questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "thought that she couldn't live long"
},
"options": [
"tried their best to make her live until then",
"thought it was a wonder that she could live to three",
"thought that she couldn't live long",
"believe that she could... | In my twenty-six years as a free writer, I have worked for newspapers, magazines and the Internet sites.
I have reviewed the famous people, and criticized the political characters. Yet along my journalistic journey there have been several interviews that remain deeply in my memory. For not only did the characters of those specific people impress me, they actually influenced my life.
Lynn R. Taylor is such a special person.
Born in Buffalo, New York, on May 2, 1962, Lynn Taylor was just like all the other kids in her neighborhood. At the age of three she was diagnosed with Wilms Tumor, a cancer of the kidneys. Given a "no-chance" prediction, doctors completely removed one of Lynn's kidneys and part of another. They then predicted that if she survived to the age of five, she might possibly make ten.
In the decade that followed, Lynn Taylor met and surpassed all medical experts' gloom-and-doom predictions. At the age of fourteen she was in full remission , and by seventeen, she was considered cured. Yet in this case, Lynn's medical history was far from closed.
Over the next twenty-three years, Lynn earned her undergraduate degree and master's degree in economics. Then she was awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Sussex in England. There she was invited to teach and earned her second master's degree. Upon returning to Buffalo, the successful young woman engaged in a variety of high level jobs, including head of Multicultural Affairs at a local college.
Recently Lynn has added a new activity to her schedule----that of a cancer hospital volunteer. It is her wish to provide living proof for patients that cancer is not necessarily a death sentence but rather, as she has proved, something to overcome. | high8671.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a 3D movie makes their brain active"
},
"options": [
"a 3D movie makes their brain active",
"a 3D movie is more exciting than a 2D movie",
"children enjoy watching a 3D movie",
"children like the experience which \"gets... | Watching a 3D movie can more than double the concentration powers and cognitive processing of children, a new research claims.
A study made by visual technology firm RealD and led by child psychologist Dr Richard Woolfson suggests that childrenaged between 7 and 14 experienced twice the cognitive processing speed and performed better in testing after watching 20 minutes of a 3D film. This is despite suggestions that attention spans in children have shortened in the last decade due tounlimitedto access to entertainment, including on-demand TV, gaming and social media. A 2015 study claimed that watching 3D content had a similar effect to brain-training exercises.
Consumer psychologist Mr Fagan said that the increasedstimulation found in watching something in 3D "exercised" the brain and improved performance in the short term. "3D films can play the role of 'brain-training' games and help to make children 'smarter' in the short term," he said. "The shortening of response times after watching 3D was almost three times as big as that gained from watching 2D; in other words, 3D helps children process aspects of their environment more quickly. This is likely to be because 3D is a mentallystimulatingexperience which 'gets the brain's juices flowing'."
The experiment saw children given a range of cognitive tests before watching 20 minutes of a movie in either 2D or 3D and being tested again. The results showed those who saw the 3D content reacted faster and performed bettering the second round of testing. Mental engagement also rose by 13% among 3D watchers. Child psychologist Dr Woolfson added that "supportive parenting" and regularly listening to classical music can also aid a child's memory. | high15005.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "her home was far away from where she worked."
},
"options": [
"she liked to live in the busiest place.",
"she didn't like to live in the country.",
"her home was far away from where she worked.",
"she didn't want to go ... | A beautiful and very successful actress was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the countryside, but she did not want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the centre of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colours.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show, because everybody wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of the month, when she got the painter's bill . At the bottom of it were these words: " Four hours watching Miss Hall sing and dance : 3 pounds," with this note: " After 5 p.m. I get 15 shillings an hour instead of 10 shillings." | high6884.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A fine match"
},
"options": [
"A clever mouse",
"A successful way",
"A fine match",
"A clever lady"
],
"question": "What would be the best title of the story?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {... | One day a lady saw a mouse running across her kitchen floor. She was very afraid of mouse, so she ran out of the house, got into a bus and went to the shops. There she bought a mousetrap. The shopkeeper said to her, "Put some cheese in it and you will soon catch that mouse."
The lady went home with her mousetrap, but when she looked in her cupboard, she could not find any cheese in it. She did not want to go back to the shop, because it was very late, so she cut a picture of some cheese out of a magazine and put that in the trap.
Surprisingly, the picture of the cheese was quite successful! When the lady came down to the kitchen the next morning she found a picture of a mouse in the trap beside the picture of the cheese | high22871.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "deserts"
},
"options": [
"farms",
"gardens",
"deserts",
"fields"
],
"question": "Places where great cities once stood are now like _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | There are some places in the world where great cities once stood. There were trees, gardens and grass. But now these cities have gone and the places are like deserts. Scientists began to study this land to find out what happened. Many of them believed the land died when the trees were cut down.
Trees help other plants grow and help hold the soil in place. They keep the soil from blowing away. The leaves of trees on the ground keep rainwater from running off. Trees near farms protect growing plants from strong winds.
Once there were hundreds of farms in the southwestern United States. Then the farms turned into fields of dry dust. Trees might have saved these farms. But few trees grow in the dry southwest now.
Now we try to save trees. In many places, when a tree is cut down , a new tree is planted in its place . We do not want the land to die. | high1133.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "giving an example"
},
"options": [
"following the order of importance",
"making a comparison",
"setting down general rules",
"giving an example"
],
"question": "The author explains the halo effect mainly by _ ... | As each semester begins, my colleague greets his students wearing a jacket and tie.
"You make only one first impression," he says. So while the rest of the semester he teaches class in his usual, more casual clothes, the first week he presents a different image.
His thought is that students will remember their first meet positively and more readily think highly of him as the semester goes on because that favorable first impression has an influence on them.
The sequence that we meet matters in how we judge subsequent information. The big influence of first impressions is related to the halo effect, where the perception of positive qualities in one thing or part gives rise to the perception of similar qualities in related things or in the whole.
Here is an example: You meet a friendly person at a party and later are asked to collect money for a worthy cause. You call that person because you think she will make a contribution. In reality, there is no connection between being pleasant and being generous. Yet the halo effect leads you to think that the two are related.
The halo effect is powerful, but it is questionable whether it matters much in long-term relationships, such as that between teacher and student. While dressing up may make students think the teacher must know his subject matter because he creates a professional first impression, the effect wears thin if the person turns out to be a poor teacher after all.
First impressions matter but they don't have the final word. Facts speak louder. If you had never seen or heard of Einstein, the first time you saw him your impression would most likely be negative. Now his face is connected with genius , not madness because he is the person who has come to define what genius is.
The problem is that few of us are Einsteins and we often don't get the chance to change a negative first impression. | high13474.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Earth Hour 2014"
},
"options": [
"Earth Hour 2014",
"Save Our Earth",
"Lights-Off Event",
"Earth Hour Blue"
],
"question": "Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage? _",
"question_... | Thousands of cities around the globe turned off their lights for an hour to mark Earth Hour 2014, a symbolic show of support for the environment organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Since the movement began in Sydney, Australia, in 2007, it has spread to more than 7,000 cities across more than 160 countries. Singapore continues to hold one of the world's largest lights-off events, drawing around 9,000 people this year to Marina Bay Sands, a commercial center typically awash in electricity.
To mark the event actors Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone and a group of other famous stars from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie were in town.
Other iconic landmarks that fell dark included the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok's Wat Arun temple, the Empire State Building in New York, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Sydney Opera House, Red Square in Moscow, the Bird's Nest in Beijing and Hong Kong Harbor.
As the movement has grown, more organizations and business have committed to switching off their lights in support of efforts to reduce their environmental footprint. In Singapore, at least 600 organizations and companies agreed to either switch off their lights or participate in movements to use fewer plastic bags, take shorter showers, turn up their air-conditioning units or switch to LED lighting.
This year the World Wide Fund for Nature, which first launched worldwide Earth Hour, also launched Earth Hour Blue, a crowdfunding platform aimed at raising money for environmental projects around the globe. On Mar. 26 a project to stop the illegal wildlife trade in Asia by providing assistance to wildlife rangers became the first one to reach its target of $20,000 by relying completely on crowdfunding.
The hour-long event has little if any impact on electricity consumption, but as an awareness raising event it has registered success.
In a statement to mark Saturday's event, Andy Ridley, CEO and Co-Founder of Earth Hour, said Asia's rapidly growing digital presence is an added bonus that has helped power our movement. | high18521.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Moving both arms while walking can help you lose more weight."
},
"options": [
"Wearing a piece of reflective clothing can make you look smart.",
"Moving both arms while walking can help you lose more weight.",
"You should bu... | Walking is the exercise of choice for most dieters. You don't need a gym membership to do this effective exercise. Here's how to prepare:
The only equipment you really need is a decent pair of walking shoes. What matters most is comfort. When you're shopping for shoes:
*Wear the socks you plan to exercise in. That way you'll get the best fit.
*Try on both shoes. Most people's feet aren't exactly the same size. Choose a pair that fits your larger foot.
*Allow a little extra room. Feet swell when you walk, so buy a pair with about a thumb's width between your longest toe and the toe of the shoe.
Sure, walking comes naturally. But the following tips will help you stay comfortable and get the most out of your walk:
*Look ahead. Keep your neck straight and your head held high. If you have to look down to see where you're going, lower your eyes, not your head.
*Move both arms. Let your arms swing naturally at your sides, and you'll burn up to 15 percent more calories by keeping your arms moving.
*Don't carry unnecessary weight. Some people try to get in extra exercise by carrying a couple of light dumbbells , but fitness-walking experts say that's risky: The weights can pull you off balance and tighten muscles in your back or legs.
Walking is one of the safest activities. Still, the following tips may be helpful:
*If you're walking at night, wear a piece of reflective clothing.
*If the path is dimly lit, bring a good flashlight.
*When the weather's hot, be sure to drink some water before you set out and better take a bottle of water with you if you plan to walk quite a long time.
*If your path is rough, protect your ankles. Consider wearing a comfortable bandage for support. | high5355.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the Internet use may cause psychological problems"
},
"options": [
"the Internet can bring people many advantages",
"the Internet use may cause psychological problems",
"the Internet users are not satisfied with their lives",... | The Internet brings us many advantages.
With the Internet, people can send and receive emails. On the Internet, people can skim over news. Using the Telnet, the user anywhere on the Internet can log into any other machine on which he has an account. It is possible to use the FTP program to copy files from one machine on the Internet to another.
But the Internet also brings us troubles.
Internet use seems to cause a fall in psychological health, according to research at Carnegie Mellon University. Even people who spent just a few hours a week on the Internet experienced more depression and loneliness than those who logged on less often, the twoyear study showed. And it wasn't that people who were already feeling bad spent more time on the Internet, but that using the Net actually seemed to cause the bad feelings.
Researchers are puzzled over the results, which were completely opposite to what they had expected. They expected that the Net would prove socially healthier than television, since the Net allows users to choose their information and to communicate with others.The fact that Internet use reduces time used for family and friends may be the reason for the drop in health, researchers said. Faceless, bodiless"virtual" communication may be less psychologically satisfying than actual conversations, and the relationships formed through it may not be so deep. Another possibility is that exposure to the wider world through the Net makes users less satisfied with their lives.
"But _ it's _ important _ to _ remember _ this _ is _ not _ about _ the _ technology; _ it's _ about _ how _ it _ is _ used,"said one of the researchers. "It really points to the need for considering social factors when you design new inventions." | high17612.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "introduce the topic of the passage"
},
"options": [
"persuade readers to believe something",
"introduce the topic of the passage",
"get the readers excited",
"offer something to think over"
],
"question": "The w... | We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color? Where do the yellows and oranges come from? To answer those questions, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.
Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose, which is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis, which means " putting together with light. " A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.
As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter.
During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small a-mounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. Covered up by the green chlorophyll, we just can't see them in summer.
The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.
It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall. | high11263.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "depressed"
},
"options": [
"Bored",
"Relieved",
"depressed",
"hopeful"
],
"question": "When it was time to graduate, the author felt _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | For most people, graduation is an exciting day - the culmination of years of hard work. My graduation day... was not.
I remember that weekend two years ago, Family and friends had traveled far to watch our class walk across the stage. But like everyone else in my graduating class, I had watched the economy go from bad to worse during my senior year. We graduates had degrees, but very limited prospects . I hadn't secured a job, and I knew that the next day, when my lease ended, I would no longer have a place to call home.
The weeks ahead weren't easy. I gathered up everything I couldn't carry and put it into storage. Then, because I had no opportunities in my small university town, I packed up my car and drove to California to find work. But what I thought would take a week dragged into two, then four, and 100 job applications later, I found myself still jobless. The due date to begin paying back my student loans was creeping even closer.
Have you ever felt utter dread? That feeling became a constant in my life. The most frustrating part was no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't seem to make any progress.
So what did I do to maintain my sanity? I wrote. Something about putting my words on a page made everything clearer. Something about writing gave me hope.
I channeled my frustration into a children's book. Beyond the river was the story of an unlikely hero, a little fish who refused to give up.
And then one day, with no writing degree or contacts in the writing world - just hard work and perseverance - I was offered a publishing contract for my first book. After that, things were in place, I was offered a second book deal. Then, a few months later, I got an interview with the Walt Disney Company and was hired shortly after.
The moral of this story is... don't give up, even if things look bleak now. Two years ago I was drinking cold soup right out the can. Things change. All we need is the courage to push beyond the river. | high3724.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "can drink water without fearing that the water isn't treated"
},
"options": [
"can drink water without fearing that the water isn't treated",
"will have to pay more money eventually than if they just drink bottled water",
"wi... | Water is of vital importance in a healthy diet and lifestyle. There are many health benefits of drinking water .It helps get _ out of our systems. It aids in the delivery of oxygen and nutrients .In fact, nearly every system in our bodies depends on water for proper functioning .But how can we tell whether the water we're drinking is healthy?
As to tap water, it's relatively easy .If your water comes from a governmental source , the suppliers are required by law to provide annual water quality reports .If you have a well, you can have an authorized lab test your water .It may cost $100 or more, but it's a small price to pay for peace of mind .
When it comes to bottled drinking water, it can be more difficult to know what you're getting .Start by checking the label or the bottle cap. Some may tell you that the water comes from a governmental source or "community water system", which means tap water .If the label doesn't give any information, you can call the bottler and ask .But don't be surprised if you get the runaround and are transferred to several different departments .Some states have a bottled water program that tracks bottled drinking water and can tell you the origin of the water as well as other information .
Safe and healthy drinking water has become big business .Thousands of companies are competing for your hard earned cash , and some are not always honest about what their products offer .The initial investment in a home drinking water filtration system can seem expensive at first , but over time , it is usually less expensive than bottled drinking water .And with a water filter , you at least know where the water you drink comes from and how it is treated .
Before going out and spending your hard earned money on bottled drinking water , it's a good idea to do some research .You're likely to find that a drinking water filtration system or purifier is a healthier choice and provides the best value as well . | high8659.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "only a few watches of the kind were made"
},
"options": [
"the watches were made many years ago",
"the watches were made by a Swiss watchmaker",
"only rich people can afford the watches",
"only a few watches of the kind... | Have you ever dreamed of having a fashionable watch of great value?
A small watchmaker in Switzerland in 1922 designed the first automatic watch to show the day, month , and date. Only seven of these splendid watches were ever made and these watches were almost lost to history. Today, it is so hard to get and original watch that some watch historians are even willing to offer $200,000 for one.
These watches attracted a lot of people for their splendid color1, fashionable style and new uses in the 1920s. The owners of the watches were admired and set apart from the crowd. Because the number of the original watches is very limited, owning such a watch will make you feel very special.
Today, you are offered the same kind of watch with improvement. It has a 24-jewel mechanical movement, the kind desired by watch collectors. The watchmaker has made the movement of the watch much more modern with an automatic rotor so that the watch never needs to be wound by hand. The watch comes in a very beautiful case with a crocodile design on it. To get a watch in such a perfect design means to get a chance to know a piece of watch-making history and to wear such a watch will show your personal taste and social position.
You can get the watch either in person or by mail at an affordable price. You will also receive good service form the watch seller. If you are not satisfied with the watch after you get it, you may simply return it within 30 days. Don't miss the chance to realize your dream. | high22681.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "there are many people who can not afford housing"
},
"options": [
"there is a serious lack of proper housing",
"there are many people who can not afford housing",
"transitional housing is as expensive as apartments",
"a... | An affordable housing law passed three years ago promises a possible supply of below-market-rate homes, but has failed to encourage increased housing production and is unlikely to affect prefix = st1 /San Francisco's poorest families.
Barbara, 44, who came to The City in 1970, have been trying to pick herself up from the bottom, where she and her children started out with just the clothes on their backs-through the kindness of others they got by.
They were last homeless in 1999. Since then, Barbara has worked hard to keep from returning to the streets and the shelters, taking advantage first of transitional housing, then a rent assistance, and studying for a job as a nursing assistant and a home health aide.
However the cost for housing has made it difficult for her to _ . She can't afford proper housing. Even an improper shelter costs as much as $ 1,200 for rent. She has to spend every night in a dining room. In this respect, she is not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of San Franciscans who are in the same boat with her.
Since 2000, she's been providing health care in the homes of charity , and relying on an assistance program to pay the rent for her two-bedroom apartment in the Lower Height. A few months ago she lost her full-time job due to budget cuts, just as she had hoped to get a permanent post that would allow her to cover her $ 1,700 monthly rent.
Now she works three or four hour shifts six days a week for $ 10.50 an hour, taking the bus around from client to client and worrying that in February, when her rent assistance is gone, she could end up on the streets with her family again. | high22859.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Their figure."
},
"options": [
"Their figure.",
"Their future life.",
"Their work as a housewife.",
"Their eating habits."
],
"question": "What are the four women talking about?",
"question_type": "factiod_q... | Glynis
I piled on the pounds and I couldn't lose them. Then I joined a slimming club. My target weight was 140 pounds and I lost 30 pounds in six months. I felt great and people kept saying how good I looked. But Christmas came and I started to slip back into my old eating habits. I told myself I'd lose the weight at slimming classes in the next year, but it didn't happen. Instead of losing the pounds, I put them on. I'd lost will power and tried to believe the saying that fish and chips didn't make any difference but the scales don't lie.
Roz
To be honest, I never weigh myself any more. I've leant to be happy with myself. It seemed to me that I would feel sorry about every spoonful of tasty food that passed my lips. My idea is simple. You shouldn't think too much about food and dieting. Instead, you should get on with life and stop dreaming of a super-thin body. This is obviously the size I'm meant to be and, most of all I'm happy with it.
Lesley
I was very happy about winning Young Slimmer of the Year. I'd look in the mirror, unable to believe this slim lady was me! That might have been my problem-perhaps from then on I didn't pay any attention to myself. Winning a national competition makes everything worse, though because you feel the eyes of the world are fixed upon you. I feel a complete failure because I've put on weight again.
Ros
Before moving in with my husband Gavin, I'd always been about 110 pounds, but the pleasant environment went straight to my waist and I put on 15 pounds in a year. Every so often I try to go on a diet. I always do well in the first few days, then end up having the children's leftovers or eating chocolate happily-my weakness. I'd like to be slim. I decided to take more exercise when my kids are older. | high6674.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "she was anxious about her son's safety"
},
"options": [
"her son saved a woman",
"she was scolded by fire fighters",
"she was anxious about her son's safety",
"her son was to blame for a fire"
],
"question": "Th... | My 16-year-old son, Anton, had gone to the local swimming hole. Most of the kids who swim there are fit and strong teens, and there are plenty of rocks for them to use as safe harbors, so I had no fears for his well-being. Still, the firefighter's first words, "You need to come up here to the Stillwater River," made me catch my breath.
When I got to the river, I saw Anton sitting quietly on a low platform of the fire engine, with a towel wrapped about his shoulders.
I hurried over to him. "You OK?" I asked.
"Yeah," was all he said. But my eyes begged for an explanation. I didn't get it from my son.
The story was this: A couple in their 20s, unfamiliar with the Stillwater, had gotten caught in the current and began screaming for help. Without hesitation Anton and his friend dived into the water, swam out to the drowning woman, and brought her safely to shore.
In an age in which the world "hero" is broadcast with abandon and seemingly applied to anyone, I realized the real thing in my son and his friend--the disregarding of personal safety for the sake of another human being. I know that teens are headstrong and self-centered, but this didn't lower the gravity of the event and the desire to do good.
Along the way home I tried to get some more information from him, but the only words were, "What's for supper?"
I thought twice about the tragedy that might have been. Questions flew across my mind like a flight of swallows: Would I have risked my life to save a drowning person? Or would I have chosen to dial 911? Would I have told the story over and over to anyone who'd listen?
The next morning, when Anton got up, I half expected him to tell me the story from his point of view, now that he had some distance from the event. But all he did was to toast a pie, pull himself together, and head for the door to begin the new day. | high9547.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Someone had paid for her."
},
"options": [
"She was too poor to afford it.",
"Her money was not enough.",
"Someone had paid for her.",
"The charismas gifts were free."
],
"question": "Why did the Walmart employe... | In a touching story, a family was shocked to find that a stranger had secretly paid for more than half of their Christmas gifts.
When Ayers went to make a payment toward the $283 balance for her family's Christmas gifts at Walmart, her money was refused. According to a Walmart employee, a woman had paid a part of Ayers' bill after seeing her shopping in the store. The unknown woman also left Ayers a touching note, which left the mother of two in tears.
Ayers, whose sons are 11 and 3, says the stranger's great generosity came at the perfect time for her family. Before the anonymous payment was made, Ayers had worried she would not be able to get her kids' toys in time for Christmas.
Ayers is still looking for the woman who helped pay for their Christmas gifts for her kids. She took a picture of her receipt with the headline: This stranger paid 4 gifts for us. I wish I could thank her for helping give our kids a Merry Christmas!
For thousands of families like Ayers', feeling this financial pressure around Christmastime is nothing new. These families who still have a roof over their heads and food on their tables often slip through the cracks -- they can afford all the necessities, but the "extras" are harder to come by. Considering that Americans are estimated to spend $882 on Christmas gifts this year, it makes sense that a family with a few financial problems would have a hard time filling the stockings for their kids.
Realizing how common this Christmas problem really is makes Ayers' story even more special. These random acts of kindness around the holidays, often from nameless strangers, can determine what a family's Christmas looks like. Christmas may not be all about the material stuff, but for families, and especially for kids, it's the little things that can make the biggest difference. | high14333.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "taking on English teachers"
},
"options": [
"introducing a school",
"taking on English teachers",
"attracting foreign students",
"arranging the subjects"
],
"question": "This advertisement is about _ .",
... | Two teachers are needed in Henan Province ASAP!
7000-8000 RMB/month(20 lessons/week)plus benefits!
The school is located in Xinzheng Town,which is only 45minites away from Zhengzhou City by bus.
Requirements:
Native English speakers from Australia,Canada,UK,etc.Bachelor's degree and teaching experience
We offer:
Airfare reimbursement & Travel bonus
A spacious,private and on-campus apartment with the following items included:
Computer with free Internet access;Telephone;Color TV;Heater;Washing machine;Refrigerator;Microwave;Cooking facilities(plates,glasses,cups,pots and pans,etc.)
Water dispenser;Western-style toilet;Bath-tub;Non-stop hot water
To apply for the job,please send your resume to zlOl20@163.com.
Application:
To apply for the job,please don't forget to include the following information:
Personal data(age,place of birth,etc.)
Description of your academic history and teaching experience
A recent picture
Scanned documents,such as diploma(s),passport and current visa(if already in China)
A phone number where we can reach you
For inquiries,call 0371655730628; 13598685868 | high20096.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A professor."
},
"options": [
"A news reporter,",
"An accountant.",
"A professor.",
"A conductor."
],
"question": "What do you think the author would most probably be?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"a... | Chinese consumers' crazy appetite for luxury goods and services appears unstoppable, with just 2 percent of the Chinese population responsible for one-third of the world's luxury items.
As China's economic miracle develops, the market opportunities for all sorts of luxury goods and services are increasing. Luxury consumption in China now extends way beyond well - known car. Clothing and jewelry brands. For example, the luxury jet market in China is the fastest - growing in the world, even _ that of the United States, with a market share of 25 percent. This trend appears to continue, with 20 to 30 percent growth expected in China, compared with only 2 to 3 percent in the US. But more important, China's luxury jet market growth represents a major development in the private consumption of luxury items.
China's high - quality red wine market also provides evidence of the growth in private consumption of luxury goods. In 2013, China became the largest market for red wine in the world, even overtaking the French, with 1. 86 billion bottles consumed in China last year. Over the past five years, China's red wine consumption has grown 136 percent.
According to my ongoing consumer research in this area while working at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, public consumption of such expensive global luxury brands such as Prada and Armani is easily explained by the desire to "gain face" and publicly display social climbing through material possesses. On the other hand, it is "self-reward" that lies behind consumer motivation in this area. Chinese consumer, who have experienced rapid financial and economic gains appear particularly prone to the need to reward themselves for their success. But this has little to do with "gaining face" and impressing others and much more to do with the need for personal contentment.
Finally, the growth in private luxury consumption in China is set to continue in part due to the maturity of the Chinese consumer and advancement of Chinese consumer culture generally. | high10155.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "when he saw the wheat,he thought of his time during the Depression"
},
"options": [
"when he first saw it,he began to love it",
"when he saw the wheat,he thought of his time during the Depression",
"when he was young,he had a... | My dad loved pennies, especially those with the elegant stalk of wheat curving around each side of the ONE CENT on the back. Those were the pennies he grew up with during the Depression .
As a kid, I would go for walks with Dad, spying coins along the way--a penny here, a dime there. Whenever I picked up a penny, he'd ask, "Is it a wheat?" It always thrilled him when we found one of those special coins produced between 1909 and 1958, the year of my birth.
One gray Sunday morning in winter, not long after my father's death in 2002, I was walking down Fifth Avenue, feeling _ . I found myself in front of the church where Dad once worked. I was warmly shown in and led to a seat. Hearing Dad's favorite "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God", I burst into tears. We'd sung that at his funeral. After the service, I shook the pastor's hand and stepped onto the sidewalk--and there was a penny. I bent to pick it up, turned it over, and sure enough, it was a wheat. A 1944, a year my father was serving on a ship in the South Pacific.
That started it. Suddenly wheat pennies began turning up on the sidewalks of New York everywhere. I got most of the important years: his birth year, my mom's birth year, the year he graduated from college, the year he met my mom, the year they got married, the year my sister was born. But alas, no 1958 wheat penny--my year, the last year they were made.
The next Sunday, after the service, I was walking up Fifth Avenue and spotted a penny in the middle of a crossing. Oh, no, it was a busy street;cabs were speeding by--should I risk it? I just had to get it.
A wheat! But the penny was worn, and I couldn't read the date. On arriving home, I took out my glasses and took it to the light. There was my birthday!
I found 21 wheat pennies on the streets of Manhattan in the year after my father died, and I don't think that's a coincidence. | high21388.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "walking"
},
"options": [
"speaking",
"walking",
"learning",
"thinking"
],
"question": "As a small child, Merkel was slow in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answe... | As the first woman Chancellor in German's history, Angela Merkel topped
magazine's list of "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women" in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009.She has even been compared to Margaret Thatcher and many people called her "Iron Lady".
Merkel was born in Hamburg, West Germany, on July 17, 1954.Six weeks after she was born, her family moved to Templin. As a small child, Merkel quickly learned to speak but took longer to walk. "I was a stupid person when it came to moving?" Merkel said. "A normal person could do something naturally, but I had to think about it in my mind and practice." As a teenager, she was the top student and graduated from high school with perfect marks. In 1973, Merkel went to the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics. At 32, she got her doctor's degree in physics.
She
_
_
in 1989.In her first big political job as Minister for the Environment in 1994, her scientific background and strong will proved very useful. In 2005 she became Germany's Chancellor. She has been reelected to a second term as German Chancellor on September 27, 2009.
Through her political career, Merkel's persistence and patience helped her a lot. "She's bright and openminded," said Hubert Markl. "She is the person who wants to know exactly what is going on, and how never giving up will influence our society and future." | high16524.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "You can use blue ink to write notes to your friend from South Korea."
},
"options": [
"You can use blue ink to write notes to your friend from South Korea.",
"Giving a fancy kitchen knife to a friend from Russia is a good choice.",... | When you are traveling, it's vital to know about the customs and etiquette(,)of the global village. What we consider polite behavior at home isn't always accepted outside our borders.
* Etiquette of Gift Giving
Gift giving should be a happy, positive experience. When selecting a present for someone in Netherlands, don't purchase fancy kitchen knives or scissors. Giving sharp, pointy objects as gifts is considered unlucky. Be careful when presenting flowers to a friend or a business partner in Russia. Yellow blooms suggest cheat or a relationship break up. Traditionally, red carnations are placed on the tombs of the dead. Writing cards or notes while visiting South Korea, be mindful of your pen's ink color1. Writing a person's name in red ink traditionally suggests that the person has passed away--an important point to remember when giving a birthday card.
* Eating Customs
Being early or on time is viewed as being rude, too eager or even greedy in Venezuela. If you are invited to someone's home for a meal, it's recommended that you arrive 10 minutes later than the requested time. When having a meal in Egypt, don't use the salt shaker . It's insulting to your host to spread salt on your food, which means that you find the meal terrible. Japan is a very polite nation, and their fondness for etiquette extends to the use of chopsticks. According to Japanese custom, if you're in the middle of eating, use the opposite end of your chopsticks to secure food from a shared plate. When doing business in Turkey, it's the custom for your host to pay for your meal. Requests to split the bill won't be accepted. If you would like to pay your fair share, Turks recommend inviting your host to a follow-up meal. | high19617.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Refreshing and harmonious."
},
"options": [
"Passionate and powerful.",
"Refreshing and harmonious.",
"Cool and calming.",
"Inspiring and bright."
],
"question": "What impression can green rooms give to you?",
... | It helps to choose the colors you plan to live with in your home with awareness of how different colors affect your emotional and physical states. Every color has a unique meaning, and this can significantly affect how you feel in a room.
A room that is painted red will energize, inspire activity and movement, help passion, and be powerful and stimulating. A red room can also be exhausting and overpowering, and stressful for those who are anxious.
Orange rooms encourage happy, joyful, social gatherings. While an orange dining room or family room can stimulate the appetite, it is a great choice for such gathering places. Orange enhances parties, communication, positive feelings, and general good cheer.
Yellow rooms inspire intellectual clarity, organization, clear -headed thinking, and happy energy. Yellow is considered a color for the logical left side of the brain. Yellow is also very bright and somewhat energizing.
Blue rooms are often chosen for bedrooms and meditation rooms because its cool energy is very calming, restful, peaceful, and spiritual. Blue helps inspire a quiet meditative quality, and color therapy with blue has been found to reduce blood pressure. Blue is also useful to make one to sleep.
Green rooms are very restful but combine with an energizing quality. Green is the color of outdoors, calm and active at the same time. Green brings balance and harmony to a room, and can be used as a calming place for people who are troubled or in need of refreshment. | high16242.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "woman"
},
"options": [
"student",
"teacher",
"man",
"woman"
],
"question": "From the passage we are sure that the writer is a _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answe... | I have always been interested in making things. When I was a child, I enjoyed drawing, but I also liked making things out of clay . I won a prize for one of my paintings when I was fourteen. That may be why I went to art school four years later. But I studied painting at first, not pottery . I like being a potter because I like to work with my hands and feel the clay. I'm happy working by myself and being near my home. I don't like mass-produced things, because they are made by machines. I think crafts are very important and crafts-people make things cleverly with hands. They make our lives color1ful. When I left school, I got some money. I hope to become a full-time crafts-woman. This work-place is small, but I wish to move to a larger one next year. | high19171.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Setting safety protection."
},
"options": [
"Surfing the Internet.",
"Setting safety protection.",
"Sharing personal information.",
"Making foreign friends."
],
"question": "What function isn't understood by mos... | Unknown to most Facebook users, the social network actually offers a lot of privacy controls and security features which can help you lock your account, so you can speak freely. If it's used properly, you'll never have to worry about whether you will have to "friend" your boss or your mom. You can friend anyone you want while staying comfortable in the knowledge that not everyone gets to see everything you post.
The problem with carrying out these privacy options is that they're just too confusing for most non-tech clever people to handle. And often, most people don't want to bother to take the time to learn. To simplify the process, we're offering one easy step you can take today to help make your Facebook experience safer, more secure, and more private.
Just make "Friend Lists". Yes, it will take some time, especially if you're connected to a couple of hundred friends already. But this step, while not the quickest, is fairly simple. And it will be one of the most useful things you can do on Facebook.
Friend lists, as the name suggests, are lists for classifying your friends into various groups. The nice thing about this feature is that once you set these lists up, you won't have to do it again. We suggest that you put your work colleagues and professional acquaintances into a friend list named "Work", personal friends you're not very close with into a list called "Acquaintances", and people you're related to into a list called "Family". Those three main categories will separate out the groups of "friends" who you may want to hide some information from.
To create a friend list, click on "Friends" at the top of the Facebook homepage. In the left-hand column, click "Friends" again under the "Lists" section. Now you'll see a button at the top that says "Create New List". Click it. In the pop-up that appears, you can name your list and pick members. If you've ever shared an application with your friends, the process of doing this will be very familiar.
When you've finished making lists, you'll be able to use them when selecting who can see what (or who can't!) when configuring the security settings described below. | high4705.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "many people take in too big an amount unconsciously"
},
"options": [
"people are aware of the amount they take in",
"people are worried about the amount they take in",
"many people take in too big an amount unconsciously",
... | According to its label , a pint of Haagen-Dazs ice cream contains four servings . But when was the last time you measured out a fourth of a container of Cookies & Cream, then put the rest away for another day?
For many people, the reality is that much of a pint can easily disappear in one sitting. A large package of Cool Ranch Doritos lists a single serving as roughly 12 chips, but it's hard to imagine keeping count of every last chip as you dig into a bag.
Canned soup may be one of the more obvious examples. According to its label, a single serving of Campbell's Chunky Classic Chicken Noodle soup is one cup--just under half a can-- and contains about 790 milligrams of sodium . But in a national survey of 1,000 consumers, only 10 percent of people said they would eat a one-cup portion. Most, about 64 percent, said they would eat an entire can at one time, taking in 1,840 milligrams of sodium in a sitting. That is roughly 80 percent of the 2,300 milligrams recommended as the upper limit for daily salt intake.
In the face of increasing criticism, the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) has been under pressure for years to force food makers to include more realistic serving-size information on their labels. The agency regulates the serving sizes that can be listed on packages by providing food makers with detailed instructions to follow, which list the amounts of a specific food that a person would "customarily consume" in a typical sitting. But critics say these so-called reference amounts are often laughably small because they're based in part on surveys of eating behavior that were carried out in the 1970s, when Americans ate less food and portions had not been supersized.
Now, in an effort to emphasize the problems with some labels, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, has picked out what it says are some of the worst offenders. At the top of its list are labels for canned soups, ice cream, coffee creamers and nonstick cooking sprays--all of which grossly understate the calories, sodium and saturated fat the average person typically consumes when eating these foods.
The F.D.A. has been in the process of revising existing food labels since 2005. But the agency has been somewhat tight-lipped about where it is in the process and any changes it plans to make, like whether labels should include details on added sugars or just total sugar, for example, and whether calories should be emphasized less or more than they are now.
This fall, the Institute of Medicine is expected to release its own report on food packaging and labeling as well. | high20928.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "ordinary citizens"
},
"options": [
"college students",
"drivers",
"ordinary citizens",
"businessmen"
],
"question": "This passage might be written to _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | Every day on the road, accidents are caused. They do not only happen. The reason may be easy to see: an overloaded tray, a shelf out of reach, a patch of ice on the road. But more often than not there is a chain of events leading up to the misfortune-frustration, tiredness or just bad temper-that show what the accident really is, a sort of attack on oneself.
Road accidents, for example, happen frequently after a family quarrel, and we all know people who are _ , so often at odds with themselves and the world that they seem to cause accidents for themselves and others.
By definition, an accident is something you cannot predict or avoid, and the idea which used to be current, that the majority of road accidents are caused by a minority of criminally careless drivers, is not supported by insurance statistics. These show that most accidents involve ordinary motorists in a moment of carelessness or thoughtlessness.
It is not always clear, either, what sort of conditions make people more likely to have an accident. For instance, the law requires all factories to take safety actions and most companies have safety committees to make sure the regulations are observed, but still, every day in Britain, some fifty thousand men and women are absent from work due to an accident. These accidents are largely the result of human error or misjudgment-noise and fatigue, boredom or worry are possible factors which contribute to this. Doctors who work in factories have found that those who drink too much, usually people who have a high anxiety level, run three times the normal risk of accidents at work. | high2374.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "across land and water"
},
"options": [
"over hills and valleys",
"across land and water",
"through mountains",
"throughout the Kowloon area"
],
"question": "Hong Kong public transportation extends _ .",
"... | Hong Kong, major commercial center for Asia, and with a population which has grown at an alarming rate to over 5 million, is a city highly dependent on mass (, ) transit of all sorts, both local and long distance. An ordinary Hong Kong worker or businessman, going about his daily activities, simply must use transportation at one time or another.
Because Hong Kong is in two parts, Kowloon, on the mainland side, and Hong Kong, the island, with Hong Kong's harbor in between Hong Kong's mass transit systems, in addition to going over land they must also cross water.
Going from home to work, or going shopping from one side of the harbor to the other, the Hong Kong resident has three choices. One way is to take a bus which will cross the harbor through an under water traffic tunnel moving slowly through bumper- to-bumper traffic.Another way is by ferry boat , a pleasant ride which crosses the harbor in from seven to fifteen minutes.
But by far the fastest way of crossing the harbor is the newly built underground electric railway, the Hong Kong Metro . If one gets on the train in the Central District,the commercial area of Hong Kong on the island side, he can speed across the harbor in an astonishing three minutes. On the other side of the harbor the railway continues, snaking back and forth through the outlying districts of Kowloon, allowing one to get off a short distance from his destination.
The story of the Metro is an encouraging one for supporters of mass transit. Although building the system was certainly a challenging task, the Japanese firm hired to construct it did so in record time. Construction got underway in 1979 and it was completed in 1980.
For the average commuter the system has only one disadvantage; it is more expensive than by bus or ferry. One can ride the bus across the harbor for half as much or he can ride the ferry across for less than one-fifth as much. | high10633.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They were all female."
},
"options": [
"They were all female.",
"They were all professional.",
"They made the longest expedition.",
"They had been strictly trained."
],
"question": "What is special about the exp... | I was going to die in Antarctica, I was certain.An image of my frost-covered body, pale and lifeless, filled my mind as I glanced around.In all directions the empty wilderness of Antarctica stretched away from me, the only feature on the landscape was the division between snow and sky.I gazed sadly at my team.They were rapidly disappearing over the horizon.
I was leading an expedition attempting to reach the south pole.The team was made up of ordinary women from all around the world, from Jamaica, India, Singapore and Cyprus, many of whom had never seen snow, or spent a night in a tent before we set off.Our aim was to be the most international all-female team to reach the South Pole.
As I watched, the rest of the team marched on, unaware that I was not with them.By the time I realized that my sledge was firmly trapped, the team were already a long way ahead of me.I called out to Era, my teammate, " Era! Stop !"
Getting no response I called again, but my shouts were carried away in the opposite direction by the wind.Seconds passed.Nothing.I was gradually being left alone, completely defenseless against the low temperatures of Antarctica.
My strength increased when I thought of a cold lonely death.I pulled again my sledge, which moved a little. I removed the ice with my ski-pole and boot, desperately trying to break the sledge free.The sledge shot forward, knocking me off balance.I struggled to my feet and set off after the team.
I caught up just as Reena, my teammate from India, looked behind her and noticed there was one person missing.She swung around on her skis in shock and spotted me in the near distance.
As we continued, my panic slowly faded.For the rest of the day, each of the team was glancing over their shoulder every few minutes.They were not going to risk losing me again. | high9221.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the feedback one gives to the software"
},
"options": [
"the time you look at the card",
"the information in the computer",
"the feedback one gives to the software",
"the times one attempts to do with a card"
],
... | The advantages of using flashcards to build up a vocabulary are well known. You can buy sets of cards, or make your own, and carry them with you wherever you go. There's no question this is useful and because you can use them in short bursts, it's not too much for you. It can be fun. I don't recommend drilling for hours at a time with flashcards.
If you want to use flashcard software, things get even better. There are many packages out there for maintaining and drilling flashcards. I recommend VTrain though there are many others.
One stands out, however: SuperMemo. Similar to Pimsleur, SuperMemo is engineered according to a carefully researched methodology in order to test you on a card the very minimum number of times you need to see it for it to stick. When you look at a card, you give some feedback to the software on whether you got it right and how easy you found it. It uses this information, and that of your previous attempts, to decide when you will be shown the card next. It's smart and it really works.
If you're like me, the news is even better! I have a version of SuperMemo that runs on my PalmOS phone. Wherever I am, if I have my phone handy, I have thousands of flashcards with me too. Honestly, it would be worth purchasing a cheap Palm device only for this. You can pick one up for $20 or even less on eBay or elsewhere. Consider it, at least. | high14455.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "face the audience in a natural way"
},
"options": [
"let his eyes rest on the subject",
"follow the audience step by step",
"face the audience in a natural way",
"look up and sown from time to time"
],
"question... | We are often asked to make a speech in life. Most of us are afraid of it and don't do a good job. Here are some simple steps to make your speech a successful one. First of all, find out everything you can about your subject and at the same time find out as much as you can about your audience. Who are they? What do they know about your subject? Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech. Then try to arrange your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible. Never forget your audience. Don't talk over their heads or talk down to them. When you are giving your speech, speak slowly and clearly, look at your audience and
for a few seconds from time to time to give your audience chances to think over what you've said. Just remember: be prepared, know your subject and your audience, say what you have to say and be yourself so that your ideas will bring you and your audience together. | high15993.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "didn't know much about Christmas tradition"
},
"options": [
"didn't love their child at all",
"didn't know the previous owners of the house",
"didn't know much about Christmas tradition",
"didn't have enough money to bu... | My family moved from Taiwan to a small town in central Georgia, where my dad got a visa for his family and a job. I had just learned English, and from what little I could gather from my classmates, Santa Claus would come down one's chimney and put toys in one's stocking on Christmas Eve! What a great country, I thought. After I looked up "stocking" in my Chinese-English dictionary, I knew _ .
On that fateful night, after everyone went to bed, I took my longest, cleanest knee sock and attached it to a nail already on the mantel . Obviously, the previous owners of this house were no strangers to this Santa character.
I woke up before everyone else on Christmas Day and ran to the fireplace. To make a sob story short, I was hit with the reality of an empty sock and the biggest lie ever told. I burst into tears, quickly took down the sock, and stuffed it in the back of a drawer. Santa was dead.
Every December since then, the topic of Christmas memories would unavoidably come up, and I would amuse my friends with my poor-little-me story. I had to make it as funny as possible, or else I would cry.
How could I know that Santa was just late? Nine years ago, on Christmas Eve, an older man with a white beard and a red cap knocked on my front door. He said, "I've been looking for you for twenty-five years." He handed me a bulging red stocking, winked, and left. On top of the stocking was a card. It read: "For Becky--I may have missed you in the second grade, but you've always lived in my heart. Santa."
Through tear-blurred eyes, I recognized the handwriting of Jill, a friend I had met just two months before. I later discovered that the older man was her father. Jill had seen the hurt little girl underneath the thirty-something woman and decided to do something about it.
So now I believe that Santa is real. I don't mean the twinkle-eyed character of children's mythology or the creation of American holiday marketers. Those Santas annoy and sadden me. I believe in the Santa Claus that live inside good and thoughtful people. This Santa does not return to the North Pole after a crazy delivery but lives each day purposefully, really listens to friends, and then plans deliberate acts of kindness. | high9235.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "about a school which will make all its pupils learn Chinese"
},
"options": [
"how to face up to new challenges in the 21st century",
"the realities of the 21st century",
"the fastest growing economy in the world",
"abou... | An independent college claimed to have become the first school in England to make Chinese a compulsory subject for its pupils.
Richard Cairns, the headmaster of Brighton College, said the move aims to recognize the importance of China as the world's fastest growing economy.
Chinese will become one of the core subjects at the 1,200-pupil college from September. At present the school has only a "handful" of native Chinese students, but it hopes to attract more in the future.
Mr Cairns, who made the announcement in his first week as head of the high-achieving college, said, "One of my key tasks is to make sure that the pupils at Brighton College are equipped for the realities of the 21st century, and one of those realities is that China has the fastest growing economy in the world.
"China has replaced Britain as the world's fourth-largest economy. We in Britain need to face up to this challenge, see it for the trading opportunity that it is, and ensure that our nation's children are well-placed to thrive in this new global reality.
"A better understanding of the language and culture of China will be hugely important to the advantage of the children of Brighton College."
Mr Cairns said he hoped the Chinese children already at the college would help and encourage their fellow pupils to learn their language.
In order to lead the way, Mr Cairns, a historian from Oxford, plans to take part in the first Chinese class as a pupil. "I have agreed to join the first Chinese class as a pupil. I think it is the best way for me to show the pupils here how important I regard this new addition to our core subjects." | high15987.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "How to plan a staycation."
},
"options": [
"The popularity of a staycation.",
"The importance of a vacation.",
"Where to spend your vacation this year.",
"How to plan a staycation."
],
"question": "What is mainl... | We all need a vacation, whether with the entire family or your significant other. Unfortunately, many of us will not be able to follow through with vacation plans. But now, there is an alternative that is catching on rather quickly and it is called a "Staycation". A staycation is just what it sounds like, a vacation but you stay at home. It might not sound interesting, but you can turn it into a fun and relaxing getaway.
Tell family and friends your plans. In their eyes you are truly on vacation and they only need to contact you in case of an emergency.
Go outside; don't let the kids sleep all day. Go out and birdwatch, go fishing, explore the parks and nature, take in all you can of the outside world. You can even have a relaxing day at the beach, soak in some sun, and let the kids go swimming.
Go on a picnic; have the kids fly kites. Bring some bubbles, and have a nice day with the wind blowing in your hair. Watch as the kids run and play and enjoy the beautiful outdoors.
Camping is another fun way to have a staycation. If you have a camping ground in your area, you can go camping for a day or two and show the kids how it is to live right in the heart of Mother Nature.
Just remember, it really doesn't matter where you decide to go, whether home or away. As long as you create quality time with your family you can strengthen the _ that may have been pushed aside during all the long stressful work hours. Time is the most important thing you can give to your husband, wife and kids, enjoying every moment together, and you will have lasting memories in your hearts. | high12030.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "because people can communicate with each other by laughing."
},
"options": [
"because people can communicate with each other by laughing.",
"because laughter is the same sound in all the human's languages.",
"because laughter... | While most people consider that laughter is one of the nature's great treatments for a whole range of mental and physical diseases, it is still a serious scientific subject that researchers are trying to figure out.
"Laughter is social." says Robert R. Provine, author of the book "Laughter: A Scientific Investigation", who has been studying laughter for decades. "Almost all people laugh 'ha-ha-ha' basically the same way. Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. There is a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound.
Laughing is also a good way of communicating. Babies laugh long before they speak. No one teaches them how to laugh. They just do it. People may laugh at a prank on April Fools' day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather than reaction to a joke. Deaf people laugh without hearing and people on cell phones laugh without seeing, which shows that laughter isn't dependent on a single sense but on social interactions.
And laughter is not just a human thing. Chimps tickle each other and even laugh when another chimp pretends to tickle them.
Jaak Panksepp studies rats that laugh when he tickles them. It turns out rats love to be tickled. They return again and again to the hands of researchers tickling them, Panksepp's video shows.
By studying rats, scientists can figure out what's going on in the brain during laughter. It has been found that laughter in rats produces a chemical that acts as an antidepressant and anxiety-reducer. Scientists think the same thing probably happens in humans, too. This would give doctors a new chemical target in the brain in their effort to develop drugs that fight depression and anxiety in people.
Even so, laughter itself has not been proved to be the best medicine, experts said. "No study has shown that laughter produces a direct health benefit," Provine said, "largely because it's hard to separate laughter from just feeling good." | high16256.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "there is a wide range of people and crimes in the real life"
},
"options": [
"there is a wide range of people and crimes in the real life",
"smoking in an elevator goes against laws in the real life",
"there are much more cri... | Who do you think breaks the law in our society? If you believe that only tough guys commit crimes, you may have to think again. Unlike in the movies, we can't divide the world into bad guys and model citizens. _ In the same way that diseases range from the common cold to fatal forms of cancer, crimes vary in degree. For example, smoking in an elevator will inconvenience people, but much less than threatening them with a gun.
In addition to breaking the law themselves, people tolerate various levels of crime. Why can we tolerate some crimes? It may be that, by seeing others do something, we accept it more easily. For instance, most people will find it easier to speed on a highway when everybody else is driving over the speed limit. When people celebrate a sports championship, if they see someone breaking store windows, they might start breaking windows themselves or even steal from the store. So the people around us influence how much law-breaking we can tolerate.
We must also wonder whether seeing violence on television or reading about it in the newspapers every day makes us tolerate crime more than we should. We become used to seeing blood on the news on television, or in full color in newspapers and magazines. Because we see thousands of dead people on TV, maybe we just try to ignore the situation behind the violence.
If so many citizens tolerate violence and crime, or even commit crimes themselves, it may simply be because of the human mind. Our minds may not care about specific laws. Instead, our minds may have a system of values that usually prevents us from hurting other people to improve our own lives. Yet, when it comes to respecting the rights of a mass of anonymous individuals, we might not be so responsible. While most people would not steal a wallet containing $50, they may not mind cheating on taxes, because cheating on taxes does not hurt any one person. It hurts society, but "society" remains an abstract idea that is not as real as a neighbor or a friend's friend.
When we realize that so many people have misunderstandings of law-breaking, it is not surprising that so many people tolerate crimes, or even break laws, including me. But how could we improve the level of honesty in our society? Would strict laws help make our society better? Probably not. Honesty will have to come from social pressure: in the family, at school, on the job, each and every one of us can encourage honesty by showing which behavior is unacceptable. And teaching respect should become everyone's responsibility. | high4711.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "having problems at school"
},
"options": [
"giving a report in front of school",
"helping other classmates",
"having problems at school",
"answering questions in class"
],
"question": "Bad stress may happen when... | Are you ever so worried about something that you even have a headache or can't sleep at night? Do you ever feel a stomachache during a test? If so, then you know what stress is. Stress is what you feel when you are worried about something. When you are under stress, you may feel angry, sad, scared, or afraid --all this can give you a stomachache or a headache. In modern society, most people are under the higher stress than ever before.
There are different kinds of stress. Some kinds of stress are good and others are bad. Good stress may happen when someone asks you to answer questions in class or when you have to give a report. This kind of stress can help you to finish things better. Under this stress, you will find yourself have more motivation and energy to study.
However, bad stress can happen if the stress lasts too long. You may not feel well if a family member is sick, if you're having problems at school, or if anything else makes you upset every day. That kind of stress isn't going to help you.
The best way to keep stress away is to have a balanced life. If you get enough sleep and food, and if you exercise and leave time for fun, you'll feel less stress. | high19165.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Modern technology seems to be separating people."
},
"options": [
"We may no longer need to communicate with other people.",
"Modern technology seems to be separating people.",
"We may no longer need to work in the office.",
... | Michael, a normal American, stays home on workdays. He plugs into his personal computer terminal in order to connect with the office. After work he puts on his headphones, watches a movie on his home video recorder or plays baseball on the computer. On many days, Michael doesn't talk to any other human beings, and he doesn't see any people except the ones on television. _ . The inventions of modern technology seem to be cutting us off from communicating with our fellow human beings.
The world of business is one area in which technology is separating us. Experts say, for example, that many people will soon be able to work at home. With access to a large central computer, employees such as office clerks, insurance agents, and accountants could do their job at display terminals in their own homes. They would never have to actually see the people they're dealing with. Also, the way employees are paid will change. Workers' salaries will be automatically paid into their bank accounts, making paper checks unnecessary. No workers will stand in line to receive their pay or cash their checks. Personal banking will change, too. Customers will deal with machines to put in or take out money from their accounts.
Another area in which technology is changing is entertainment. Music, for instance, was once a group experience. People listened to music at concert halls or in small social gatherings. For many people now, however, music is an individual experience. Walking along the street or sitting in their living rooms, they wear headphones to build a wall of music around them. Movie entertainment is changing, too. Movies used to be social events. Now, fewer people are going out to see a movie. Many more are choosing to wait for a film to appear on television or are borrowing videotapes to watch at home. Instead of laughing with others, viewers watch movies in their own living rooms. | high11539.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "helps control the greenhouse effect"
},
"options": [
"helps control the greenhouse effect",
"means burning packaging for energy",
"is the solution to gas shortage",
"leads to a waste of land"
],
"question": "Acc... | Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that _ in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household's waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue , encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But is also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realise just how much unnecessary material are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb. | high2360.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He was thrown into the sea when the ship struck a whale."
},
"options": [
"He and his companion got into the water to test their strength.",
"He jumped into the water to save the broken rudder.",
"He was knocked into the wate... | I felt encouraged by his words and began to swim more calmly.But my clothes stuck to me like a heavy weight.I could hardly stay above the surface.
Counsel saw this."Shall I cut them?"he asked.
With a knife he cut my clothes from top to bottom and took them of quickly while I swam for both of us.
Then I did the same for Counsel,and we continued to swim near each other.
But we were in serious trouble.The crew might not have noticed our disappearance.
And if they had,they could not return because the rudder had broken.Counsel thought of all this,and calmly made his plans.We decided to wait for the ship as long as possible,because we had no other hope of safety.I suggested that we save our strength so that both of us would not be tired out at the same time.This was how we did it:While one of us lay on his back,quite _ ,with arms crossed and legs stretched out ,the other would swim and push him along.We changed every ten minutes or so.In this way we could swim for hours,perhaps till daylight.The crash of the ship and the whale had appeared at about eleven o'clock.We had about eight hours to swim before daylight.This seemed possible,if the sea remained calm. | high10627.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Cellphone users receive messages from criminals."
},
"options": [
"Cellphone users turn off their mobile telephones.",
"Cellphone users receive messages from criminals.",
"Criminals contact family members of the phone user.",... | BOGOTA (Reuters) -- Colombian mobile telephone users are being tricked by criminals who pretend to be phone operators and instruct them to turn off their cellphones just long enough to demand a large amount of money from their families.
prefix = st1 /Colombia has seen a large number of cases in which mobile phone customers receive messages telling them to turn off their cellphones for two hours because their telephones havebeen cloned, police say.
The criminals then contact family members of the phone user to say that he or she has been taken hostage . Families who have no way of contacting their are directed where to drop off money before the two hours are up.
"If you get a call telling you to turn off your cellphone, contact the official department." Local television channel Caracol told viewers during a Tuesday news program.
BERLIN (Reuters) -- A Berlin court has sentenced a man known as "Schnitzel Stephan" to 18 months in prison for cheating 64 restaurants in the past year.
The man of 160 kg, with a thin grey beard, would regularly order lamb chops, steak or Viennese schnitzel along with several beers. When the bill came, he either ran for the door or told the waiter he had no money.
Iris Berger, a spokeswoman for the Berlin Justice Department, said on Thursday the 43-year-old jobless truck driver had been convicted ( ) on 64 counts of fraud ( ). The total damage to restaurants was $4,100. | high17148.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "debris from fireworks can even find its way into water"
},
"options": [
"the special sounds of fireworks excite people",
"debris from fireworks can even find its way into water",
"the pretty and bright colors add to the beaut... | Bedazzling with their bright colors and eye-catching displays, fireworks light up our night skies during the holidays. However, these crowd-pleasers can have some damaging side effects.
Once a firework is set off, it only takes a couple of seconds before smoke, dust and harmful chemicals are let out into the atmosphere. The loud booming noises are caused by gunpowder. While the sounds may excite some people, they can be frightening to domestic and wild animals--as well as some humans.
The pretty colors you see are a result of more chemicals. Barium, added to make green, is known for its poisonous and radioactive qualities. Blue comes from copper compounds. Cadmium, lithium and lead--all found in fireworks--have been linked to diseases, such as allergies and skin rashes in both humans and animals. Acid rain has been linked to gases given off by fireworks, which sometimes go beyond the toxin limits of the United States Clean Air Act.
Once all those chemicals come back down to the ground, they can cause problems too. Debris from the fireworks falls to the ground, where animals can burn their paws or noses on piping hot pieces. Humans also are at risk of stepping on or picking up something sharp or hot. Meanwhile, debris that finds its way into waterways can damage animal habitats and water supply sources.
Instead of setting off fireworks, try to come up with some new ways for fun. Here are some ideas to get you started:
* Sky lanterns--a tradition that originated long ago in the most-populated Asian country.
* Party crackers--a favorite in the United Kingdom--give you noise and surprises without the mess of fireworks. You can make your own or buy eco-friendly crackers.
* Want noise excitement with less volume? Consider a fireworks sound recording beforehand or break out the party horns and blow up a storm! | high5369.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "how much they should take when hungry"
},
"options": [
"how to stay away from poison",
"how much they should take when hungry",
"meat is worse than vegetables",
"sugar is better than fat"
],
"question": "Childre... | Remember, from the moment they are born, our children have the ability to know when they are hungry - and they cry to let us know too! Of course, they also cry to let us know they are wet, hurt, or bored, but we soon learn to tell the difference and try to meet each need somehow. When we begin to feed them solid foods, they let us know when they have had enough by turning away from the spoon - or refusing the food back at us!
Why is it that once children are old enough to sit at the table their parents are often heard bargaining with them or threatening them to finish all their dinner? When we make our children eat up the plate that we filled, we don't pay attention to their born ability to know how much, and what, their bodies need. Instead, we should allow them to use their own hunger feelings to determine how much they need, while we provide a balance of nutritious and "fun" foods. When we teach them about moderation and set a great example by living an active, healthy lifestyle, they will be less likely to develop weight problems later in life. Think of your slim friend who eats whatever she wants -but will refuse ice cream if she has had enough to eat!
"Eat all your dinner if you want dessert" translates to "you must overeat so I will reward you by letting you overeat some more!" By using sweets as a reward for good behavior, kids begin to believe sweets are really special and they may want them even more. Instead, by making dessert just another (small) part of an enjoyable meal, kids learn to "save room for dessert" instead of becoming a member of the "clean plate club." | high10141.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She finds her dog is getting a little aggressive."
},
"options": [
"She doesn't know how to make phone calls while walking a dog.",
"She has no idea how to get along well with her dog.",
"She gets worried that her dog is gett... | Question: I have a one-year-old female bulldog, who has recently taken to biting my shoes when we are in the park and I'm on the mobile. She can be slightly aggressive and I'm starting to get worried and a bit annoyed. How do I stop her? ----Susan, London.
Answer: You need to get this problem under control before it could escalate . I always advise owners not to talk on the mobile phone when they go for a walk with their dogs, because they should be focusing on this time with their pets, but I know people have busy lives and need to make phone calls.
The behavior she is showing is either controlling or playfulness, but they both result from the same issue ---- you are not paying attention to her. If you must make phone calls while on a walk, try to still engage with your dog by speaking towards her, playing some sorts of game and so on. If that doesn't work, you'll have to try more of a training approach.
You will need a training line and some treats. Start your walk in the usual way, make a phone call, and when your dog starts displaying the undesired behavior, simply stop walking --- otherwise she will see it as a game. When she is calm and looking at you, or if she sits, give her a treat; then continue walking. If she starts up again, pick up the lead, gently pull it, and tell her "no". Then ask her to sit and give her a treat if she does.
The aim of this is to try to get her to forget how much fun it is biting your shoes. Do little sessions every day --- and try not to answer the phone if you know it's going to be a long conversation. Be patient and good luck!
Remember that if an animal shows signs of distress or discomfort, an early visit to the vet is always recommended. | high3718.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "you can ask doctors for help"
},
"options": [
"you should have enough exercise",
"you can ask doctors for help",
"you should save the environment",
"You can record your growth during puberty"
],
"question": "If ... | Height is just one of the thousands of features your genes decide. In fact, because you have two parents, your genes provide you a height that usually lands somewhere between the height of each parent. If both your parents are tall, then most probably you will be tall, too, but if you have questions about how tall you're going to be, ask your doctor if he or she can help you find it out.
But genes don't decide everything. For example, eating an unhealthy diet can keep you from growing to your ideal height. Getting plenty of sleep and enough exercise will help you grow to the expected height.
No doubt you're wondering how fast you should grow. It depends. There's no perfect or right answer. Generally speaking, kids grow about 2 inches (6 centimeters) a year between age 3 and the time when they start puberty (when your body starts changing and becoming more grown up).
Your doctor will know how your growth has been going over the years. Two centimeters here and 2 inches there are not nearly as important as the height you're at now, how you've been growing up to this point, and what other changes your body may be going through.
Don't be scared if you seem to have grown a lot in a very short time. Everyone has a growth spurt during puberty. The age for starting puberty is about 10 for girls and about 11 for boys. But it can be earlier or later ---between 7 and 13 for girls and 9 and 15 for boys.
You'll usually begin to notice that you're growing faster about a year or so after your body starts to show the first changes of puberty. | high22695.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A Room of One's Own h about more than writing,"
},
"options": [
"A Room of One's Own h about more than writing,",
"The Art o f War also gives definition of philosophy.",
"Letter to My Daughter is actually a cummon famil... | Don't have plenty of time for reading ? If you are interested in nun-fiction books, here are good choices for you.
A Room of One's Own
This essay by English writer Virginia Woolf is based on several lectures given to two woman's colleges at Cambridge University to 1928. In it, Woolf describes that it's circumstance not talent that allows men to be more successful at writing. Women,in other word, spend so much time cooking , cleaning,and tending to their children that they have no time left for art. To write well,therefore, a woman must have a " room of her own.
The Art of War
Written by Chinese warrior SunZi in the 5th century BC, The Art of War widely considered to be one of the best boob about military strategy in human history. Conaistng of 13 chapters, each detailing a separate aspect of warfare, the book has been translated into every majorlanguage and has thousands of editions. For centuries , it has been cited and praised by world leaders both for its detailed study of military straaategy and its phibsophical examination of strong ,effective leadership.
Letter to My Daughter
This 2009 book of essays and poems by Maya Angelou,a respectable American poet, is written for t he daughter never had--the millions of women, both young and old,that she considers to be her "family." From the viewpoint of a caring, older relative, this book contains lessons selected from her own Life experiences, including tte birth of her only child,a son,as well as the formation and loss of friendships,
A Brief History of Time
If you' re short on time,then why not read about,well,the creation of time? This 1998 from brilliant scientist and mathematician Stephen Hawking explores mind - bending question s about the creation of the universe , including if and when it will end,and if so,how
Despite heavy subject matter. Hawkimg addresses th ese questions in n way that's easy to understand s even for those who know little about physics. | high15039.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "she hadn't learned it yet"
},
"options": [
"her grandfather was just joking.",
"she found it difficult to play",
"she disliked playing it.",
"she hadn't learned it yet"
],
"question": "At first the author didn't... | My grandfather died more than twenty-five years ago. I was fifteen. He was kind, strong, fair, and very funny. When I was a young musician, he was my biggest fan. I played my violin for him when he visited, and he loved everything, but each time he had one request. "Could you play 'Amazing Grace'?" he asked, full of hope and with a twinkle in his eye, because he knew my answer was always, "I don't know that one!" We went through this routine at every major holiday, and I always figured I'd have time to learn it for him later.
About the time I entered high school and started guitar, Grandpa got cancer. The last time I saw him alive was Thanksgiving weekend in 1985. My mom warned us that Grandpa didn't look the same anymore and that we should prepare ourselves. For a moment I didn't recognize him. He looked so small among all the white sheets. We had all gathered in Ohio for the holiday, and I'm sure we all knew we were there to say good-bye. I can see now that Grandpa held on long enough to see us each one more time. I remember how we ate in the dining room and laughed and talked while Grandpa rested in his hospital bed. I wonder if it was sad for him to be alone with our voices and laughter. _
The next morning I found my moment alone with him. I pulled out my guitar, tuned to his appreciative gaze, and finally played for him "Amazing Grace." I had worked on it for weeks, knowing it never mattered whether I actually played it well and choosing not to believe as I played that it was my last concert for my biggest fan. The cancer had stolen his smile, but I saw joy in his eyes. He held my hand afterward, and I knew I had done something important.
I argued with people all through college about my music major. I was told by strangers that music wouldn't make me any money and it wasn't useful like being a doctor. But I know firsthand that with music I was able to give my grandpa something at a point when no one else could. | high12756.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "cared much about her children"
},
"options": [
"was sick of staying upstairs",
"cared much about her children",
"could not stand living in a wooden house",
"did not deal well with her family affairs during the flood"
... | July 21st. 2007 was a typical English summer's day -- it rained for 24 hours ! As usual, I rushed home from work at midday to check on the house. Nothing was _ By the time I left work at 5pm. However, the road into our village was flooded. Our house had never been flooded but, as I opened the front door. a wave of waters greeted me. Thank God the kids weren't with me, because the house was 5 feet deep in water. We lost everything downstairs. And the plaster had to be torn off the wall's ceilings pulled down.
At first we tried to push on through. We didn't want to move the children out of home. so we camped upstairs. We put a sheet of plastic across the floor to protect us from the damp. But after three months, we felt very sick, so we move to a wooden house in a park. The house was small. but at first we were all just delighted to be in a new place. Unfortunately, things took longer than expected and we were there for 10 months. The life there was inconvenient. What surprised me most was how much I missed being part of a community . We had lived in a friendly village with good neighbors, and I'd never thought how much I,I'd miss that.
Although our situation was very bad, it's difficult to feel too sorry for yourself when you look at what's happening elsewhere. I watched a news report about floods in Northern India and thought. "We didn't have a straw hut that was for Christmas. But I can't wait -- I'm going to throw a party for our friends in the village to say thanks for their support. This year, I won't need any gifts -- living away from home for months has made me realize how little we actually need or miss all our possessions. Although we are replacing things, there's really no rush -- we have our home back. and that's the main thing. | high13448.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Regretful."
},
"options": [
"Embarrassed.",
"Wise.",
"Regretful.",
"Relieved."
],
"question": "How did the author feel when she decided not to buy the skirt?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | The other day when I was passing a clothing store, I fell in love with a skirt. I knew it would suit me best at first sight. But when I looked at the price tag , I knew I had to give it up.
The love for beautiful clothes has been planted in my heart the day when I was born to be a woman. Several years ago I read an article in a magazine. The article stated that when a woman is at her best time, she is usually poor or tasteless, so she can't get the right clothes; when she can afford to buy the clothes she likes, she often finds that they do not suit her anymore.
On the way home, I was quite disturbed by such thoughts. It was just a pity, like many other pities. I thought to myself this way. But when I was about to enter the building where I was living, I saw the big mirror placed in the entrance. I saw a girl in it who was in cheap but cleanly washed sweater and jeans. _ was rather young, healthy and energetic. For quite a while I was touched by what I had seen in the mirror.
Then I almost forgot the tale: A person without shoes cried until he saw a man without feet. Being young without good clothes is like the person without shoes. I should have felt grateful that I haven't lost my feet. | high8895.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "help run the games"
},
"options": [
"travel with the children",
"help run the games",
"give the teams money",
"play in the World Series"
],
"question": "The mothers and fathers of Little League players _ .",... | In the United States and several other countries , 2.5 million children play baseball in an organization called Little League . They play on teams in their hometowns . Their parents and other adults in the community coach or instruct them and serve as umpires to make sure that everyone follows the rules . Local businesses give money for the ball fields and the uniforms . Local teams compete against each other and the winners get to play teams that are more distant . Eventually , the top teams go to the Little League World Series .
One hundred years after Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown , New York , in 1839 , Little League got started in Pennsylvania . Three men started the game for neighborhood boys with a smaller playing field and fewer innings than adult baseball . Little League became popular after World War II when the game spread across the United States . By 1955 it was played throughout North America and within five years it had spread to Europe . Children's baseball really caught on in Japan and Taiwan of China and teams from those areas won the World Series seven out of eight years . After this , the organization tried banning foreign teams from the World Series , but the ban came to an end after one year .
At first , Little League was only for boys aged nine to twelve . However , in 1974 , the parents of girl baseball players brought a law suit . The courts ruled that Little League had to include both boys and girls . Later Little League added on softball and other games for teenagers up to age eighteen . Occasionally , a Little Leaguer becomes a professional player . For example , Gary Carter went from Little League to play nineteen seasons in the Major Leagues , ten of them as an All-Star player . By and large , youngsters play baseball for fun , but their parents are pround of them . | high14327.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "humorous"
},
"options": [
"serious",
"cold",
"crazy",
"humorous"
],
"question": "Rose made herself known to the author in a _ manner.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"... | The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.
She said, "Hi, girl! My name is Rose. I'm 87 years old. Can give you a hug?"
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may! "and she gave me a giant squeeze.
"Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age ?"I asked. She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel!"
"No seriously "I said. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
"I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!" "she told me.
Over the course of the year, Rose because a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went .She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us.
"We do not stop playing because we are old"; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success/You have to laugh and find humor everyday. Your've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die!" she said.
"The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change." Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets."
She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Song of Rose". She challenged each of us study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At the year's end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. | high9553.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It depends."
},
"options": [
"$264",
"$275",
"$295",
"It depends."
],
"question": "If a preschool boy and his 8th-grade brother attend the Zoo Camps, they should pay _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions... | There is plenty for kids and teens to do in the Syracuse area during the summer, including some great educational opportunities. Here are the top four.
Rosamond Gifford Zoo Camp
The zoo offers separate camps for kids. The camps for kindergarteners run from 9 am to 12:30 pm, and cost $115 for zoo members and $135 for non-members. Kids entering 7thand 8thgrades will have half a day from 1 pm to 4:30 pm. The cost is $149 for members and $160 for non-members. All camps feature numerous educational activities and animal encounters. The camps run from August 14 to August 19. Registration starts from July 10 for members and July 15 for non-members.
Active Learning Services at Christian Brothers Academy
From August 1 to August 5, Christian Brothers Academy will host Active Learning Services from USA Chess. Topics of learning will include Chess Camp (age 5-15), and Video Game Creation Program (age 8-15). Chess Camp promises improved chess skills through chess instructors utilizing demo boards and historic games. Half day sessions will cost $280 for the Computer Camps. A full day of Chess costs $400, and a half day of Chess followed by a half day of Computer Camps cost $430.
Syracuse University Summer College
From July 5thto August 12th, Syracuse University will host pre-college programs for high school students. The Summer College will offer a wide variety of programs including architecture, engineering and computer science, public communications, and eco-fashion. The programs are taught by the teachers of Syracuse University and include hands-on activities. The costs range from $2325 to $7642.
The Sheldon Institute at SUNY Oswego
The State University of New York will hold two-week educational enrichment programs for students entering grades2-4 from July 25 to August 5. Children will have a set program featuring art, science, technology, cultural appreciation and writing. Tuition for the programs is only $320 and a downloadable application is available. | high470.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "We can hardly see any forms of life in the river now."
},
"options": [
"It goes by 186 cities on its way from the source to the sea.",
"Lots of waste water in the country is poured into the river.",
"The baiji in the river is... | We recently read a report on China's environmental problems, based on reports from Singapore's Straits Times. There was one statistic that shocked us. Environmental experts claim that without some great change, pollution might, within five years, make the Yangtze River just about unsuitable for all forms of life to live in. The baiji, or the Yangtze River dolphin, was only the latest victim. According to the first report, in the 1980s there were 126 forms of life in the river, and by 2002, that figure was already down to 52.
Just how bad is the situation? The Yangtze River flows by 186 cities on its way from Qinghai to Shanghai, and in the process picks up 40% of China's polluted waste water. According to another report, in 2006, China produced a total of 53.7 billion tons of waste water. But that's not the worst news. By 2030, China might possibly use up between 89-100% of its sources of drinking water.
All of this begs a deeper question: What kind of water are they using when they pump 10 kilos of water into pigs headed for the slaughterhouse ? This is an important question because if its waste water is not fit for human to drink, there's a chance that some of whatever was in that water was in the pork you had for lunch today. And if the water is safe to drink, that's a waste of perfectly good water.
Another report we read, related to the Taihu algae blooming that has left 3 million people in the Wuxi area without drinking water, claims(quite believably) that Taihu's environmental problems will never end until all the factories along the lake close down. The algae bloom is so bad there that lots of people have to take the algae out of the lake all day long instead of fishing. | high23560.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "about 2 inches"
},
"options": [
"4 inches",
"about 2 inches",
"half an inch",
"6 inches"
],
"question": "The winter storm brought _ of snow across Paris.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"... | Paris - A winter storm brought blanket of snow across Europe on Monday, forcing the closure of the icy Eiffel Tower in Paris and causing flight cancellations.
Up to four inches of snow was recorded in parts of France, the National Weather Service said.Most areas, including Paris, got around half that amount.French authorities issued traffic alerts in around 30 regions because of icy roads.The Eiffel Tower, one of the main tourist attractions in Paris, was closed because of slippery conditions.
" We can't put down salt because it's metallic," Eiffel Tower press officer Is a belle Snouts said." We can't use sand either, because it risks getting into the elevator cogs ." "The cold," she said, "is no problem, but snow can be dangerous."
A dozen flights were canceled at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, officials said.The Paris airport authority said bad weather in other parts of Europe continued to the cancellations.Workers had been sent since midnight Sunday to clear runways at Charles de Gaulle and the smaller Only Airport.
In Germaine, heavy snowfall snarled road traffic and flight delays and cancellations at the country}y s intimation airports.Glissando of Interactional Airport said no flights were allowed in or out between 6 -9 am Monday because clearing crew were unable to keep up with the snow.
More than 30 flights were canceled because of the bad weather, import spokesman Christian Witt said.Up to four inches of snow was reported in Tussled and around six inches in Potsdam, but none had struggled to the roads amid (...... ) heavy post - holiday traffic.
Germany's National Weather Service is forecasting subzero temperatures for the coming days.Snow also fell across Britain.Children built snowmen in parts of England, including Cambridge. | high12965.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Mr. Kwon had intended to let guests stay at \"Prison Inside Me\" for over two days"
},
"options": [
"people in South Korea prefer living under great pressure",
"Mr. Kwon had intended to let guests stay at \"Prison Inside Me\" for o... | People in South Korea who feel they can no longer bear the stress of everyday life now can choose to stay in a prison to relax and think deeply.
In a society where pressure to do well in school and find highly-paid jobs is intense, a former lawyer came up with an extreme relaxation idea. Kwon Yong-seok created the "Prison Inside Me"--a stress-reduction center with a punishment theme. People come here to cut themselves off from the outside world and pay to be kept in 60-square-foot (5.6-square-meter) cells .
Located on the outskirts of Hongcheon, about 58 miles (93 km) northeast of Seoul, "Prison Inside Me" came to life after Mr. Kwon voluntarily asked to spend time behind bars for "healing reasons," but his request was turned down. "I didn't know how to stop working back then," he said. "I felt like I was being swept away against my will, and it seemed I couldn't control my own life." So, Kwon and his wife Roh Ji-hyang decided to take matters into their own hands, and designed and built a prison-like spiritual center. The construction was completed in June last year and cost about 2 billion won ($19 million).
The facility includes 28 cells, furnished with only a toilet, a sink and a small table, where guests can spend time alone, thinking about life and enjoying private thinking periods. Moreover, guests can also join group thinking periods in the hall, where they are given instructions on how to free themselves from what Mr. Kwon calls the "inner prison" to find inner peace.
According to the Wall Street Journal, hundreds of stressed South Koreans are checking in at the stress-reduction facility to think about their lives and regain control of it. A two-night stay at "Prison Inside Me" costs 150,000 won ($146).
Mr. Kwon and his wife explained that at the beginning they had a different plan for the "relaxation center," and imagined a longer stay for their guests, but, given that people weren't able to take more time off, they had to reduce the length of stays to just two days.
Park Woo-sub, a guest at "Prison Inside Me," said the experience helped him a lot. "This is my third time in prison. Being kept in a prison makes me hard to breathe, but it also offers time to focus only on me and spend some quiet time with myself."
Others said the experience would have been more helpful if the conditions had been poorer, like in a real prison. | high7595.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "women were not allowed to enter every field"
},
"options": [
"women were not given the chance to receive education",
"women were not considered as intelligent as men",
"women were not permitted to achieve their goals",
... | She was born to wealth and power in a time when money and politics were left to the men. Later, as The Washington Post's publisher, Katharine Graham became one of America's most powerful women.
Despite a privileged background, Katharine had to deal, while growing up, with the high demands her mother placed on her children.Katharine's love of journalism, which she shared with her father, led to her career after college at The Washington Post, the newspaper her father bought in 1933.At the Post, Katharine met Phil Graham, a young, charming lawyer who became her husband.When, in 1945, Katharine's father chose Phil over her to take over his struggling paper, Katharine didn't object and stayed at home as a wife and mother of four.
While Phil's successful efforts to restore the Post to fame made the Grahams popular members of the Washington social scene, Katharine privately suffered great pain from her husband's increasingly harmful behavior caused by severe depression.When Phil committed suicide , the 46-year-old Katharine found herself thrown into a new job, that of newspaper publisher.But determined to save the family paper for her children, Katharine rose to the challenge of running the Post, attending meetings in every department, working endlessly to prove herself to her critics, and becoming the toast of Washington.
In 1971, Katharine ordered the Post to print a copy of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret documents telling the truth about the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War.What's more, her courageous decision and support for her journalists prepared the Post to break the most important political story in modem history: Watergate , one of the greatest scandals in American political history.Katharine managed to keep control over the most disorganized situation when it was reported, all the time insisting the news stories be accurate and fair.Watergate made the Washington Post an internationally known paper and Katharine was considered as the most powerful woman in America. | high6853.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "introduce Internet dating to us."
},
"options": [
"persuade the readers to go dating on the Internet",
"inform us how to date on the Internet.",
"introduce Internet dating to us.",
"tell us never to date on the Internet... | Internet dating has become one of the biggest and most successful business ventures on the Internet. Basically, Internet dating is a way to meet people for either friendship or dating without actually having to meet them in person first.
The first thing to do if you decide to try Internet dating is to build your profile , which includes your hobbies, hopes for the future, and so on. A photograph is optional , but many sites claim that a photograph increases the number of people who look at your profile. Many Internet dating sites will charge a one-time registration fee to use their services.
Internet dating makes it possible to meet people from all over the world. You can even narrow the search down to your area by zip code . Another advantage is that you can communicate by email before you meet in person. Thousands of people have met, fallen in love, and married through Internet dating. It is an excellent way for shy people to meet. It is also a way for people with busy lives to connect with others, and an easy way to meet people who share your interests.
Just as conventional dating and love, there are some pitfalls to be aware of in Internet dating. The person you have been talking to on the net may not be who they say they are. Be very aware that there are some people who misrepresent their appearance or private details, such as marital status , income, and so on, for their own reasons. It would not be the first time that someone has been taken in, and talk shows are full of cheating partners who have been caught dating over the Internet in their spare time. Nevertheless, taking a few simple precautions should help ensure that your Internet dating is safe. | high21377.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "most Shanghai students are conscious of money"
},
"options": [
"Shanghai students pay off their own debts",
"Shanghai students focus too much on money",
"most Shanghai students are conscious of money",
"some Shanghai st... | Shanghai Children Prove Money Smarts
Shanghai,the financial center of China,sure has raised some money-savvy children.
Ninety-two percent of Shanghai primary school students who took a recent test of their money smarts showed an understanding of financial management,and some even knew a thing or two about stocks and debts.
The FQ,or Financial Quotient test was conducted on Monday at three primary schools.It was designed to measure the students'ability to handle money,their understanding of spending and saving,and their knowledge of family finances and investment .
One 8-year-old could identify six ways to make money-including investing in the stock and real estate markets,selling old toys and getting good grades,said Xu Ting,head of the FQ Lab at Ant Fortune,the mobile financing platform of Alibaba Group Holding.
The students scored 73percent on average,surpassing the organizer's expectations about what children might be expected to understand about money management,Xu said.Twenty-six percent of the 200test takers,who were aged 8to 11,scored over 80points,and only 8percent notched under 60.
Asked about managing a New Year's money gift,61percent of the students said they would deposit the money in the bank,while 31percent said they would give it to their parents for investment.One student said he would lend the money to s to buy property-and charge interest.
Not all of the students who were tested had received financial education,although it is studied at the primary school affiliated with the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology.Money education there is made into classes to teach students responsibility,teacher Xue Lei said.
"It's mostly to help the students to manage their pocket money,"Xue said.
Lao Kaisheng,a professor of education at Capital Normal University,shrugged off the test as more commercial than scientific.But it's clear that modern parents are conscious of money management and want their children to spend-and save-wisely. | high19830.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they are helpful in English learning"
},
"options": [
"they are now the most popular programs",
"they are helpful in English learning",
"they are advertised for English beginners",
"they are enjoyed by most young people... | Every English learner hopes to find a patient native speaker who will politely correct mistakes and teach him some useful new vocabulary. But native speakers can be hard to find. If you're having trouble communicating in English, American situation comedies are one good way to help.
They can not only give you a lot of information about American culture, but also offer some useful daily expressions. Watching them will help you enlarge your vocabulary and teach you correct language usage in different situations. Best of all, situation comedies are a fun way to learn.
The Apprentice
The American reality TV show is hosted by the famous businessman Donald Trump. It's based on the idea of the final job interview for the final job. The show picks 16 people to compete for a job with Trump's business. Those who fail their weekly tasks have to meet with Trump. They have to explain why they should not be fired .
The Apprentice is useful for English students who want to learn how to make up a persuasive argument. For example, rather than say "I think I did a good job", one may also learn to throw off the possibility of uncertainty by saying, "I did a good job."
Desperate Housewives (DH)
Desperate Housewives is set in an invented American town, Wisteria Lane. It follows a group of middle-aged women as they go through their daily family lives. But in fact, those women live a life of lies, secrets, criminal acts, and mystery.
This program is good at expressing the funny life of American neighbors. And, it's the perfect comedy series for foreign learners wanting to see how to hold a relaxed daily conversation.
Another reason for watching DH is to learn some expressions American families use that are not in your English language textbooks. For example, the mothers often use words such as "sport" and "you guys" to speak about their kids. | high4922.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Physical, Mental and Public Health"
},
"options": [
"Three healthy Lives",
"Importance of Health",
"Something about Health",
"Physical, Mental and Public Health"
],
"question": "What is the best title of the pas... | Physical fitness refers to good health, and is the result of regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and proper rest for physical recovery. A person who is physically fit will be able to walk or run without getting breathless and he or she will be able to carry out the activities of everyday living and will not need help. How much each person can do will depend on their age and whether they are a man or woman. A physically fit person usually has a normal weight for height. The relation between height and weight is called the Body Mass Index. A taller person can be heavier and still be fit. If a person is too heavy or too thin for the height it may affect the health.
Mental health refers to a person's emotional and psychological well-being. "A state of emotional and psychological well-being in which an individual is able to use his or her thinking and emotional(feeling) abilities, function in society, and meet the ordinary demands of everyday life."
One way to think about mental health is by looking at how well a person functions. Feeling capable and efficient, being able to handle normal levels of stress, having good friends and family, and leading an independent life, and being able to "bounce back" or recovering from hardships, are all signs of mental health.
Public Health refers to trying to stop a disease that is unhealthy to the community, and does not help in long life or promote your health. This is fixed by organized efforts and choices of society, public and private clubs, communities and individuals.
It is about the health of many people, or everybody, rather than one person. Public health stops instead of encouraging a disease through surveillance of cases. To prevent being sick, it is good to do healthy behaviors, such as hand washing, vaccination programs and so on. When infectious diseases break out, washing hands may be especially important. | high18290.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "people like poems the same way they enjoy songs"
},
"options": [
"people like poems the same way they enjoy songs",
"poetry is the same form of art as songs",
"people always feel the same while reading poems",
"the mean... | Why read, and sometimes even write poetry? That question is not difficult to answer if we change the word poetry to songs.
I sing when I feel good. When I sing my favorite songs, I feel even better. Sometimes when I am listening to music and to the song words, I feel that it was written for me. A good song always makes me feel something. There are songs that I sing in my head between classes and songs that I want to sing when the school bell rings by the end of the day. They help me get through the day.
_ I like songs about love and friendship. The extraordinary thing is that my feelings are more special when I sing my favorite songs in English.
I also like reading. I used to avoid poetry until an e-friend told me I should recite poems and not look up the meaning of the words. Poetry uses many difficult words and idioms, but the best thing is to just forget about them. In the beginning I felt quite strange. Now I always lock the door. Reading aloud gives you a strange feeling, but when you have some practice and fall into the rhythm, and the sounds of the words, it is really a special experience.
I started with small poems, but now I think I most like long poems. I have different feelings with different poems. When I have had a bad day at school, I read Keats and forget everything. When I am sad I read Wordsworth by the light of a candle. When the poem is finished, I close the book and my sadness is gone. | high10814.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "felt happy for becoming a real teacher"
},
"options": [
"felt happy for becoming a real teacher",
"felt sorry for having wasted her energy",
"felt disappointed at not realizing her dream",
"didn't believe she could do t... | When I entered college in the early 1980s, I had my heart set on being a first-grade teacher. I did all of my observations in others' first-grade classroom. I interviewed for my first job in a first-grade classroom. At last the district offered me a job---as a fifth-grade teacher in an inner-city building, considered at the time to be one of our district's most difficult tasks. It wasn't the first-grade classroom after I had hoped for, but it was my classroom after I had made such great efforts!
I managed to deal with everything in first year successfully, while working to form relationships with my students was no easy thing, especially with Alexader. He had learning disabilities in both math and reading. The other children were sometimes unfriendly to him. He was a difficult child to get to open up, but I was determined to make efforts.
You can imagine my delight when finally, in late spring, Alexander raised his hand during the math class discussion for the first time ever. Thrilled, I immediately called him.
Well, you can imagine my surprise when he suddenly told a story about his grandma, who had a hole in her head. You see, we were studying fraction that day, and I had just explained that a fraction is "a part of a whole". Alexander obviously didn't realize the difference between "whole" and "hole". "Homophones ''I told myself,"had better be tomorrow's English lesson."
Acknowledging Alexander that day was exactly what he needed from me. We had suddenly developed a special relationship. Alexander felt such a connection to me after that, that he even went one step further.
I arrived at the school the following morning and was surprised to find Alexander and his grandma waiting for me. Grandma began by saying,"Alexander said he told you that I had a hole in my head."I smiled nervously and said ,"Don't worry. You know kids! They have great imaginations"Grandma replied,"You didn't believe him, did you?""No, of course not,"I said .Well, just at that time, Grandma proudly showed the hole in her head.
I will never forget that day, and the lesson that I learned from being Alexander's teacher.
If a child ever again tells me about a family member with a hole in his or her head, I will believe him or her! | high21411.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the advertisements for two objects"
},
"options": [
"the covers for two books",
"the advice on home planning and whisky drinking",
"the advertisements for two objects",
"the descriptions about two pictures"
],
"... | Safeburn
Planning a home demands great care. The fireplace should be distinctive and elegant , with a fire that looks like a fire, giving your family the warmth and protection they need.Every year 7,000 people die in fires in Britain, and hundreds of them are little children. Thousands more are disfigured for life.
When you choose a fire, choose Safeburn. It gives you the atmosphere of home comfort you are looking for, and sets your mind at rest.
Caithness Pride
Caithness Pride. The ninth Duke of Caithness would only drink the best whisky. So he built his own private still, in the heart of the Highlands, with the fresh water running in the stream nearby. When we came into possession of the still, we paid the Duke's heirs a lot of money for it. But it was worth it. After all, what was good for the Duke is too good to be kept a secret. | high22118.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The boom of pay-by-phone business."
},
"options": [
"The expansion of cell phone companies.",
"The boom of pay-by-phone business.",
"The disappearance of credit cards.",
"The increase of Starbucks sales."
],
"qu... | Which are you more likely to have with you at any given moment-your cell phone or your wallet? Soon you may be able to throw your wallet away and pay for things with a quick wave of your smart phone over an electronic scanner.
In January, Starbucks announced that customers could start using their phones to buy coffee in 6,800 of its stores. This is the first pay-by-phone practice in the U.S., but we're likely to see more wireless payment alternatives as something called near field communication (NFC) gets into America's consumer electronics. Last December, some new smart phones which contain an NFC chip were introduced to the public.
Already in use in parts of Asia and Europe, NFC allows shoppers to wave their phones a few inches above a payment terminal - a contact- free system built for speed and convenience. But before NFC becomes widely adopted in the U.S., a few problems need to be worked out, like who will get to collect the profitable transaction fees. Although some credit card providers have been experimenting with wave-and- pay systems that use NFC-enabled credit cards, cell phone service providers may try to muscle their way into the point-of-sale(POS)market. Three big cell phone service providers have formed a joint venture that will go into operation over the next 15 months. Its goal is "to lead the U.S. payments industry from cards to mobile phone."
The other big NFC issue, apart from how payments will be processed, is security. For instance, what's to stop a thief from digitally pick-pocketing you? "We're still not at the point where an attacker can just brush against you in a crowd and steal all the money out of your phone," says Jimmy Shah. A mobile- security researcher, "Users may also be able to set transaction limits, perhaps requiring a password to be entered for larger purchases."
Still uneasy about this digital-wallet business? Keep in mind that if you lose your smart phone, it can be located on a map and remotely disabled. Plus, your phone can be password protected. Your wallet isn't. | high316.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To tell volunteers what they are tasked with."
},
"options": [
"To express great thanks to volunteers.",
"To explain how the old people get help.",
"To tell volunteers what they are tasked with.",
"To describe the life ... | Dear Volunteers,
The service you will provide to elderly individuals in Abilene as a Meals on Wheels volunteer is deeply appreciated. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for the many miles you will travel and all of the hours you will contribute to help make this one of the best programs in the entire state.
We have our staff members make a home visit before adding each person to the program and try to visit everyone at least once every year. That is hardly enough, and we depend on your contact a great deal! It is important that you report back when you do not get an answer to your knock on the door. The person inside may be hurt or ill. They may be in hospital or out of town and fail to inform us. If they are frequently absent, we may need to determine if they still need meals.
If you find someone with a medical emergency, please call 911 to request medical assistance, and then call the Meals on Wheels office. If you find someone who needs assistance other than for a medical emergency, please call the Meals on Wheels office at 6725050, and we will try to find the appropriate agency or individual to call.
Let us know when a certain person needs extra food. We have a food preparation room of shelf stable items to share with them. Please feel free to take a few magazines when you deliver meals. Many of those we serve cannot afford magazines and enjoy reading. If someone is interested in getting books from the Abilene Public Library, let us know. We can sign them up for the Books on Wheels program. Call if you smell gas strongly when you deliver meals, or if someone needs a space heater, a blanket, or an electric fan. Please convey all needs to us, and we will try to see that they are met. Some of the elderly people who we offer our service may have cancers, liver diseases, AIDS, etc. If you do not want to deliver meals to the people with certain types of health problems, such as these, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Betty L. Bradley, LBSW,
Executive Director | high1682.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "learn to paint pictures"
},
"options": [
"study abroad",
"work abroad",
"pay off the debts",
"learn to paint pictures"
],
"question": "Hobbs wanted to borrow money to _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questio... | Hobbs was an orphan . He worked in a factory and every day he got a little money. Hard work made him thin and weak. He wanted to borrow a lot of money to learn to paint pictures, but he did not think he could pay off the debts.
One day a lawyer said to him, "One thousand dollars, and here is the money." As Hobbs took the package of notes, he was very dumbfounded. He didn't know where the money came from and how to spend it. He said to himself, "I could go to find a hotel and live like a rich man for a few days; or I give up my work in the factory and do what I'd like to do: painting pictures. I could do that for a few weeks, but what would I do after that? I should have lost my place in the factory and have no money to live on. If it were a little less money, I would buy a new coat, or a radio, or give a dinner to my friends. If it were more, I could give up the work and pay for painting pictures. But it's too much for one and too little for the other." "Here is the reading of your uncle's will ," said the lawyer, "telling what is to be done with this money after his death. I must ask you to remember one point. Your uncle has said you must bring me a paper showing exactly what you did with his money, as soon as you have spent it."
"Yes, I see. I'll do that," said the young man. | high23212.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "like to move around"
},
"options": [
"pay more attention to his lessons",
"be fun",
"like to move around",
"sit up straighter"
],
"question": "What will happen if a student sits on a chair all day in school? The... | Sitting on a chair all day in school can make anyone want to move around. So, more and more teachers are letting students have a ball. By sitting on exercise balls instead of chairs , teachers find students' posture and attention improve.
Dottie Pownall, a fifth-grade teacher in West Virginia, USA, has been using balls as chairs since December 2008. "The students love them", she says. Pownall took a survey of her students. She found that 80% of the students thought sitting on the balls helped them pay more attention to what they were learning.
The teacher, Pisa Witt, felt so strongly about the use of balls as chairs, she started Witt Fitt. This company encourages the use of the balls. And the company educates not only teachers but also students on how to use them. "Our products are used in 24 states, three provinces in Canada, Puerto Rico and Japan," says Witt, " Research shows that sitting on the balls makes them sit up straighter . You can slouch on a ball," says Witt, "but it feels bad." Because the students are moving, their blood increases. That carries more oxygen( ) to the brain , so the kids have more energy and can pay attention longer.
"Besides, they're fun." says Pownall. | high1696.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Golf is bad for people's health"
},
"options": [
"Golf wastes large areas of countryside",
"Golf runs out of much water",
"Keeping golf court in good condition needs too much energy",
"Golf is bad for people's health"
... | Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature.However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.
Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water.Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses in good condition.This causes major environmental effects.For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.
There are many environment-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you can take up today. You don't need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don't have to worry about resources and your purse.Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit.If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones.Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.
Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials.But the final goal should be "green gyms".They are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers.Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces.There is no special requirement for you to start your membership.And best of all, it's free. | high302.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "remember her as the creator of the first American flag"
},
"options": [
"ask Betsy Ross who created the first American flag",
"meet her grandson who wrote a book about flags",
"debate over who designed the first American flag... | It's going to be a busy day at Betsy Ross house in Philadelphia on Thursday. She won't be there, since she died in 1836, but hundreds of tourists will be going through her house.
You see, Thursday is Flag Day in the United States. The unofficial holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars-and-stripes design of the American flag by the Continental Congress 235 years ago, on June 14, 1777. According to lore, the Ross House is the birthplace of the nation's flag. That's open to debate, but it's a story that schoolbooks still tell. Betsy Ross was a _ , busy sewing cushions for chairs in Philadelphia, which was the focus place of the American revolution against British rule. The Declaration of Independence by the colonists was signed there, and so was the new nation's Constitution after independence was won.
Widowed when her husband, a member of the local militia, was killed in a gunpowder explosion, Betsy Ross often mended the clothes of the rebels' leader and future U.S. president, George Washington. According to what some say in history and others a stretch of what really happened, Washington asked Ross to design and sew the new nation's flag. The story was promoted by Ross grandson, who wrote that Betsy Ross had "made with her hands the first flag." She became a role model for girls - a shining example of women's contributions to the nation's history. Most research indicates that Ross did sew the first flag. She's credited with substituting artful five-point white stars for six-pointed ones in the upper-left blue field. But many other accounts indicate George Washington brought the design to Ross and simply asked her to stitch it together.
In a letter, Washington wrote: "We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her. And the white stripes shall go down to posterity as representing liberty." | high4936.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "children under three should be sent to nursery schools"
},
"options": [
"day care should be widely spread",
"the family relationship is different in traditional societies",
"children under three should be sent to nursery scho... | The British psychoanalyst John Bowlby maintains that separation from the parents during the sensitive "attachment" period from birth to three may scar a child's personality and lead to emotional problems in later life. Some people have drawn the conclusion from Bowlby's work that children should not be subjected to day care before the age of three because of the parental separation it causes, and many people do believe this. But there are also arguments against such a strong conclusion.
Firstly, anthropologists point out that the insulated love affair between children and parents found in modern societies does not usually exist in traditional societies. For example, in some tribal societies, such as the Ngoni, the father and mother of a child did not bring up their infant alone - far from it. Secondly, common sense tells us that day care would not be so widespread today if parents, care-takers found children had problems with it. Statistical studies of this kind have not yet been carried out, and even if they were, the results would be certain to be complicated and controversial.
Thirdly, in the last decade, there have been a number of careful American studies of children in day care, and they have uniformly reported that day care had a neutral or slightly positive effect on children's development. But tests that have had to be used to measure this development are not widely enough accepted to settle the issue.
But Bowlby's analysis raises the possibility that early day care has delayed effects. The possibility that such care might lead to, say, more mental illness or crime 15 or 20 years later can only be explored by the use of statistics. Whatever the long-term effects, parents sometimes find the immediate effects difficult to deal with. Children under three are likely to protest at leaving their parents and show unhappiness. At the age of three or three and a half almost all children find the transition to nursery easy, and this is undoubtedly why more and more parents make use of child care at this time. The matter, then, is far from clear-cut, though experience and available evidence indicate that early care is reasonable for infants. | high18284.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "traditional long-distance calls"
},
"options": [
"IP phone service",
"telecom operators",
"traditional telephones",
"traditional long-distance calls"
],
"question": "Nowadays, mobile communications have graduall... | Mobile communications and the IP phone business have gradually replaced traditional long-distance calls. Mobile communications account for 28.5 percent of the total long-distance communications business. IP phones have 41.4 percent, while traditional long-distance calls are down to 30.1 percent.
China Mobile, the country's largest mobile communication operator, has accounted for nearly 40 percent of taxes in the domestic telecom market. That puts it at the top of the six major telecom operators in the nation, according to the latest official statistics. The other five are: China Telecom, 31.1 percent; China Netcom, 16.6 percent; China Unicom, 13.4 percent; China Satellite Communications Corp and China Railcom, 1.5 percent.
China Mobile is being chased by smaller rivals China Unicom and China Telecom, both of which are making significant 3G subscriber gains. That's aided in no small part by deals to offer the iPhone. However, as of March, China Mobile did have 15 million iPhone users on its network.
In another ranking, Xiaomi, Huawei, Lenovo, vivo and OPPO came in as the top five mobile phone sellers in China by April, 2015, according to IHS Technology. The report also says that during this period, China produced 82 million handsets. (including GSM, GPRS and CDMA phones) and sold 80 million. Of the phones sold, 37 million were exported to other countries. Analysts point out that China's lack of core technologies and its heavy reliance on overseas technologies have proved to be an obstacle for development of domestic phone makers. | high10800.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Tan felt excited to have the opportunity to interact with people from all over the world."
},
"options": [
"At most 660, 000 people signed up to volunteer at the 16th Asian Games.",
"It is not difficult to be selected as a voluntee... | It was a long process that involved creating a resume, submitting an online application and attending a round of interviews. Naturally Tan Kaiyin, a 21-year-old student is excited when she was selected, as more than 660, 000 people signed up to volunteer at the 16thAsian Games in Guangzhou, but only less than 10 percent were finally chosen to work in the venues and wear the white and green sport uniforms.
Like in any major sporting event, volunteers play a vital role in assisting with operations and Tan's function here is not any different. She is based at the Garden Hotel and is tasked with helping guests and officials who have issues with their accreditation cards . "I deal with guests from all over the world, I have never met so many international people and it is very, very exciting to have this opportunity to interact with them. They come to the office because they need to make a change in their accreditation card and usually they are in a hurry, so we try our best to get it done quickly."
She admits the first few days involved extremely long hours, however she likes the challenge as it gives her an immense sense of satisfaction especially when an irate guest turns a frown into a smile and says "thank you".
Tan deals with people from different cultures and personalities and feels she has learned so much in the past week, an experience that she would have never gotten if not for the Guangzhou Asian Games, therefore she is very happy and grateful for being a part of this. She also has kind words for her managers and fellow colleagues and says the hard work and positive atmosphere has bonded them into a family. She enjoys her responsibilities so much that she is afraid of feeling lost when the Games finally end on Nov. 27.
However, she is aware of all the positive effects the Games have had on Guangzhou. From improvements to air and water quality to better transportation and infrastructure in the city, but most importantly to her is the fact that the Asian Games has placed Guangzhou prominently onto the world map. This, she believes, will encourage people from all over the world to continue visiting her city, and this in turn will give the residents of Guangzhou a fantastic opportunity to continue learning about different cultures. The official Asian Games Volunteer Slogan is, "Together, we can make it better!" Indeed it seems they can. | high21405.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "large sea animals may face the same threat today."
},
"options": [
"large animal were not easy to survive in the changing environment",
"small species survived as large animals disappeared",
"large sea animals may face the sa... | When prehistoric man arrived in new parts of the world, something strong happened to the large animals; they suddenly became extinct. Smaller species survived; the large, slow-growing animals were easy game, and were quickly hunted to extinction.
Now something similar could be happening in the oceans. That the seas are being over-fished has been known for years and researchers such as Ransom Myers and Boris Worm have shown how fast things are changing. They have looked at half a century of data from fisheries around the world. Their methods do not attempt to estimate the actual biomass (the amount of living biological matter) of fish species in particular parts of the ocean, but rather changes in that biomass over time. According to their latest paper published in Nature, the biomass of large predators (animals that kill and eat other animals) inanes fishery is reduced on average by 80% within 15 years of the start of exploitation. In some long-fished areas, it has halved again since then.
Dr. Worm acknowledges that these figures are conservative . One reason for this is that fishing technology has improved. Today's vessels can find their prey using satellites and sonar, which were not available 50 years ago. That means a higher proportion of what is in the sea is being caught, so the real difference between present and past is likely to be worse than the one recorded by changes in catch sizes. In the early days, too, longlines would have been more saturated with fish. Some individuals would therefore not have been caught, since baited hooks would have been available to trap them, leading to an underestimate of fish stocks in the past. Furthermore, in the early days of longline fishing, a lot of fish were lost to sharks after they had been hooked. That is no longer a problem, because there are fewer sharks around noise.
Dr. Myers and Dr. Worm argue that their work gives a correct baseline, which future management efforts must take into account. They believe the date support an idea current among marine biologists, that of the "shifting baseline". The notion is that people have failed to detect the massive changes which have happened in the ocean because they have been looking back only a relatively short time into the past. That matters because theory suggests that the maximum sustainable yield that can be cropped from a fishery comes when the biomass of a target species is about 50% of its original levels. Most fisheries are well below that, which is a bad way to do business. | high3081.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They partly have the features of foxes in appearance."
},
"options": [
"They are a breed of the special fox.",
"They partly have the features of foxes in appearance.",
"Their ancestor is the Fennec fox in fact.",
"Their... | "You know, Chihuahuas aren't actual dogs. They're a kind of fox," announced a woman at a party. This woman entirely believed that Chihuahuas are the descendants of the Fennec fox. Many people might believe this: Chihuahuas are similar to foxes in their appearance with long-haired Chihuahuas appearing almost indistinguishable from their wild counterparts .
The idea that Chihuahuas are related to foxes isn't uncommon. Even the American Kennel Club, which is usually a highly respected source of information, accepts the belief and the similarity between Chihuahuas and Fennec foxes. Interesting as it is to imagine that Chihuahuas are a breed of the fox, this idea simply can't hold water. Chihuahuas are, in fact, far more closely related to dingoes or wolves than they are to Fennec foxes.
Like other dogs, Chihuahuas are able to breed with other members within the same species. The Fennec fox is a member of a different species. Chihuahuas and Fennec foxes are fairly distantly related just like a cat and a tiger are. Their similarities occur only because of a phenomenon known as convergent evolution , in which animals develop similar features to meet similar biological needs.
A simple observation of geography further denies the idea that Fennec foxes and Chihuahuas are related. While the Fennec fox was living in the deserts of Africa, the Chihuahua came from Mexico, where it got its common name. Its closest living s are other native Central and South American breeds. Its ancestor, the now nearly-extinct Mexican gray wolf, is also a much closer to the Chihuahua than any other fox.
It is common to consider the cute Chihuahua as a little Fennec fox adapted to life, but this theory is not true. Chihuahuas are domestic dogs to the same degree as other dogs. Much as a Chihuahua might look like a fox, it is--and always will be--a dog. | high17809.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "English conversations usually start with the weather"
},
"options": [
"most commentators agree with Dr. Johnson",
"Dr. Johnson is famous for his weather observation",
"the comment was accurate two hundred years ago",
"E... | It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnson's famous comment that "When two English meet, their first talk is of weather." Though Johnson's observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather-speak.
Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exciting, the _ with it can hardly be understood. He argues that "To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it." Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles.
Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says, because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena. "The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty." According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.
Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs, which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversation starters or the blank "fillers". In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding. | high4088.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "is a fictional figure currently popular with netizens"
},
"options": [
"is the busiest person in modern industrial societies",
"plays an important role in a Chinese TV series",
"is a fictional figure currently popular with ne... | Recently the busiest person on the Internet is absolutely Yuanfang, a fictional figure from the Chinese TV series "Detective Di Renjie". In the TV series, Li was often asked by Di, "How do you see it, Yuanfang?" Then, the dialogues between them help advance the plot. Now, the casual pet phrase is used as many as 2.5 million times by netizens in a single day, according to statistics.
In fact, it is not the first popular sentence pattern on the Internet. Many other types of popular network words include those evolved from "the slogans of Vancl " and actor's lines of "The Legend of Concubine Zhen Huan".
The explosive spread of the sentence "How do you see it, Yuanfang?" again proved the vast power of the network spread. The appearance of a buzzword on the Internet may be coincidental, but the spread of numerous buzzwords has started a social and cultural phenomenon. It is more noticeable that the spread is not _ but by chance. Usually, everyone has known about it, except the one concerned.
The appearance of buzzwords is resulting from the agreement of netizens. If something is new and interesting enough, it will cause public attention.
The rise of these buzzwords also benefits from their strong "adhesive force". After analyzing these buzzwords, we find that they have a common character, namely "novel in structure but empty in content". Therefore, any concrete contents can be added in these buzzwords, creating fantastic results.
Taking the "Yuanfang-style" as an example, its popularity displayed a social mentality of questioning. Although it seems a little funny to ask "Yuanfang", a fictional character, and some people even find it boring. This way of asking a question reveals a valuable quality-listening. The Internet provides a space for everyone to express their views, but it also causes controversies. What's your opinion, Yuanfang? | high5396.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the youth want to communicate with each other"
},
"options": [
"the youth are required to learn the modern technology",
"the youth want to escape the dangerous real world",
"the youth are fascinated by a digital-only world",
... | Even though multiple generations have now grown up glued to the flickering light of the TV,we still can't let go of the belief that the next generation of technology is going to doom our kids.
I've spent over a decade observing young people's practices with technology.When I began my research,I expected to find lots of teenagers who were escaping"real life"through the Internet.That was certainly my experience.As a geeky,queer youth growing up in the early 1990s,the Internet was the only place where I didn't feel judged.I wanted to live in a digital-only world.
To my surprise-and,as I grew older,relief-that differed from what most youth want.Early on in my research,I met a girl who told me that she'd much rather get together with her friends in person,but she had so many homework demands and her parents were often concerned about her physical safety.This is why she loved the Internet:She could hang out with her friends there.For many teenagers,technology is a relief valve.I've heard this reasoning echoed by youth around the country.
This is the Catch-22that we've trapped today's youth in.We've locked them indoors because we see the physical world as more dangerous than ever before,even though by almost every measure,we live in the safest society to date.We put heavy expectations for our kids,maxing them out with structured activities and homework.And then we're surprised when they're worn out and addictive.
If we truly want to reduce the amount young people use technology,we should free up more of their time.For one thing,we could radically reduce the amount of homework and tests American youth take.Finland consistently outperforms the U.S.in school,and it emphasizes student happiness,assigning almost no homework.When I lecture in Finland,parents don't seem nearly as anxious about technology addiction as Americans.We should also let children roam.It seems like every few weeks I read a new story about a parent who was visited by child services for letting their school-aged children out of their sight.Indeed,studies in the U.S.and the U.K.consistently show that children have lost the right to roam.
This is why many of our youth turn to technology.They aren't addicted to the computer; they're addicted to interaction,and being around their friends.Children,and especially teenagers,don't want to only socialize with parents and siblings; they want to play with their peers.That's how they make sense of the world.And we've robbed them of that opportunity because we're afraid of evil spirits.
We're raising our children in captivity and they turn to technology to socialize,learn and decompress .Why are we blaming the screens? | high19824.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "You are about to recover from culture shock."
},
"options": [
"You are about to recover from culture shock.",
"You have completely got rid of culture shock.",
"You never suffered from culture shock before.",
"You're in ... | You feel generally depressed and unable to concentrate. Your pattern of daily activity may change:you find yourself awake and active in the middle of the night;you sleep late into the day. You stay in your room and have little contact with people except with those who speak your language. In your mind,you criticize the people around you;You are constantly comparing between life here and the perfect life back home. Above a11, you are homesick almost all the time.
If you ever find yourself behaving in these ways,you are probably suffering from culture shock. Culture shock is a psychological condition that sometimes has physical effects. It affects people who have moved away from an environment where they know how to live into a new environment where much is unfamiliar to them-the food,the weather, the language,and especially the unwritten rules for social behavior.
Culture shock is caused. therefore,by a lack of familiarity with the system of rules that the new society uses for everyday living. Language is an obvious example of one type of these rules. If your language is limited,even the simplest task can suddenly become difficult for you. However, knowledge of the language doesn't make you free from the effects of culture shock as many Britons in the United States and many Americans in Britain will experience. Most people are unaware that each culture has its own rules for social behavior;they certainly think that polite, civilized people behave the same way worldwide. This mistaken belief will cause you to behave and judge the behavior of others according to the rules you learned as a member of your own culture. If the rules are different, then people will misunderstand your behavior, and you will misunderstand theirs.
How can you deal with culture shock? First, you need to realize that every newcomer suffers from some culture shock. You're not the only case. Second,remember that culture shock can be cured. The process of recovery will start as you begin to become used to the new culture. Of course learning the language will help remove the _ to communication and will ease the job of making Mends with people. Recognizing and learning the new cultural rules of behavior, however, may be just as important. You'll still have emotional reactions to unfamiliar situations but you'11 find yourself making jokes about them rather than condemning the entire society as "stupid." The jokes are a good sign:they show that you are recovering. | high464.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The camera can help them out of their trouble."
},
"options": [
"Their parents hate to give them a hand.",
"The camera can help them out of their trouble.",
"They can make profits from their documentaries.",
"They desir... | Now that newsrooms are becoming less popular in the US,young people have begun to tell their own stories.
GlobalGirl Media,a nonprofit organization that teaches teenage girls digital storytelling skills,was started by award-winning filmmakers Amie Williams and Meena Nanji in Los Angeles in 2010.
"By giving girls a voice,you introduce a different story,and change the existing one,"said Danny Glover,a member of the GlobalGirl Media advisory board.
"When the camera's in my hands,I feel like I can't lose,"Said Cheyenne Grisez,14."It makes me happy and I feel like I can do anything."
On the final day of the summer academy in California,Williams worked with Grisez and Camila Prado,15,on a short film about Prado's fight against an eating disorder.In the film,Prado bravely interviewed her parents and sister about how she was able to beat her depression and eating disorder.This film and others the girls had made were shown to parents and friends on the last day of the academy,celebrating their hard work.
"It's their story,and nobody knows how to tell it better than they do,"Williams said.
"These girls are from really difficult backgrounds.They feel trapped sometimes.They feel alone."Williams said."The camera gives them a way to look at their world in a different way and get out of that feeling.''
Girls in the program practice their skills and build confidence by going out in the community and interviewing people for the short films.Many of them had no experience,but found they had good storytelling skills.
"I work with these girls.Every day I leave inspired and completely grateful,because I know that.due to the work we're doing with them,things will be better,"said GlobalGirl Media summer academy project director Heather Faison. | high12971.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "be sent online"
},
"options": [
"be in color1",
"be sent online",
"be taken in 2014",
"be taken in the USA"
],
"question": "The photo for the contest must _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{... | We are now accepting submissions for our 13th annual photo contest.
As always, we want creative and beautiful photos. The topic of travel is broad, so have some fun with it: Experiment with lighting, angles, subjects and composition.
One photo per person, and the photo should be taken since July 31, 2013. If you submit several entries, we will consider only the first photo received. Also, you may submit only an image that you have taken yourself.
Please submit clear photos online at wapo.st/travelshot. Include caption information and the date the photo was taken, plus your name, e-mail address and phone number. We promise that we will not publish your personal information online or in any other way.
We're looking for amateurs only; professional photographers (i.e., anyone who earns more than 50 percent of his or her annual income from photography) need not apply. Employees, officers, directors and representatives of The Washington Post, and their family members are not allowed to enter the contest.
Please do not submit images that have been greatly edited. It is acceptable to adjust images to achieve color1 balance that reflects the scene as you observed it. Cutting is also acceptable. The Washington Post keeps the right to disqualify any image that it feels has been overly changed.
The deadline for entries is July 20, 2014. By entering, you give The Washington Post a license to use your photos, including to edit, publish, spread and republish them in any form. Photographers keep the rights to their images.
The winners will be determined by the Travel staff of The Washington Post and world-famous photography professionals invited. Only US residents can enter. The winning photos will be published on or around Aug 25.
The contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws. For complete rules and prize information, go to wapo.st/travelshotrules.
Now, it is time to take out your camera and start shooting. Surprise us with your excellent works. Maybe you will be the winner! | high17821.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "must pay $1,000,00 first"
},
"options": [
"must pay $1,000,00 first",
"can't cook or wash in the room",
"has to park his car far away",
"must contact the owner by telephone only"
],
"question": "If someone wants... | Room for Rent by East Jefferson Hospital in Metairie
Room for rent for $ 500.00 per month and $500.00 damage deposit, You will have use of the refrigerator (I have two:) and the washer and dryer and the kitchen and the in-ground swimming pool.There is a one-year rental agreement but can be changed to a month-to-month after six months with a 30-day notice.There is parking in front of the house which is on a slot dead end street,.You can contact by phone at 5044551499 0r you can email me at marrt/n286@aol com.My name is Jerry.
LOW'PRICE : 2 bedrooms for rent $499 with furniture9 swimming pool
Any student attending university during the spring 2014 who wants to live on campus in a safe, gated community at a discounted rate: please respond.2 bedrooms/ 2 bathrooms / 1 living room.If a student is ir.retested in renting both rooms, the rate will be $479 per room, instead of- $499 (water all included).The original amount for the rent is $599, and with our discounted rate (less $100.00 a month) it is an affordable way to engage in on-campus life.Located near the swimming pool, public barbecue pit and laundry room.Ruminates are great, very friendly and trustworthy,
Phone: 5049948139 Email: jguol@uno.edu Located:2000 Lakeshore Drive, UNO campus
Roommate Wanted
I live in an apartment with 2 bedrooms and l bathroom: on Lake Pontcbartrain surrounded by breath-taking scenery.The rent is $17000 per month and electric runs around $12.0.I am 27 years old and my husband is currently sending in Afghanistan.I am looking for a roommate to share rent and electric: woodlot $.550 per month.If interested, contact me at 9856074708.Text or call.My name is Ashley.
Roommate Wanted in Slidell
Roommate wanted for a 5-bedroom house in great location. Backroom is famished or unfurnished.All utilities indeed WiFi cable w/d and full use of house.Must like I'm Julie.pets, Outside smokers are OK.9857189738. | high11288.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The people on line"
},
"options": [
"Their friends",
"The people on line",
"Their family",
"Their management"
],
"question": "Who first saw the video of the song\"Take Me Out\"?",
"question_type": "factiod_q... | Armed only with iPhones, the inventive rock band Atomic Tom has gone viral by way of the New York subway. The band has scored an Internet hit with the video to the song "Take Me Out."
Singer Luke White says the production was a top-secret operation.
"We didn't tell anyone about this. It was completely top-secret from our family, from our friends, from our label, our management, everybody. So the first time that people saw this video was last Friday when we put it on YouTube,"explained White.
Since uploading the video to YouTube, band members have spent several days refreshing the page to watch the number of hits rise.
The video has also made its way around Twitter as many people have shared it with their friends.
"I mean, it still hasn' t quite hit.It' s just kind of blowing our minds right now that we're getting this: ma ny people are fond of it, and they' re sharing it with their friends.We don' t know what it's like really to have something that's viral, so all of this is very new to us." said Eric Espiritu, the lead guitarist of the band.
White explains how the video came together:
"We did our research with the applications( ) and found applications that worked out really well with the instruments and then we plugged them all into, plugged our phones into mini-battery powered amplifiers that we put underneath our seats, and we did a lot of, you know, practices, in terms of figuring out what the balance of the sound and like who was overpowering, who was too loud or who was too soft."
The idea for the video came from Espiritu's younger brother Benjamin. The younger Espiritu directed the video from his initial concept through the final edit and upload to the Internet.
"I' ve seen a lot of the music applications come out, and I' ve never actually had the chance to play with them,"says Ben Espiritu. "When I started hearing about how they sound and e verything, I thought it might be unique to take it one step further and then create an entire band just performing solely on the iPhones, and I thought it would be a pretty cool idea."
Ben says the success of the band' s music video is a credit to the talent and ability of the musicians, but it' s also a sign of the times.
"It really comes down to seeing something different, seeing something unique, and I think that that' s always, in any type of art form, what will speak to people, and I think it does reflect the times that we live in, taking a smart phone and then being able to turn it into an instrument, not only just an instrument, but making it sound really good." | high20055.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "introduce a good career to those who are interested in wildlife"
},
"options": [
"advise us to respect and protect wildlife",
"encourage us to spend more time working outside",
"explain why education is important for our care... | Do you enjoy watching beautiful sunsets and seeing wildlife in some of the best parts of Wisconsin? Do you like being around people who share the same respect and love for natural resources? If you say"yes", then a fisheries biologist is a great career choice for you.
As you can probably guess, education is very important. A Bachelor of Science degree in fisheries or biology is strongly recommended . Many biologists have a Master's degree. But it's not only good education that prepares you for a career as a fisheries biologist--field experience is also important. Volunteer work, internships and short-term fish technician positions are good ways to gain valuable training that can give you an edge in the competitive job market.
In addition to good education and field experience, a fisheries biologist needs other skills. You'll spend a lot of time working with the public, so it's important to feel comfortable talking to a variety of people. Good communication, listening, and presentation skills are a must.
A common _ among many people is that fisheries biologists get to fish all the time. Most biologists wish that were true. But as a fisheries biologist, you are especially busy during the fishing season, which leaves little time for you to actually go fishing. It's sad, but true.
Each day brings something different in the life of a fisheries biologist. In the spring and fall, you spend a lot of time on the water shocking fish in order to sample the population, studying fish, and talking with people. The winter is spent analyzing fish data and communication with the public.
So if you find fish interesting and fun to learn about, and like working both outside and inside, consider a career as a fisheries biologist. You'll never be bored! | high3917.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "$9."
},
"options": [
"$3.",
"$6.",
"$9.",
"$12"
],
"question": "How much can they save if grandparents in their seventies with a 10-year-old boy visit Georgia Aquarium with online tickets?",
"question_type":... | Georgia Aquarium is open 365 days a year. Please note that hours of operation do vary.Last ticket sold and entry is 30 minutes before closing time.
Regular Hours
Sunday--Friday:10 a.m.--5 P.m.
Saturday:9 a.m.--6 p.m.
Summer Hours:May 27-August 16
Monday-Saturday:9 a.m.--9 P.m.
Sunday:9 a.m.--6 p.m.
Full Price Total Ticket
Adult(ages 13-64):$38.95
Child(ages 3-12):$32.95
Senior(age 65+):$34.95
Total Ticket Online Discount
Adult(ages 13-64):$35.95
Child(ages 3-12):$29.95
Senior(age 65+):$31.95
Animal Encounters:$59.95
Beluga&Friends Interactive Program:$179.95
Journey with Gentle Giants Immersion Program:$234.95
AT&T Dolphin Tales
Our new dolphin gallery, theater and show are now open.The gallery and viewing window are open to general admission guests periodically throughout the day.Show times vary each day, so check for times when you are purchasing general admission tickets.Don't forget-AT&T Dolphin Tales is included in Total Ticket general admission,so don't miss this spectacular show !
4D Theater--Deepo's Undersea 3D Wondershow Presented by AT&T
With multiple shows throughout the day,be sure to catch this unique experience at Georgia Aquarium.Admission to the 4D Theater is included in Total Ticket general admission!
Journey with Gentle Giants Immersion Program
Swim or scuba dive in the Ocean Voyager exhibit,built by The Home Depot.Swims are daily at 4:30 p.m.,and scuba dives are daily at 3 p.m.and Saturday and Sunday at ll a.m.Spots are limited,so it's best to book in advance.
Beluga&Friends Interactive Program
Interact with belugas and harbor seals in the Georgia-Pacific Cold Water Quest gallery.This animal interaction occurs daily at 10 a.m.and 1:30 p.m.Spots are limited,so it's best to book in advance.
Animal Encounters
Interact with a penguin daily at l1:30 a.m.and l:45 p.m.You can also experience a special encounter with a dolphin.Spots are limited,so it's best to book in advance. | high10196.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a newspaper"
},
"options": [
"a storybook",
"a newspaper",
"a magazine",
"a textbook"
],
"question": "This passage is probably taken from _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | More than 10,000 people were made homeless in Ternang when the Sungai Mas overflowed its banks yesterday after six days of continuous heavy rain.
The wooden bridge across the river has been washed away. The town is cut off by flood waters. At the fifth mile, Jalan Tengkn, the water is two meters deep. It is closed to all traffic. Flooding first happened at mid-afternoon yesterday along the river banks. People trying to get to higher ground were just in time to escape the destroying of the flood. Most of the flood victims had to leave all their things behind.
The National Flood Relief Center was reported to give its help and by early evening the whole town was moved out, helped by the army, police, Red Cross Society and volunteers .
The flood victims are now housed in different simple relief centers in the nearby town of Ternang. "Everything possible is being done to help the unlucky people," a government spokesman said, "In fact, money, food and clothing have begun to come in from public organizations and helpful people. A Disaster Relief Fund will be started as soon as possible."
According to the latest reports it is still raining heavily at Ternang. The whole town is expected to be wholly covered by the water. So far no deaths have been reported. | high12959.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Human touch makes it important."
},
"options": [
"It is wide, deep, wet and salty.",
"Human touch makes it important.",
"There is a bridge over it.",
"The highway is busy there."
],
"question": "Which of the fol... | Before we start a voyage, we usually try to find out more or less definitely where we are bound and how we are supposed to get there.
I happen to have the "Concise Oxford dictionary" on my desk and that will do as well as any other. The word I am looking for appears at the bottom of Page 344. edition 1912.
"Geography: the science of the earth's surface, form, physical features, natural and political divisions, climate, productions and population."
I could not possibly hope to do better, but I still stress some of the aspects of the case at the expenses of others, because I intend to place man in the centre of the stage. This book of mine will not merely discuss the surface of the earth and its physical features, together with its political and natural boundaries. I would rather call it a study of man in search of food and shelter and leisure for himself and for his family and an attempt to his background or has reshaped his physical surroundings in order to be comfortable and well nourished and happy with his limited strength.
Among the two million human beings in the world, there is of course the widest possible range for all sorts of experiments of an economic and social and cultural nature. It seems me that those experiments deserve our attention before anything else. For a mountain is after all merely a mountain until it has been seen by human eyes and has been walked on by human feet and until its and slopes and valleys have been occupied and fought over and planted by a dozen generation of hungry settlers.
The Atlantic Ocean was just as wide and deep and as wet and salty before the beginning of the 13th century as after, but it took the human touch to make it what it is today--a bridge between the New World and the Old, the highway for the commerce between East and West.
For thousands of years the endless Russian plains lay ready to offer their abundant harvest to whoever should take the trouble to sow the first grain. But the aspect of that country today would he a very different one if the hand of a German or a Frank, rather than that of a Slav, had guided the iron-pointed stick that plowed the first furrows .
The island of Nippon would shake and quake just as continually, whether they happened to be settled by Japanese or by the Tasmanian race, but in the latter case they would hardly be able to feed 60,000,000 people.
Generally speaking, I have paid more attention to the purely "human" side of geography than to the commercial problems which are so important in a day and age devoted to mass production. | high9584.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A lot of care and the right soil."
},
"options": [
"A lot of care and the right soil.",
"Frequent pruning and fertilizing.",
"Tomato plants grown alongside.",
"Cages placed around the roots."
],
"question": "Wha... | "Soon,you're going to have to move out!"cried my neighbor upon seeing the largest tomato plant known to mankind,or at least known in my neighborhood.
One tiny 9-inch plant,bought for $ 1.25 in the spring.has already taken over much of my rose bed,covering much of other plants,and is well on its way to the front door.
Roses require a good deal of care,and if it weren't for the pleasure they give. it wouldn't be worth the work.As it is.I have a garden full of sweet-smelling roses for most of the year.Bushes must be pruned in early spring,leaving ugly woody branches until the new growth appears a few weeks later.It was the space available in the garden that led me into planting just one little tomato plant.A big mistake.
Soil conditions made just perfect for roses turn out be even more perfect for tomatoes.The daily watering coupled with full sun and regular fertilizing have turned the little plant into a tall bush.The cage I placed around it as the plant grew has long since disappeared under the thick leaves.
Now the task I face in harvesting the fruit is twofold.First.I have to find the red ones among the leaves,which means I almost have to stand on my head.and once found I have to reach down and under,pick the tomatoes and withdraw my full fist without dropping the prize so dearly won.I found two full-blown white roses completely hidden as I picked tomatoes in June. But they were weak and the leaves already yellow for lack of light.
Here I am faced with a painful small decision:To tear up a wonderful and productive tomato plant that offers up between ten and twenty ripe sweet tomatoes each day or say goodbye to several expensive and treasured roses.Like Scarlett in Gone With the Wind.I'll think about that tomorrow. | high22642.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "lead to obesity"
},
"options": [
"stop body's metabolism",
"be difficult to digest",
"destroy body's cells",
"lead to obesity"
],
"question": "Processed foods will probably _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_... | People are interested in eating raw foods or whole foods partly because eating these types of food reduces the risk of acid accumulation in our body .
Raw and whole foods are usually digested more efficiently than cooked and processed foods . When we cook foods , we destroy the natural enzymes that are part of the food in its raw form . These enzymes were intended by nature to help us digest the food . When we consume food without these natural enzymes , our bodies either digest the food improperly or allow too many nutrients to be absorbed into the bloodstream . In both cases , the result is obesity . When too many nutrients are absorbed at once , the body grows fat .
Processed foods contain chemical elements , which might confuse the appetite system that tells us when we've had enough to eat ; as a result , people often overeat . Processed foods also upset the digestive cycle . The body will either identify these foods as allergens and then store them safely away from the organs as fat , or the remains of undigested food will become acidic and enter the bloodstream as acid waste , which will stick to the blood vessel walls and block the passage of vital oxygen and nutrients heading for the body's cells . The body's metabolism becomes inactive , and the result is weight gain and obesity .
To stop this _ circle in its tracks , people need to consume food and supplements that will balance the acid already accumulated in body . Eating the right types of raw and whole foods can help . It's also important to restore our enzyme balance . We need to identify and avoid the foods that cause acid accumulation and consume the foods that increase enzyme production . If we truly want to change and help our body heal itself , we need to take an active approach . | high12781.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To spend a holiday"
},
"options": [
"To look for the farmer",
"To spend a holiday",
"To teach the farmer's son",
"To see the farmer's son"
],
"question": "What did the artist go to the country for?",
"questi... | An artist went to beautiful part of the country for a holiday, and stayed with a famer. Every day he went out with his paints and his brushes and painted from morning to evening. When it got dark, he went back to the farm and had a good dinner before he went to bed. At the end of his holiday, he wanted to pay the farmer, but the farmer said, "No I do not want money, but give me one of your pictures", .The farmer smiled and answered, "It's not that. I have a son in London. He wants to become an artist. When he comes here next month. I will show him your picture, and then he will not want to be an artist any more, I think." | high1866.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Silent Night"
},
"options": [
"Back to Bedlam",
"Silent Night",
"Goodbye My Lover",
"You're Beautiful"
],
"question": "All of the following belongs to Blunt EXCEPT _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | James Blunt is one of the most popular singers in the UK. His first album, Back to Bedlam, and his number one hit, You're Beautiful, brought him fame in 2005. his music is a mix of pop, rock and folk.
Blunt comes to China for the first time this month, he will hold two concerts, one in Beijing and one in Shanghai on April 18 and 19 respectively.
Blunt, 34, took an unusual path to stardom. His father was a soldier and so was his grandfather.
"The only music he heard growing up was Happy Birthday and Silent Night. His father considered all music, even classical, to be unnecessary noise,' reads Blunt's official website.
Even though Blunt did not want to join the military, he eventually followed his father's wishes, and served as a soldier in Kosovo on peacekeeping duty.
"Like any parents, mine wanted me to have a secure job with a regular wage and career prospects," Blunt said. "And the one job my father knew of, that he'd had experience of himself, was the army, so he could help me in that direction."
Blunt eventually became a Captain. One of his final duties in the army before retirement was carrying the coffin at the funeral of the Queen Mother of England in 2002.
But Blunt couldn't escape his love for music. So, after leaving the British Army he moved to Los Angeles and worked on his first album. While in LA, Blunt lived with the actress Carrie Fisher, who played the lead female role in the Star Wars movie. He recorded his song, Goodbye My Lover, in his bathroom, where he kept a piano.
Blunt took his new album back to England where it was not very successful. But he kept performing and eventually his song, You're Beautiful, became a number one hit.
Now Blunt has won numerous awards, sold millions of records and dated super models.
But his greatest accomplishment might be that his father now enjoys music! | high22124.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They don't want to get on crowded buses ."
},
"options": [
"They always think the next bus will be better .",
"They don't want to get on crowded buses .",
"It's an official rule in Colombia .",
"They get into conversati... | In Colombia , there are some unwritten rules that people are used to , These rules are not officially established , but people do respect them . For example , on a bus , a person keeps a distance from another person , and people don't like to touch each other . Many people come to work late because they prefer to wait for another bus if the first one is too crowded . They don't want to have to stand too close to another person , or maybe they are afraid of starting a conversation .
A friend of mine in Colombia once said his mom got angry because he came home late , so he asked her , " Mom , what do you think of most people arriving at their jobs so late ? " That gave her the answer to her question since everyone knows no one wants to get on a bus that is too crowded . His mother realized at that moment that customs have a big influence on a person's life .
Sometimes , people don't like to make any kind of conversation or make eye contact with others . For example , when they are in line at a bank , they prefer to look up or down rather than look at other people .
Moreover , people usually look down when they are in an elevator . Not only on a bus , in line at a bank , and in an elevator do people usually avoid talking to other people , but also in the streets when they are walking , they prefer to look down and to avoid contact with others . | high15788.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "finish the course"
},
"options": [
"show basic ability",
"finish the course",
"have sold three stories",
"have passed the test"
],
"question": "You are promised to publish one manuscript when you _ .",
"q... | Dear friends,
The recent success of children's books has made the general public aware that there's a huge market out there.
And there's a growing need for new writers trained to create the $3 billion worth of children's books bought each year... plus stories and articles needed by over 650 publishers of magazines for children and teenagers. Who are these needed writers? They're ordinary people like you and me.
But am I good enough?
I was once where you might be now. My thoughts of writing had been pushed down by self-doubt, and I didn't know where to turn for help.
Then, I accepted a free offer from the Institute to test my writing ability, and it turned out to be the inspiration I needed.
The promise that paid off
The Institute made the same promise to me that they will make to you, if you show basic writing ability: you will complete at least one manuscript suitable to hand in to a publisher by the time you finish our course.
I really didn't expect any publication before I finished the course, but that happened. I sold three stories. And I soon discovered that was not unusual at the Institute. Since graduation, I have written 34 nationally published children's books and over 300 stories and articles.
Free test and brochure
We offer a free ability test and will send you a copy of our brochure describing our recognized home-study courses on the basis of one-on-one training.
Realize your writing dream today. There's nothing sadder than a dream delayed until it disappears forever.
Sincerely,
Kristi Hill
Institute of Children's Literature | high14496.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "there are so many people in the store"
},
"options": [
"they don't need to wait for staff to serve them",
"they don't need any previous experience as thieves",
"January sales offer wonderful opportunities for them",
"th... | Most shoplifters agree that the January sales offer wonderful opportunities for the hard-working thief. With the shops so crowded and the staff so busy, it does not require any extraordinary talent to help you to take one or two little things and escape unnoticed. It is known, in the business, as "hoisting".
But the hoisting game is not what it used to be. Even at the height of the sales, shoplifters today never know if they are being watched by one of those evil little balls that hang from the ceilings of so many department stores above the most desirable goods.
As if that was not trouble enough for them, they can now be filmed at work and obliged to attend a showing of their performance in court.
Selfridges was the first big London store to install closed-circuit videotape equipment to watch its sales floors. In October last year the store won its first court case for shoplifting using an evidence a videotape clearly showing a couple stealing dresses. It was an important test case which encouraged other stores to install similar equipment.
When the balls, called sputniks, first make an appearance in shops, it was widely believed that their only function was to frighten shoplifters. Their somewhat ridiculous appearances, the curious holes and red lights going on and off, certainly make the theory believable.
It did not take long, however, for serious shoplifters to start showing suitable respect. Soon after the equipment was in operation at Selfridges, store detective Brian Chadwick was sitting in the control room watching a woman secretly putting bottles of perfume into her bag.
"As she turned to go," Chadwick recalled, "she suddenly looked up at the 'sputnik' and stopped. She could not possibly have seen that the camera was trained on her because it is completely hidden, but she must have had a feeling that I was looking at her."
"For a moment she paused, but then she returned to counter and started putting everything back. When she had finished, she opened her bag towards the camera to show it was empty and hurried out of the store. " | high20733.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "robots were more effective at reducing people's loneliness"
},
"options": [
"dogs could help get rid of old people's loneliness",
"robots could build close connection with humans",
"robots were more effective at reducing peop... | A study by St. Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents. The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents .
Dr. Andrew Smith led the Stanford University teamat built a home-assistance robot. "If humans can feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our companions," he said.
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog, researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St, Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog.The groups' respective levels of loneliness were tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits.
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached. Most of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator Marian Banks.
"He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him," said Banks, who adopted and trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago.
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature.Over time, however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him. He would respond by wagging his tail, vocalizing , and blinking his lights.
"AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him," said the study's author, Dr. William Banks, " He's an attractive sort of guy. He gives a feeling: of being personal, not just a robot. " | high16281.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "TV or texting affects kids equally."
},
"options": [
"Kids get bad marks when using Facebook.",
"TV or texting affects kids equally.",
"Kids prefer video games to books.",
"Watching TV is better than playing video games... | Let's face it: Teenagers spend hours texting, socializing on Facebook and playing video games.And it's driving their parents nuts.
Sure, there are real dangers connected with all this screen time--everything from cyberbullying to couch-potato obesity.Not to mention driving while texting, and shortened attention spans .
Douglas Gentile, who studies the effects of media on children, says texting, Facebook and video games are not naturally bad.Nor are they naturally better or worse than watching TV, although they do lead to different risks, such as cyberbullying.
But research has shown that the more time kids spend in front of screens--whether it's TV or instant-messaging--the worse their school performances are."That doesn't mean it's true for every kid, but it makes sense, that for every hour a kid is playing video games, it's an hour that they're not doing homework or reading or exploring or creating," he said.If screen time is taking the place of doing their homework, that's bad.But if their homework is done, well, so what?
The study also found that the more time kids spend with media, the lower their grades and levels of personal satisfaction are.Gentile said the influence of screen time on school work can be reduced by what he calls "protective factors".Those might include good teachers and a high-performing school, love of reading, coming from a family where education is valued."If you had all these protective factors, then that one little risk factor, who cares?"
One thing parents should worry about is the way electronic devices encourage multitasking .
"As adults, your response speeds up, you're quicker to look over your shoulder and notice little noises or lights.However this is not what the kids need when they get to the classroom.Scanning to see when the next message comes may not be good for kids.The more distractions you have, the worse your performance is." Getting kids to turn off their phones, iPods in order to let them concentrate on homework is a fight worth having. | high10828.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "smart but a bit rude"
},
"options": [
"sensitive but slow",
"smart but a bit rude",
"independent but selfish",
"quick but sort of passive"
],
"question": "From the passage, we know that Kathy is_.",
"questio... | Kathy started at my nursery school at the age of three. She settled into the group easily, and would be first on the slide and highest up the climbing frame. She could put on her coat without help and not only fasten her own buttons but other children's too.
She was a lovely child but unfortunately a scratcher. If anyone upset her or stood in her way, her right hand would flash out fast and scratch down the face of her playmates. Children twice her age would fly in fear from her.
This must have been very rewarding for Kathy but obviously it had to be stopped. All the usual ways failed and then I remembered and account by G. Atkinson of prefix = st1 /HighfieldSchool, of how fights in the playground had been stopped. No punishment had been given, but the attacker had been ignored and the victims rewarded. So I decided to try this out on Kathy.
With a pocketful of Smarties I followed Kathy around. She was so quick that it was impossible to prevent her scratching, but I was determined to stay within arm's length all afternoon.
All was peaceful but then I saw Kathy's hand moved and heard the scream. Gently I gathered up the little hurt one in my arms and said "Nice, nice sweetie" and I put a Smartie into her mouth. Kathy opened her mouth, expecting a Smartie and then looked puzzled when she got nothing.
Soon came another scream, this time from John. While holding him in my arms, I said, "Look, Kathy, a nice Smartie for John" and put it into John's mouth.
A smile of understanding flashed across Kathy's face, Minutes later, she came to me and said loudly, "Give me a Smartie! I have hurt my finger!"
"No," I replied, "you'll get it if someone hurts you."
On purpose, she turned and scratched a nearby boy. Tom, and waited quietly while I mothered and rewarded him, then she walked away.
She has never scratched a child since.
Parents who find older children _ younger brothers and sisters might do well to replace shouting and punishment by rewarding and more attention to the injured ones. It's certainly much easier and more effective. | high21439.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "She got married in Czechoslovakia."
},
"options": [
"She visited China before twenty.",
"She was given an unhappy home.",
"She got married in Czechoslovakia.",
"She could hardly tolerate her parents."
],
"questi... | I believe that it is important to be brought up with a firm belief in the good. I was fortunate in this respect. My parents not only gave me a happy home, but they had me study half a dozen foreign languages and made it possible for me to travel in other countries. This made me more tolerant and helped me to bridge many difficulties in later life.
Soon after I got married, my husband and I left our native Czechoslovakia and went to live in Shanghai, China. Here was a really international city. People of all races and beliefs lived and worked together.
In Shanghai, in 1941, when I was only twenty years old, the doctors discovered that I had diabetes. It was a terrible shock, because diabetes is incurable. But it can be controlled by insulin . Although this drug was not manufactured in China, there were enough stocks of imported insulin available. This enabled me to continue a normal, happy life.
Then bombs fell on Pearl Harbor and the Japanese occupied Shanghai. The import of insulin was cut off. Before long, there was not enough for the diabetics. I was on a starvation diet to keep my insulin requirements as low as possible. Many diabetics had already died, and the situation became desperate. In spite of all this, I never stopped believing that with the help of my husband's love and care, I would survive.
I continued to teach in Chinese schools. My faith and my husband's never-ending efforts to get the manufacture of insulin started gave me courage. In his small laboratory the production of insulin was attempted. I served as the human guinea pig on which
was tested. I'll never forget the day when my husband gave me the first injection of the new insulin, which had worked on rabbits. It helped! Can you imagine our happiness and relief?
I received the greatest strength from the deep love and complete understanding between my husband and me. And next to that was the kindness and help of many, many friends of many nationalities. To me, the experience of living in Shanghai during the special times was unforgettable.
After the Second World War, my husband and I sailed to the Untied States, which is also known as a melt pot. Wherever we live, I believe, with faith and love, love between families and friends from different nationalities, we can make it our cherished home. | high16295.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the customer-centered approach"
},
"options": [
"the practice of turning goods into money",
"making goods available for purchase",
"the customer-centered approach",
"a form of persuasive salesmanship"
],
"questi... | To understand the marketing concept, it is only necessary to understand the difference between marketing and selling. Not too many years ago, most industries concentrated primarily on the efficient production of goods, and then relied on "persuasive salesmanship" _ . Such production and selling focuses on the needs of the seller to produce goods and then convert them into money.
Marketing, on the other hand, focuses on the wants of consumers. It begins with first analyzing the preferences and demands of consumers and then producing goods that will satisfy them. This eye-on-the-consumer approach is known as the marketing concept, which simply means that instead of trying to sell whatever is easiest to produce, the makers and dealers first find out what the consumer wants to buy and then go about making it available for purchase.
This concept does not imply that business is benevolent or that consumer satisfaction is given priority over profit in a company. There are always two sides to every business transaction--the firm and the customer--and each must be satisfied before trade occurs. Successful merchants and producers, however, recognize that the surest route to profit is through understanding and catering to customers. A striking example of the importance of catering to the consumer presented itself in mid-1985, when Coca Cola changed the flavor of its drink. The non-acceptance of the new flavor by a significant portion of the public brought about a prompt restoration of the Classic Coke, which was then marketed alongside the new. | high22130.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Diners Club"
},
"options": [
"Diners Club",
"Sir John Herschel",
"Dr Eugen Frick",
"the Zeiss factory"
],
"question": "All of the following made a contribution to the invention and use of contact lenses EXCEPT ... | Often we take for granted the many household items we use every day. It is difficult to imagine there was a time in the past when these inventions did not exist. Actually, several of the most common inventions have been with us for quite some time. Inventions like toothbrush, contact lenses , and credit cards came into use long ago.
The first toothbrush was introduced in China in the late 1400s but it was only 300 years later that this simple tool came into common use in Europe. By the nineteenth century, a variety of paste and powder cleaners were available throughout Europe as dental care became more widespread. The first tube of toothpaste hit the market in Great Britain in 1891.
There is evidence to show that the first contact lenses were actually suggested by an astronomer, Sir John Herschel, in 1827. However, SirJohn Herschel was never able to create a working model of his idea. It was not until 1887 that a Swiss doctor from Zurich, Dr. Eugen Frick, came up with a workable process for producing precision lenses. Dr. Frick designed a new method for producing contact lenses,and the Zeiss factory in Germany began to produce contact lenses.
Credit cards have also been available for many years. They have been in use in the United States since the 1920s. At first, these cards were only used to buy gas in the quickly growing automobile service industry. Then, in the 1950s, Diners Club introduced the first general-purpose credit card. Today, credit cards such as Master Card, Visa, and American Express are commonly used by travelers around the world.
While it may be true that some of the greatest inventions and discoveries in history came about by chance, the majority of inventions that simplify our lives today came about through careful research and patient study. Of course, it still holds true that even with all the comforts of modern technology, inventors continue to search for ways of helping all of us get out of doing those necessary but tedious tasks which we still face. As the old saying goes, "Necessity is the mother of invention." | high1872.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "00 613 9329 9665"
},
"options": [
"00 613 9419 4444",
"00 613 9419 8637",
"0845 7747 767",
"00 613 9329 9665"
],
"question": "To get more information about Hidden Secrets Tour, you should call _",
"questio... | Why Melbourne ? Having long lived in the shadow of Sydney ,Melbourne has become a Mecca for fashion and design and cultural centre of Australia, with an enjoyable programmed of festivals.
What to see? The City center's grid system of streets conceals a maze of lanes and turn-of-the-century arcades where you will find the best cafes, bars and boutique shopping. The hidden secrets tour (00613 9329 9665,hiddensecretstours.com) guides will make sure you find what you're after ,whether it is fashion ,art and design or wine. From $34 per person.
Where to eat ? Melbourne is a paradise for gourmands and its top chefs use fresh produce and have a talent for the experimental .But for something different , indulge your culinary senses with an Australian Wine Tour Company trip. Departing from the city centre daily .You will taste wines at four of the region's best vineyards. It costs from $48 per person, including all wine tasting, lunch and a visit to Damien Chandon (00 613 9419 4444.austwinetourco.com.au).
Where to stay ? The nunnery is an old convent on the edge of the city .It has double rooms with breakfast from $54 per night (00 613 9419 8637, nunnery. com.au).
How to get there ?Qantas (0845 7747 767,qantas .com.au)flies from Heathrow to Melbourne twice daily from $766 return , including taxes.
More information Contact the offical tourism site for Melbourne at visitmelbourne .com/uk.
Use the links below for more on
Destination guide : Melbourne
Click here for our Melbourne page | high15944.txt |
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