climbers tried to follow the new Destivelle Route, but they failed. They are going to try again this year.
People always ask her about her climbing. She says, "I climb because I'm in love with mountains. I like touching the rock and reading the face of the rock. I like it a lot. I felt at home on the side of a mountain. I prepare well before I go, so I'm never worried."
Catherine chooses new mountains from books--like buying from a shopping catalogue! "I see a nice mountain and I go to climb it!" Her next mountain is in Pakistan. She is going there next month. "It's much bigger than the Dru, so it's going to take longer to climb. An American climber, Jeff Lowe, is coming with me to help." | high22497.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she was very brave"
},
"options": [
"she was very beautiful",
"she was very strong",
"she was very brave",
"she was very warm hearted"
],
"question": "\"Aunt Edith didn't accept defeat easily\" means that _ ."... | My aunt Edith was a widow of 50,working as a secretary,when doctors discovered she had got what was then thought to be a very serious heart illness.
Aunt Edith didn't accept defeat easily. She began studying medical reports in library and found an article in a magazine about a well-known heart doctor,Dr.Michael Debakey,of Houston,Texas. He had saved the life of someone with the same illness. The article said Dr Debakey's fees were very high;Aunt Edith couldn't possibly pay them. But could he tell her of someone whose fee she could pay?
So Aunt Edith wrote to him. She simply listed her reasons for wanting to live:her three children,who would be on their own in three or four years and among them a little girl who always dreamed of traveling and seeing the world. There wasn't a word of self-pity-only warmth and humor and the joy of living. She mailed the letter,not really expecting an answer.
A few days later,my doorbell rang. Aunt Edith didn't wait to come in;she stood in the hall and read aloud:
Your beautiful letter moved me very deeply. If you can come to Houston,there will be no charge for either the hospital or the operation.
Signed:Michael Debakey
That was seven years ago. Since then,Aunt Edith has been around the world. Her three children are happily married. For her age,she is one of the youngest,most alive people I know. | high13892.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they're allowed to act as cleaners and guards"
},
"options": [
"they're in charge of the cleaning of the park",
"they're allowed to act as cleaners and guards",
"they have to keep watch in the daytime",
"they have a com... | Disneyland may look like a straightforward theme park. But there's a secret world hidden behind the balloons, castles and cotton candy -- a place where wild cats wander at midnight, Mickey Mouse hides in the wallpaper, and movie stars drink martinis behind closed doors.
Cat security -- It's not easy keeping the ground of Disneyland spotless, as well as free of unwanted pests. Every night after closing time, 200 wild cats were freed into the park to help keep the rodent population under control. Though Disney doesn't comment on the matter, rumor has it that the cat taskforce dates back to 1957. After unsuccessful attempts to chase them out of the park, Disney decided to put the cats to work instead.
Hidden Mickeys--At Disneyland the round-eared Mickey Mouse image is everywhere. But you can also see hundreds of "Hidden Mickeys" across the park, which are very difficult to spot: they're camouflage in the architecture and landscaping as well as in the smallest stylistic details.
Cocktail behind closed doors-- _ unless you can manage to get your name on the list at Club 33. The secret cocktail club has a limited membership of just 487 and a waiting list of approximately 14 years. Walt Disney designed the club as a special space to entertain possible investors; since then, it has hosted US presidents, film stars and foreign guests.
Always on stage--At Disneyland, a doorman isn't a doorman, he is a "cast member". So are the large numbers of cashiers, painters, ride operators, gardeners and performers. All "cast members" are trained to follow a specific rule that helps preserve the Disney magic. On the list of dos and don'ts? Never break character. If wearing a costume that belongs in Fantasyland, don't set foot in Tomorrowland--it might Confuse visitors or break the park's orderly image. Cast members have a Disney "look book" that details the fresh-faced ideal--no long fingernails, beards, or unnaturally colored hair allowed. It's a return to Walt Disney's All-American standards: when the park opened even guests with facial hair weren't allowed entrance. | high4275.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The law was not strictly enforced."
},
"options": [
"It is very difficult to enforce laws.",
"People are not aware of the danger.",
"The law was not strictly enforced.",
"There is no law for ensuring us safe."
],
... | The huge explosion in Tianjin is only a symptom of a much bigger problem plaguing China today ! Laws are often not enforced , or are enforced half-heartedly. The law clearly prohibits storage of dangerous goods and chemicals within a certain radius of residential areas, and there must be strict adherence to rules on storage and transportation, etc. The fact that this accident occurred so close to residential areas, resulting in devastating damage to homes and serious injuries to residents, shows that the law was not strictly enforced. Whoever approved the siting of that logistic plant in that particular area has a lot to answer for. Often, officials come to take action only after lives are lost.
Another case in point is the unfortunate death of a young mother in the escalator accident in a shopping mall recently. Problems with elevators and escalators have been around for ages, and residents have made countless complaints, but to no avail. After the accident, city officials fan out all over the country checking on escalators for faults, and many escalators have been shut down for repairs.
This kind of action is a kneejerk reaction to a serious disaster! There are many disasters waiting to happen. And all are due to weak or non-existent enforcement. For instance, it's well known that many residents add an extra floor to the roof-top of their apartment bocks, endangering the safety of the block, while others dig into their ground floor units to create an extra basement living area, hacking away concrete slabs and cutting steel bars which are the basic foundation of the building, seriously jeodardizing its safety. Neighbors complain, city officials come round and leave, saying they can't do anything as the owner wouldn't open his door for an inspection! They would often leave a note on the owner's door telling him to stop construction, but true to form, the owner just ignores it. This is the kind of enforcement we see so often in China.
What is urgently needed in China is a complete overhaul of the enforcement practice, with every official held accountable for his failure to enforce the law strictly! Why wait till lives are lost before acting? | high19401.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "computers"
},
"options": [
"peripherals",
"computers",
"training services",
"internet services"
],
"question": "The purpose of this advertisement is to sell _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | Surfers' Paradise, the largest computer chain in Hong Kong and its neighbouring area, is offering a special package for school students for the month of July only!
Enjoy:
l Free internet connection package
l Free basic computer training from our computer school
l Free computer peripherals worth $300
Simply purchase a computer from any of our stores and you'll get the free gifts listed above. Show us your _ (so we know you are a school student) and get an added 35% discount off any computer model!
Call us at:Main office
SHBC International Complex
#1-10
Hong Kong 531122
Opening hours:
10 am to 10 pm, 7 days a weekShenzhen Branch
Hi-tech prefix = st1 /ComputerCity
#10-100
Shenzhen 64875813
Opening hours: 10 am to 6 pm, closed on Sundays and public holidaysGuangzhou Branch
22-24 Baiyun Avenue
Guangzhou 60048953
Opening hours: 10 am to 6 pm, closed on Sundays and public holidays | high16732.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They are both examples of great architecture."
},
"options": [
"They all appear very modern.",
"They are the symbols of their own cities.",
"They are all for people to live in.",
"They are both examples of great archite... | Here are some of the strangest buildings in the world. Please look at them and tell us your impressions.
Stone House, Portugal
The stone house in Portugal is really similar to the famous home of the Flintstones (<<>> ). It is built between two rocks and its architecture has impressed some of the greatest architects. The house was attacked by some bad people. The house is pretty comfortable inside, with a fireplace and every- thing necessary, so it is a wonderful example of modern architecture in Stone Age style!
Dancing Building, Czech Republic
The Dancing House, or "Fred and Ginger", is situated in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is an amazing masterpiece of architecture which has its own romantic charm. There is something so sweet in the way the buildings hug each other for a dance! It has become a symbol of the city!
The Crooked House, Poland
The crooked house in Poland has an extraordinary and amazing structure. It was built in 2003 with its design based on the pictures of Jan Marcin Szancer and Per Dahlberg. It looks as if it has been taken from a cartoon: its design is "crooked", but it is balanced, so it is not ugly at all, just strange! The interesting part is how builders managed to create this genius idea, but the house is a fact and everyone admires their creativity!
Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada
Habitat 67 in Canada is a very interesting arrangement of cubes,which looks like the building blocks that children play with. It is pretty interesting how it was designed -- it looks so original, and at the same time the building is completely stable and comfortable for living! It was created as a main attraction for Expo 67, where it was officially exposed! | high10343.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "encouraged the students to study hard"
},
"options": [
"asked why only the first girls could go to school",
"told the students the importance of craft work",
"explained why women must stay strong",
"encouraged the stude... | President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama ended their first trip to India on Monday. The First Couple set off on the ten-day tour of Asia on Friday. Obama's goals for the tour are to improve ties between the US and the region, and to promote economic growth and job creation. The President and his team will return to Washington, D.C. on November 14.
The Obamas began their trip in Mumbai, India, the financial and economic center of the country, on November 6. There, they met with government officials, business leaders and school groups. Up first on the schedule was a visit to a memorial at the TajMahal Palace and Tower Hotel. Obama's second day in India was lighter than the first. The Presidential visit took place on Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. The five-day religious festival is celebrated each year by Hindus, Sikhs and others. The Obamas spent the holiday visiting with local schoolchildren.
On Monday, Michelle Obama joined 15 Indian school girls on a field trip to a museum of Indian craft work. During the tour, the First Lady stressed to the students the importance of education. Most of the children on the trip are the first girls in their families to attend school. Mrs Obama also encouraged the young women to stay fit, telling them that she likes to exercise because "women have to stay strong".
Early tomorrow, the Obamas will travel to Indonesia, the country in which the President spent four years as a boy. After that, they will fly to Seoul, South Korea, to attend the Group of Twenty, or G-20, economic summit. The conference brings together leaders from 20 wealthy and developing nations and the European Union. They meet twice a year to address challenges that affect the global economy.
The final leg of the tour will be in Japan, where Obama will attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. | high10425.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Learning to Save on Textbooks"
},
"options": [
"Learning to Save on Textbooks",
"Why Buy Textbooks",
"Online Shopping",
"Tips for Buying Secondhand Textbooks"
],
"question": "Which of the following is the best t... | Every year many students went to the college bookstore to purchase the different textbooks that they need for their classes. Little do these students realize that, in doing so, they are throwing good money away. It may sound unbelievable but textbooks, in some cases, actually cost as much as, if not more than, college fees.
Many people think that college bookstores are the most convenient source for textbooks. Titles are usually kept and students may purchase new textbooks or choose to buy second-hand books and save money. But the money saved by purchasing second-hand textbooks from college bookstores is small compared to the amount they could save by shopping online.
More and more online booksellers have begun selling textbooks at heavily discounted prices. Online second-hand bookstores are another source for college books as they keep a large number of textbooks, which means sizable savings for students. Students should avoid purchasing their textbooks at the first store that they surf online since there are so many 'unreal' booksellers on the Net. Price isn't the only factor to consider when making an online purchase. Students should also consider shopping costs and delivery time when making their decision.
Online auctions are another option for students seeking a bargain. This option, however, has its _ . A plus is that students can get incredibly cheap books. One problem is that while online bookstores have a system in place that ensure you receive your order within a reasonable amount of time, with an auction purchase, however, you must depend on the auction seller's timetable.
One way that students can really save is by getting books for free. Project Gutenberg is one resource that English majors will find invaluable. Here students can legally download a huge collection of classic novels. In the past students needing help with their studies would often have to spend a lot of money buying expensive study guides. Today that is no longer the case. Cash-strapped students can now visit the website SparkNotes for free downloadable study guides as well as classics. | high2162.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To join the school's basketball team"
},
"options": [
"To play basketball everyday after school",
"To improve his skill at basketball",
"To join the school's basketball team",
"To play basketball, soccer, and baseball."... | When I was in my first year of high-school I tried out for my school's basketball team. Although I was very successful in other sports, particularly soccer and baseball, I was only a mediocre basketball player. I remember walking into the gymnasium and feeling shocked when I saw how many people were also trying out. I knew I was a good athlete, but I didn't know if my skill would be as good as the other participants.
Try-outs lasted for four long days. At the end of each day, the basketball coach had a short discussion with each player. He told some of the players to come back for the next day, and told other players that they had not made the team. This is called getting cut. All of us were afraid of getting cut at the end of each practice.
On the fourth day of try-outs there were only twenty kids left. I was one of them, but we all knew only eighteen students would make the team. This day was the most intense day of them all. There were many opportunities to impress the coach but there were so few people that the pressure was very high. I was not one of the best players on the team, so I was especially worried on this last day. At the end of practice the coach told every player to take one shot from the same spot. Many kids missed their shot but mine went in the basket.
After practice we waited as the coach talked to each player. When my turn finally came my heart skipped a beat when I walked towards the coach. My head was spinning when the coach started speaking and I was almost shaking because I was anxious. The coach told me that I had done very well and that he was impressed. However, the team only eighteen spots and unfortunately none of these would be mine. | high21820.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Returned the prize to the organizer,"
},
"options": [
"Returned the prize to the organizer,",
"Apologized to Wobum High School.",
"Took photos of the state prize.",
"Had a meeting with Doran"
],
"question": "Wha... | Giving Back
Fair Way
The Westborough High School golf team had taken the official photos with the state prize, The other teams, disappointed, were on the bus heading home. And then Westborough instructor Greg Rota noticed something wrong on one of the score cards.
A 9 had been recorded as a 7. They were not the state prize winner; Wobum High had won. "None one have known, said Wobum's instructor, Bob Doran. For Rota, it wasn't a difficult decision: "The prize wasn't ours to take:?
Coin Stars
"College students are lazy. but they also want to help," says University of]Pennsyivania graduate. Dan Hork. So she made it easy, placing cups in rooms where students could leave their spare coins, and handing out cups to first-year students to keep in their rooms. Her "Change for Change" effort has collected$40,000 for charities, which were decided upon by students .
Never Forgotten
A school in Massachusetts received a $ 9. 5 million check from Jacques LeBermuth. But it took officials several days of digging to discover his connection to the school, Records showed the LeBermuth came from Belgium and studied in the school in the 1920s. When his family fell on hard times, he was offered free room and board. LeBermuth became a trader, owned shares of AT&T and lived off the earnings until he died at age 89. | high19367.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A rocky path to success"
},
"options": [
"An easy way to success",
"A rocky path to success",
"A clever boy",
"A successful boy"
],
"question": "Which of the following is the best title of the passage?",
"qu... | He only finished fourth in this year's Super Boy talent show. But it didn't stop him capturing the hearts of thousands of fans. He can hit high notes with ease. And he is very modest. Zhang Jie,25,shed sweat and tears all the way through the competition, but he never gave up.
"No matter how life treats him, he always fights back bravely ,"said Wu Chunyan, a Senior 2 student in Hubei. "He has never lost his dream of being a singer." The road to fame is always rocky, and Zhang is no exception. As a college student he was majoring in tourism. He was considering becoming a tourist guide after graduation until he entered a singing competition.
His life changed after he competed in My Show. He won first place and signed with a record company. "I was very excited and regarded it as a way to take me closer to my dream," he said. But the company gave him little money to make music and slowly began to ignore him. Zhang even borrowed money to buy costumes. "Life has its ups and downs. But the tough reality only makes me stronger," he said.
He forgot he was once a champion of a talent show and joined Super Boy. His decision got support from his family who worked hard to make ends meet. His mother sold rice noodles on a street in his hometown, but she said she would "support him forever."
"I have the dream to buy a large house for my parents, where my mom can get a large window sill to grow flowers," said Zhang. | high16054.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Their habitat has been lost."
},
"options": [
"The weather is changing",
"The flowers have died out",
"Their habitat has been lost.",
"The environment has changed"
],
"question": "Why did the butterflies fly awa... | It's always great to hear news about wildlife returning to where they once lived. For the first time in 8 years the small blue --- British's smallest butterfly--- has been seen back at a nature reserve in Hertfordshire.
This nature reserve has had a lot of work done recently in order to help butterflies. Management of the land has included bringing in sheep to keep the grass under control in a more natural way and planting wild flowers for butterfly species. The nature reserve is home to a number of butterfly species. In fact the way that this reserve has been managed means that it is probably the best reserve in Hertfordshire to see butterflies with at least 25 species now living in the area.
There are a number of threats to British butterflies and the greatest threat is the loss of their habitat. Changing farming practice has affected British native butterfly species greatly with many more now being at risk. _ A wide species of butterflies will generally mean a healthy environment.
The type of land management at the nature reserve in Hertfordshire offers a hope for many species of butterfly to live as usual. Butterflies need all the help they can get at the moment. Although the number of butterflies is beginning to increase, many are still at risk. | high12232.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "may cause people to give up losing weight"
},
"options": [
"are easier for people to lose weight",
"may cause people to give up losing weight",
"provide brief feedback and tips",
"are easy to track diet and exercise beh... | If you like texting and are trying to lose weight, a new study found that using texting to track diet and exercise habits may help you lose weight.
Previous research has shown that keeping food and exercise diaries improves the likelihood of success when you are trying to lose weight. Using a computer or a pen and paper to record information, however, can be a burden and cause some people to give up.
Duke University researchers said using text messages to track eating and exercise habits can save time, and increase the chances that people will stick with their weight-loss rules.
The study included 26 obese women with an average age of 38. The women used daily texting as part of their weight-loss program. The text messages focused on tracking personalized goals, such as avoiding sugary drinks or walking 10,000 steps a day. Messages also provided brief feedback and tips.
Every morning, the women received a text from an automated system that said, "Please text yesterday's personal information of steps you walked and how many sugary drinks you had." Based on the women's responses to the text message, the system sent another text with personalized feedback and tips.
After six months, the women who used daily texting lost an average of nearly 3 pounds, while another group of women who used traditional methods to keep food and exercise diaries gained an average of 2.5 pounds, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
"Text messaging has become popular and may be an effective method to simplify tracking of diet and exercise behavior," Dori Steinberg, who was responsible for this research, said.
Steinberg said, "Text messaging offers several advantages compared to other self-monitoring methods. Unlike web-based diet and exercise diaries, data in a text message can be entered quickly on nearly all cellphone platforms so it is very convenient to receive feedback. Besides, because of the limited number of words used in text messages, it saves time." | high14643.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "suggest that we not disrupt the natural food chain"
},
"options": [
"explain what the food chain is",
"tell us something interesting about Nature",
"suggest that we stop eating meat to save animals",
"suggest that we no... | Energy goes from one plant or animal to another. A food chain shows how this energy moves. Each time an animal gets eaten, its energy is passed onto the animal that eats it. The food chain is very important because it keeps the balance of nature. If one part of the food chain disappears, it can affect all the other plants and animals. Any threat to the food chain is a threat to the environment's biodiversit . The food chain helps keep animal populations in balance. However, if something happens to increase or decrease one of the links in the food chain, that balance is broken. If one animal becomes endangered, it puts all the animals above it at risk.
Some of the threats are natural, such as wildfires, hurricanes, tornados, floods and so on. But the biggest threats to the food chain come from you and me. These threats include overhunting, overfishing, logging, farming, development, pollution, etc. The food chain is endangered anywhere humans have had an effect on the natural environment.
A recent study shows that the overfishing of large sharks is damaging the food chain along the US Atlantic coast. Canadian and American scientists say sharks are being killed in great numbers for their meat and fins . Now, not enough sharks are around to eat the cownose ray. The ray's population has increased and they have eaten up the shellfish to the point where it has hurt commercial fishing.
Many of us disturb the natural environment in our own backyards. It's up to us to take care of the environment and try not to disrupt the natural food chain. If we don't act responsibly, animals will start disappearing. | high9037.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is a way to lift the restriction specially imposed by the Iphone manufacturer."
},
"options": [
"Criminals escape out of the jail",
"People make a great breakthrough in their life",
"It is a way to lift the restriction spe... | On Oct4,2011 , I phone 4s made its international appearance at the press conference claimed by the Iphone cooperation . Ever since then , Iphone4s has become _ and even made a fashion around the globe. Meanwhile , many new expressions come about in relationship with this type of high-tech products. "Jailbreak" is one of them.
" Jailbreak" means to unlock the operating system of a mobile phone or other device so that it can run software which it is not normally authorized to use because of restrictions imposed by the device's manufacturer.
If someone jailbreaks a smartphone, tablet computer or other device , they use a special piece of software in order to remove the restrictions imposed by the manufacturer on the kind of applications that can be downloaded and run on the device. The concept of jailbreaking is most often associated with products from Apple Inc, such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad, which routinely restrict the user to applications licensed exclusively by Apple and purchased via its App Store. As well as wanting to lift the restriction on what kinds of applications they can purchase, those who jailbreak often do so as a reaction against what they consider as a form of censorship imposed by Apple Inc in only allowing the use of their 'approved' apps.
The concept of jailbreaking dates back to July 2007, when it was applied to the iPhone within a month of the device's first release. This first occurrence related to the adding of custom ringtones , but the idea quickly developed as a means to lift the restriction and equip the phone with games and other applications not licensed by Apple Inc. | high6304.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "had lots of money"
},
"options": [
"all came from Roman",
"were very young and strong",
"had lots of money",
"traveled by boat"
],
"question": "In the early times, the travelers _ .",
"question_type": "cl... | Tourism probably started in Roman times. Rich Romans visited friends and family who were working in another part of the Roman Empire. But when the empire broke down,this kind of tourism stopped.
In the early 17th century, the idea of the "Grand Tour" was born. Rich young English people sailed across the English Channel .They visited the most beautiful and important European cities of the time, including Paris in France, and Rome and Venice in Italy. Their tours lasted for two to four years, and the tourists stayed a few weeks or months in each city. The "Grand Tour" was an important part of young people's education--but only for the rich.
In the 18th century, tourism began to change. For example, people in the UK started to visit some towns, such as Bath to" take the waters". They believed that the water there was good for their health. So large and expensive hotels were built in these towns.
In the 19th century, travel became much more popular and faster. When the first railways were built in the 1820s, it was easier for people to travel between towns, so they started to go for holidays by the sea. And some started to have holidays in the countryside as cities became larger, noisier and dirtier.
Traveling by sea also became faster and safer when the first steamships were built. People began to travel more to far away countries.
The 20th century saw cars become more and more popular among ordinary people. Planes were made larger, so ticket prices dropped and more people used them.
Thus tourism grew. In 1949, Russian journalist Vladimir Raitz started a company called Horizon Holidays. The company organizes everything--plane tickets, hotel rooms, even food--and tourists pay for it all before they leave home. The package tour and modern tourist industry was born.
The first travel agency in China was set up as early as 1949.But tourism did not take off until 1978.In 2002,the industry was worth 500 billion yuan and became an important part of China's social development. | high1480.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "RoadRagehasreceivedmuchmediacoverageinthelastfewmonths"
},
"options": [
"onemaybeangeredbymediareportsandwantstoavoidthem",
"themediacoinedtheterm\"RoadRage\"onlyafewmonthsago",
"RoadRagehasreceivedmuchmediacoverageinthelastf... | If you haven't heard or seen anything about Road Rage in the last few months, you've probably been avoiding the media. There have been countless stories about this new and scary phenomenon, considered a type of aggressive driving. You have most likely encountered aggressive driving or Road Rage recently if you drive at all.
While drunk driving remains a critical problem, the facts about aggressive driving are surely as disturbing. For instance, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Association, 41,907 people died on the highway last year. Of those deaths, the agency estimates that about two-thirds were caused at least in part by aggressive driving behavior.
Why is this phenomenon occurring more than ever now, and why is it something that seemed almost nonexistent a few short years ago? Experts have several theories, and all are probably partially correct. One suggestion is sheer overcrowding. In the last decade, the number of cars on the roads has increased by more than 11 percent, and the number of miles driven has increased by 35 percent. However, the number of new road miles has only increased by 1 percent. That means more cars in the same amount of space; and the problem is magnified in urban areas. Also, people have less time and more things to do. With people working and trying to fit extra chores and activities into the day, stress levels have never been higher. Stress creates anxiety, which leads to short tempers. These factors, when combined in certain situations, can _ Road Rage.
You may think you are the last person who would drive aggressively, but you might be surprised. For instance, have you ever yelled out loud at a slower driver, sounded the horn long and hard an another car, or sped up to keep another driver from passing? If you recognize yourself in any of these situations, watch out!
Whether you are getting angry at other drivers, or another driver is visibly upset with you, there are things you can do to avoid any major conflict. If you are easily influenced by Road Rage, the key is to discharge your emotion in a healthy way. If you are the target of another driver's rage, do everything possible to get away from the other driver safely, including avoiding eye contact and getting out of their way. | high114.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Sea turtles suffering from plastic pollution."
},
"options": [
"How to prevent the sea turtle from plastic.",
"Why plastic is dangerous to the sea turtle.",
"Sea turtles suffering from plastic pollution.",
"Protecting t... | At first sight, you would think the collection of hundreds of color1ed shards could be a work of abstract art. But the objects are the contents of the stomach of a sea turtle that lost its battle with plastic pollution.
Environmentalists examined the stomach of the turtle found off the coast of Argentina. What they found is the symptom of the increasing threat to sea turtles from a human addiction to plastic.
Sea turtles often mistake plastic items for jellyfish or other food. Ingesting ocean pollution can cause a digestive blockage and internal cuts. The result can be dangerous, followed by death.
Humans produce 260 million tons of plastic a year. When those products are pulled into the sea's currents, the plastics are just broken into smaller pieces which are consumed by marine life at the bottom of the food chain. An examination of a green turtle found off Florida discovered that, over the course of a month, the animal's faeces had contained 74 foreign objects, including "four types of balloons, different types of hard plastic, a piece of carpet-like material and two 2-4 mm tar balls."
"The oceans have become on giant refuse bin for all manners of plastics. All sea turtle species may be seriously harmed. " according to the biologists Colette Wabnitz, from the University of British Columbia. "The symptom of this growing crisis can be seen inside and on sea turtles as well as their oceanic and terrestrial habitats. It is urgently necessary to directly confront the source of plastic pollution, redesign packaging and rethink the very idea of 'throwaway culture'."
Almost all marine species, from plankton to whales, have ingested plastic. But, even in small quantities, plastic can kill sea turtles, the biologists said.
Fifty out of 92 turtles found dead, stranded on the shorelines of Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil, had ingested a "considerable amount of man-made _ ". | high23004.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "direct the driver when necessary"
},
"options": [
"look ahead to see where there is a gas station",
"move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable",
"keep looking at the map to find another place to go to",
"direct the... | For teenagers, it's great fun to explore new places and it feels like an adventure, even when you know you're not the first to have been there. But to make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles, the following tips may be helpful.
*Do the map reading if you're being driven somewhere. It'll be easier if you keep the map following the direction you are traveling in. Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn, or you'll have to move to the back seat.
*Get a group of friends together and go exploring. You'll need a good map, a compass, a raincoat, a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of spare cash for emergencies. Tell someone where you're going before you set out and let them know what time you expect to be back. The purpose of the activity is in not getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.
*See if your school or a club organizes orienteering activities, in which you need a map and a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B(and B to C, etc. ) in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. It enables you to be familiar with the use of maps and compass and gain some special skills. In some way, it's not only good fun, but also a great way to keep fit. | high14870.txt |
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