questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "people like discussing other people's lives"
},
"options": [
"celebrities depend on publications to achieve fame",
"people like discussing other people's lives",
"the publishing industry is booming",
"celebrities are ra... | It's difficult not to become involved in gossip at work. After all, people like gossip and interesting bits of information: you only have to look at the number of celebrity-focused publications to realize that we have a huge appetite for discussing other people's lives. At work, however, this type of interaction is harmful and costly. It wastes time, damages reputations, promotes divisiveness , creates anxiety.
Rumors often grow because people like to be "in the know." Knowledge is power, and that's why the people with the least amount of power in an organization can often be the ones to start and spread rumors. It can make them feel important if they're seen to know things that others don't.
This knowledge is at the center of why and how rumors start and spread. Insufficient knowledge or incomplete information are often to blame. Consider these examples:
*People don't know why a colleague was fired, so they make up a reason based on some limited knowledge or insignificant fact. "I saw John override the cash register the other day without a supervisor present. Maybe he stole some money and that's why he went."
*People see a pattern of behavior between two individuals and they add their own explanation. "Joseph and Samantha spend a lot of time together after hours 'catching up on paperwork.' And just yesterday, they were sitting awfully close to each other in the meeting. I bet paperwork isn't all that's getting done after work!"
These rumors are typical of the things you'll face at work, and they spread because of a lack of accurate information. So, the best way to fight rumors is with good communication. When you communicate well, your team knows what's happening, and they trust that you'll keep them informed. Good communication within your team also means that you will become aware of any rumors that are starting, and you'll be able to address them quickly and effectively. | high7225.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Festivals in Argentina"
},
"options": [
"Travel to Argentina",
"Entertainments in Argentina",
"Festivals in Argentina",
"A brief introduction to Argentina"
],
"question": "What would be the best title for the pa... | There are many festivals in Argentina during the year. Therefore, you can enjoy the different interesting festivals when traveling there. First of all, we should talk about the Tango Festival in Argentina, which is held in the capital of this country -- Buenos Aires, from February to March. You ought to know that Argentina is the home of tango, so Argentineans admire this dance very much. Even if you cannot dance perfectly, you should join the people and try to perform this dance.
The next festival in Argentina is Open Polo Tournament. You should go to Palermo to see this festival in Argentina. This festival is held every year and is the most important polo tournament in Argentina. This kind of sport is considered the most important in Argentina. Attending this festival in Argentina, you will be able to communicate with different people, admire the fascinating competition between the teams of different countries, such as Argentina, England, Australia, as well as the US. This festival in Argentina is usually held between November and December every year. So don't miss the opportunity if you travel to Argentina at this time.
The other festival in Argentina is the Semana Musical Llao Llao. This is a festival of classical music. The festival was created in 1993 and is held at the Llao Llao Hotel, near Bariloche. The festival is held yearly in October. So if you admire this kind of music, you should travel to Argentina in October. There are also many carnivals in October.
There are also many carnivals in Argentina in summer. Of course, it's impossible to put everything about festivals in Argentina into just one article. We hope that you have found this article interesting and eye-catching. | high15762.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They share the money with Net Library."
},
"options": [
"They get money from selling their books to the Net Library",
"They get money from the readers.",
"They get money by cutting the cost of the books.",
"They share t... | Net Library is a library that lends out digital books. It treats a digital book like a paperback copy. It charges libraries per book per copy and gives publishers a cut of the total income.
From the consumer's point of view, this means that if more than five people want the latest Danielle Steel romance novel, other people who request that book will get a message saying the title is unable to get.
Many publishers seem to have embraced its model. More than 350 publishers gave the company rights to hand out their digital works, and McGraw-Hill Corporation and Houghton Mifflin Corporation have put money into the company. The California public libraries and about 1,800 others across the US are trying out the Net Library service.
Some librarians criticize the Net Library model. Stanford University librarian Michael Keller argues that the company is creating an unnatural fear of digital works, which is contrary to the ideas of the Internet.
Keller and some other librarians argue for the e-book vision set forth by Brary. Brary is starting a service that lets us users read books for free.
But it will charge about 25 cents a page when a person tries to point out material or copy and taste it into a different file or tries to download a copy onto a computer.
Christopher Warnock, chief executive of Brary, believes most consumers won't want to buy entire books, only the parts that interest them.
"There is not really a lot of good owning an electronic file and having to store it and manage it. It doesn't make sense," he said. | high13313.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "clothes will be able to change their pattern"
},
"options": [
"people will never get old",
"everyone will look the same",
"red will be the most popular color",
"clothes will be able to change their pattern"
],
"... | Welcome to your future life!
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror.Your face is firm and younglooking.In 2035,medical technology is better than ever.Many people your age could live to be 150,so at 40,you're not old at all.And your parents just had an antiaging treatment.Now,all three of you look the same age!
You say to your shirt,"Turn red." It changes from blue to red.In 2035,"smart clothes" contain particles much smaller than the cells in your body.The particles can be programmed to change your clothes' color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen.You pick up the milk,but a voice says,"You shouldn't drink that" Your fridge has read the chip that contains information about the milk,and it knows the milk is old.In 2035,every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It's time to go to work.In 2035,cars drive themselves.Just tell your "smart car" where to go.On the way,you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve.Such "smart technology" is all around you.
So will all these things come true?"For new technology to succeed," says scientist Andrew Zolli,"it has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already." The Internet is one example--what will be the next? | high1654.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "on holiday"
},
"options": [
"on duty",
"on holiday",
"on business",
"on a visit"
],
"question": "The writer found PSS Pollu when he was _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | I am the captain of a ship in American Marine Police Force. I have been working as a policeman on the sea for eight years. I really love the sea because of its cool winds, the fresh smell and the beautiful scenery , so I joined Marine Police Force to safeguard the sea.
Several days ago, I was out on a boat with my friends. We were not on duty but our officer allowed us to use the police sailing boat. It was very relaxing to have a day off on the sea with friends.
We went fishing. We were on our way back when I saw a ship with the name PSS Pollu. It was pouring oil into the sea. I was very upset about this, so I managed to call the ship and shouted, "Stop at once and follow us back to the shore!" But PSS Pollu tried to escape.
We tried our best to follow her but the ship was too fast for us so we contacted the Police Force and asked for help. Two fast police boats were sent and soon caught up with PSS Pollu. The ship had no choice but to give in.
Six policemen searched PSS Pollu and found that it was carrying illegal goods. The men on PSS Pollu were punished. I was rewarded for providing useful information while I was off duty. I felt proud and now I love my job even more. | high9208.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because it will perhaps affect the sales of Olympic products."
},
"options": [
"Because it is not important to make it known.",
"Because everybody will know it by surfing the internet.",
"Because it will perhaps affect the sa... | Friendlies abandoned as name for mascots
The name "Friendlies" has been abandoned as the organization committee for the 2008 Beijing Olympics silently changed the English name of the Games' five mascot dolls last week. The organization committee decided to adopt the name "Fuwa", which is a pinyin translation of its Chinese name and is more frequently used in prefix = st1 /China.
However, the organization committee replaced all Friendlies to Fuwa on its official site, but without giving a formal announcement to inform the public of the change. It is said that they received an inside notice about the change last week but don't want to emphasize it for fear of affecting the sales of Olympic goods.
Li Yanjun, a Legal Affairs Department official, said the decision was made considering a variety of reasons but did not want to comment on them. "You may know about the background and many unfavorable comments concerning the mascots' former name across the web, but I won't comment on them," Li said. "I'm not in the position to make it clear if the change was caused by this."
A report published last week on China Radio International (CRI)made the name change known and listed the reasons why the Friendlies name should be changed. "Firstly, Friendly is somewhat an unclear name, which could refer both to friendly people and friendly matches,"a Dr. Li from LanzhouUniversitywas quoted as saying on the site. "Secondly, the term Friendlies has a similar pronunciation to 'friendless' and thirdly, the spelling of Friendlies could be split as 'friend lies'."
Laura Fitch, a Canadian who works in Chinaas news editor, welcomed the change, saying the name Friendlies sounds a "a little bit childish" and "doesn't really have a meaning." | high17175.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it hasn't come to its top level"
},
"options": [
"it isn't as easy to control as the other school bullying",
"it hasn't been concerned by the governments",
"it isn't part of school social life",
"it hasn't come to its t... | Do people ever consider the possibility that, if they're exposed to increased reports about a social problem, it's the reporting that has increased rather than the problem? It's increasingly clear that this is the case with school bullying :Only news reports about it have increased, not the behavior itself. In fact, both bullying and fear of it are down among US middle school students
The rate of students who reported fearing an attack or harm at school at all has dropped dramatically, from nearly 12% in 1995 to less than 4% in 2011. For black and Hispanic students, it's an even more encouraging shift--from more than 20% of both groups of students worried about being attacked at school to less than 5% in 2011.
The decline in actual physical violence in schools is even more dramatic: It was down 74% between 1992 and 2010, according to the latest US Department of Justice data.
What about cyberbullying? Online _ increased from 6% in 2000 to 9% in 2005 to 11% in 2010 between, and it's interesting to note that it increased less between 2005 and '10 than in the first 5 years tracked. Because social media is very much a reflection of school social life for young people, the peer aggression seen in social media is a lot like the peer aggression seen on school bathroom walls. So once it finds its "dead level," it will probably decline in the same way verbal and written aggression have.
Besides education and crime prevention at the social level, medicine treatment and better access to mental healthcare also contribute to this downward trend in victimization of self and others.
The rise of social media is what people don't typically think of as a positive force in society. But Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire says, "These technologies might have prevented crime and bullying by providing more ways of help, more forms of social supervision, and interesting activities that destroy forms of alienation that lead to crime". | high5432.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Supportive."
},
"options": [
"Supportive.",
"Doubtful.",
"Critical.",
"Dissatisfied."
],
"question": "What is the author's attitude towards building and developing the international space station?",
"questio... | From the first use of the rocket to carry satellites into space to the setting up of space stations,human beings have been putting great effort into space research. And so far,we have achieved many successes. But there are still numerous tasks in front of us and we should not cease trying to progress.
The international space station is an important step we should take in space exploration. It is not only helpful but also essential. It provides a proper space environment for many experiments that we have wanted to do for a long time. It is also a base for the observations of the earth and the universe. It could also be an important base for later travel to the moon and Mars. In a word,if we want to explore space more,the first thing we should do is to set up a space station.
As the space station costs a lot of money,it is hard for one country alone to establish one. The USA seems to be the only country that has the ability to build a space station alone,and it has tried to do so,but not very successful. So it _ many other countries to work on it together. Though it is still extremely expensive,it is much cheaper than doing it alone. It is really a job that needs everyone's effort and will benefit everyone.
But even so, the funds needed are still a big problem. As for the USA,it seems that it has too many things to spend its money on. Although it is the richest country in the world,it has much debt every year. It has to make arrangements about its finance,and try to find a balance in all these issues. | high20901.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a new fact about the IQ of men and women has been found"
},
"options": [
"man are smarter then women",
"man are more stupid the women",
"a new fact about the IQ of men and women has been found",
"men are more likely to ... | Men have always believed that they are smarter than women. Now, a study has found that while this is certainly true, men also have to deal with the fact that they are also more stupid than the fairer sex.
In the study, scientists measured the IQ of 2500 brothers and sisters and they found an uneven number of men not only in the top two percent, but also in the bottom two percent.
The study's participants were tested on science, maths, English and mechanical abilities.
Though there were twice as many men as women in the smartest group, there were also twice as many men among the bottom.
The aggregate scores of men and women were similar.
One of the study's authors, psychology professor Timothy Bates, said that the phenomenon may be because men have always been expected to be high achievers and women have been restricted to spend more time taking care of their homes.
"The female developmental program may be tilted more towards ensuring survival and the safety of the middle ground.," the Daily Mail quoted Professor Bates, of Edinburgh University, as saying.
The research _ past results that men were more likely than women to receive first class University degrees or thirds and women secured the seconds.
It has been said that men are more ready to take risk when it comes to academics. Women have always found to be steadier in their learning.
A past study has shown that women are securing more firsts and seconds, while men are continuing to receive more thirds.
The argument for the change is that the increase of coursework at the cost of exams favors women's steady approach. | high3043.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "so bad"
},
"options": [
"pretty good",
"so bad",
"the same as before",
"completely fresh"
],
"question": "According to Ronald Harris, U2's new album is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | February 28th, 2009 2:54 am GMT
I have to say that am shocked at just how bad the new music is. This cannot be the same band that produced great albums such as HTDAAB and ATYCLB! This is awful! They either do not care anymore, or have completely lost it. I never thought U2 would become irrelevant, but they have officially become one of those bands that you will now say, "Remember when they were great?"
----- Posted by Ronald Harris
February 28th, 2009 8:29 pm GMT
Total drivel, Mr Harris. The new album is great, far better than the safe, cynical HTDAAB and ATYCLB. U2 have become inventive again, like they were in the 1990s. thank goodness!
----- Posted by Dan
March 3rd, 2009 12:09 pm GMT
Agree, Dan. The new album is the best since Actung Baby. Magnificent is an anthem in the waiting, Breathe is unbelievable, and Stand Up Comedy is absolutely outstanding----- to name just three! Loving the new sound, pure class as usual.
----- Posted by Martin
March 4th, 2009 7:43 pm GMT
Totally agree with you guys. This album is unbelievable. Breathe is definitely a great song, same with Moment of Surrender. I bet their upcoming tour will be amazing. If you haven't bought the CD yet, you should. I bought mine on Amozon.com for $3.99. I couldn't believe it.
----- Posted by Josh Briggs | high11504.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "our living skills are so poor"
},
"options": [
"what we've learned is beyond consumption",
"we are educated generation",
"we've entered higher education",
"our living skills are so poor"
],
"question": "People c... | We're so well educated - but we're useless students who have lost the ability to do anything practical. The only thing we've mastered is consumption .
Large numbers of students have entered higher education in the past 10 years, but despite being the most educated generation in history, it seems that we've grown increasingly ignorant when it comes to basic life skills.
Looking back on my first couple of weeks of living in student halls, I consider myself lucky to still be alive. Unfamiliar to fresher's, there are many hidden dangers in the dirty corners of students accommodation.
I have survived a couple of serious boiling egg incidents and lots of cases of food - poisoning, probably from dirty kitchen counters. Although some of my clothes have fallen victim to ironing experimentation, I think I have now finally acquired all the domestic skills I missed out in my modem education.
In 2006 and 2010, the charming educationist Sir Ken Robinson gave two very amusing talks in which he discussed the importance of creativity in education. Robinson's main viewpoint is that our current education system dislocates people from their natural talents. I would like to go a step further and propose that besides our talents, the system takes away what used to be passed from generation to generation - a working knowledge of basic life skills.
Today's graduates may have earned themselves honor in history, law or economies, but when it comes to simple things like putting up a shelf to hold all their academic books, or fixing a hole in their on - trend clothes, they have to call for help from a professional handyman or tailor.
Since the invention of the internet, it has never been easier for people to access information, but our highly specialized education has made us more one - sided than ever.
I suggest that we start with the immediate reintroduction of some of the most vital aspects of "domestic science" education, before the current lack leads to serious accidents in student halls. | high3725.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a clever man who tried to get something to eat"
},
"options": [
"a rich man who owned a big wood",
"a poor Irishman who lived all by himself",
"a clever man who tried to get something to eat",
"an Irish hunter with a la... | Pat O'Burke was a poor Irishman with a large family, and one morning, waking up very early from cold and hunger, he decided to go shooting in a wood near his cottage. The wood belonged to Lord Northwood, a rich gentleman, Pat had no _ to go there, but in it there were swarms of rabbits and flocks of birds that were good to eat, and Pat determined to take the risk. Suddenly he saw the owner, with a group of friends, coming towards him in the wood. There was a look of anger on Lord Northwood's face as he caught sight of the gun in Pat's hands. Pat's heart sank with fear, but he saw there was no hope of escape, so he walked boldly up to the group and said to Lord Northwood, "Good morning, sir, and what has brought you out so early this morning?" Lord Northwood, rather surprised, said he and his friends were taking a little exercise to get an appetite for their breakfast. Then, looking at Pat with suspicion , he said, "but why are you out so early in the morning?" "Well, sir" said Pat, "I just came out to see if I could get a breakfast for my appetite." The whole crowed burst into laughter at Pat's ready wit(,), and with a smile Lord Northwood walked on, leaving Pat to try his luck with the rabbits. | high11262.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Pleased."
},
"options": [
"Pleased.",
"Disappointed.",
"Awful",
"Indifferent."
],
"question": "How did Johnson feel about Christmas when he was a kid?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"ans... | When Carrie Conley's husband left in the early 1960s, she started raising six children on her own. She took a job at a hospital, delivering meals to patients as what was called "a tray girl".
Jerry Johnson, the youngest child in the family, was 5 years old when his dad left. Speaking with his mother recently, Johnson heard his mother repeat the question she asked at that time. "Lord, what am I going to do with all these kids by myself?" The answers came in the form of lima beans, black-eyed peas and low prices on chicken necks. "Something to boil for every day of the week," Conley said.
"I cannot remember one Christmas that I didn't feel like the luckiest kid in the world," Johnson said, "even though now I realize we had hardly anything in terms of money."
"How did you hold all that together?" he asked his mother.
Conley said she would save up her sick days at work, going in no matter how she felt. Then in December, the company would pay her for the unused sick days. More help came in castoffs , when wealthy families would clean out their toy chests at Christmastime and take a load of toys to the Salvation Army. Conley would pick through them, finding the best ones for her children. The result of those sacrifices led to a big, happy Christmas for Conley and her kids.
"But I never did tell you it was a Santa Claus," Conley said, "I couldn't give any man credit for what I had done."
Johnson thanked his mom for her sacrifices, and for the good example she set for him and his siblings. "I think it's helping us all be better parents," Johnson said.
In 1975, Conley retired from Detroit's Outer Drive Hospital. Jerry was a sophomore in college at that time. He later graduated from Washington University Medical School and received a degree in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. | high17613.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Queen of Great Britain."
},
"options": [
"Queen of Great Britain.",
"King of Great Britain.",
"Prime Minister of Great Britain.",
"Mayor of London."
],
"question": "Who most probably is the maker of this speech?... | "This past year has been one of great celebration for many. The enthusiasm which greeted the Diamond Jubilee was, of course, especially memorable for me and my family.
It was humbling that so many chose to mark the anniversary of a duty which passed to me 60 years ago. People of all ages took the trouble to take part in various ways and in many nations. But perhaps most striking of all was to witness the strength of fellowship and friendship among those who had gathered together on these occasions.
On the barges and the bridges and the banks of the river there were people who had taken their places to cheer through the mist, undaunted by the rain. That day there was a tremendous sense of common determination to celebrate, triumphing over the elements.
That same spirit was also in evidence from the moment the Olympic flame arrived on these shores. The flame itself drew hundreds and thousands of people on its journey around the British Isles, and was carried by every kind of deserving individual, many nominated for their own extraordinary service.
As London hosted a splendid summer of sport, all those who saw the achievement and courage at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were further inspired by the skill, dedication, training and teamwork of our athletes. In pursuing their own sporting goals, they gave the rest of us the opportunity to share something of the excitement and drama.
We were reminded, too, that the success of these great festivals depended to an enormous degree upon the dedication and effort of an army of volunteers. Those public-spirited people came forward in the great tradition of all those who devote themselves to keeping others safe, supported and comforted.
For many, Christmas is also a time for coming together. But for others, service will come first. Those serving in our armed forces, in our emergency services and in our hospitals, whose sense of duty takes them away from family and friends, will be missing those they love.
At Christmas I am always struck by how the spirit of togetherness lies also at the heart of the Christmas story. A young mother and a dutiful father with their baby were joined by poor shepherds and visitors from afar. They came with their gifts to worship the Christ child. From that day on he has inspired people to commit themselves to the best interests of others.
This is the time of year when we remember that God sent his only son 'to serve, not to be served'. He restored love and service to the centre of our lives in the person of Jesus Christ.
It is my prayer this Christmas Day that his example and teaching will continue to bring people together to give the best of themselves in the service of others.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas. " | high5354.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Although ly small, Kepler-78b has many properties that are similar to those of the earth"
},
"options": [
"Kepler-78b is a newly-found planet in the solar system",
"Although ly small, Kepler-78b has many properties that are simil... | For the first time, scientists have found a planet beyond the solar system that not only is the same size as Earth, but has the same proportions of iron and rock, a key step in an ongoing quest to find potentially habitable sister worlds.
The planet, known as Kepler-78b, circles a star that is slightly smaller than the sun located in the constellation Cygnus , about 400 light years away.
Kepler-78b was discovered last year with NASA's now-idled Kepler space telescope, which detected potential planets as they circled in front of their parent stars, blocking a bit of light.
That measurement not only revealed that Kepler-78b was ly small, with a diameter just 20 percent larger than Earth's, but that it was practically orbiting on the surface of its host star.
Scientists do not know how the planets ended up so close to their host stars.
While the planet's presumably molten surface and hot temperatures make it ill-suited for life, two independent teams of astronomers jumped at the opportunity to follow up the discovery with ground-based measurements to try to determine the density of Kepler-78b.
In two papers in this week's journal Nature, the teams report that not only were they successful, but that they came to the same conclusion: Kepler-78b has roughly the same density as Earth, suggesting that it also is made primarily of rock and iron.
Kepler-78b is among a dozen or so recently discovered small planets that orbit very close to their parent stars. Kepler-78b, for example, completes an orbit in just 8.5 hours. | high18520.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because she was often bullied by others."
},
"options": [
"Because she had no friends at all to play with.",
"Because she often suffered from epilepsy.",
"Because she was often bullied by others.",
"Because she had no s... | I was born with epilepsy, a disease of the nervous system that causes a person to fall unconscious. I first suffered from it at 3.My mother was also born with it, but only ever so often short periods, Elementary and Junior High were not easy for me. I was unable to take part in sports and events like the other students. I was being treated with medicines, as they were trying to find the right ones for me. I was a victim of bullying. and often got off the school bus crying. I had friends and good times, but I was never happy at school. I would rather stay at home and play the piano and read books.
The first two years of High School were the worst. I was bullied by girls and guys who didn't want to get to know me. I soon felt like there was something wrong with me. I felt alone, and my relationship with God was falling. Junior year, I took part in volleyball and cheerleading, and was Very 8uccessful in the two. I made t}1ree Very close friends, and I soon started acting like myself.
Senior year, I was Voted class clown, and I grew so strong and I shared my kindness with all around me, and stood up for what was right.
When l went off to college, I started attending church and my relationship with Cod was close again, like my younger days in Sunday sch001.1 wouldn't go back and change anything. I came to a conclusion. It was my mom who helped me and stood by my side all those years, and it was God who carried me. I am stronger than ever before, and I will never become discouraged about the bullying. I still have my beautiful family, and nothing else will take away those memories. If these difficulties and efforts bring us closer to God, then bring on the rain. | high13475.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "too much homework"
},
"options": [
"too much homework",
"going to school",
"less homework",
"stay at home"
],
"question": "Students are not happy about _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Students often complain their teachers give them too much homework . Now , two reports show that in America this is not true .
The Brookings report shows that most students do less than one hour of homework . The Rand report shows that only 10% of high school students spend more than two hours a night on homework .
The Brookings report also talks about a study from 1995 . American students do almost the least homework among twenty countries . Students in France , Italy and South Africa spend more than two hours on homework .
The Rand report says there was only one time when homework greatly increased in America .During the early 1960s , Americans were not happy when the former Soviet Union became the first country to reach space . People thought it was necessary to improve education .
Parents want their children to have time for sports , music lessons and other things after school. some experts say schools need to give useful homework . | high1132.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "less than 48; ; less than 1262"
},
"options": [
"48; no more than 389",
"less than 48; ; less than 1262",
"less than 48; ;2540",
"more than 48; not more than 1262"
],
"question": "The train trip from Xining to L... | Beijing: prefix = st1 /Qinghai- Tibet Railway was unfolded to the public on Monday. From July 1 the service will cost a minimum of 389 yuan(hard seat) and take about 48 hours from Beijing to Lhasa. A hard sleeper(bottom bed) will cost 813 yuan, and a soft sleeper(bottom bed)1,262 yuan. The fare for an air ticket is about 2,540 yuan. Trains will run to and from Lhasa in three directions: through Beijing, chengdu/Chongqing and Xining/Lanzhou
New York: The aid group Save the Children says that African nations south of the Sahara are among the worst places to be a mother. The group examined the quality of life for mothers in 110 countries. It found that Northern European nations such as Swedenwere at the top of the list. Many African nations were at the bottom. The group said the study shows that the quality of children's lives is linked to the health and education of their mothers.
UK: the world's costliest city MOSCOW is this year's most expensive city for big consumers in the world, a study released by British human resources firm _ suggests. Seoul was in second place, followed by Tokyo - which topped the list in 2005, when the Russian capital was in fourth position - then Hong Kong andLondon. The findings were based on prices for 200 goods and services, especially housing, transport, food, clothing and entertainment. In the 144 cities surveyed, Beijing andShanghairanked 14th and 20th. | high22870.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Germany."
},
"options": [
"Germany.",
"Denmark.",
"Australia.",
"Austria."
],
"question": "The census data of the following countries is used for research EXCEPT _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | People Born in Autumn Live Longer
People born in the autumn live longer than those born in the spring and are less likely to fall chronically ill when they are older, according to an Austrian scientist.
Using census data for more than one million people in Austria, Denmark and Australia, scientists at the Max Planck Institute in the northern German town of Rostock found the month of birth was related to life expectancy over the age of 50. Seasonal differences in what mothers ate during pregnancy, and infections occurring at different times of the year could both have an impact on the health of a new-born baby and could influence its life expectancy in older age. "A mother giving birth in spring spends the last phase of her pregnancy in winter, when she will eat less vitamins than in summer," said Gabriele Doblhammer, one of a team of scientists who carried out the research. "When she stops breast-feeding and starts giving her baby normal food, it's in the hot weeks of summer when babies are prone to infections of the digestive system." In Austria, adults born in autumn (October-December) lived about seven months longer than those born in spring (April-June), and in Denmark adults with birthdays in autumn outlived those born in spring by about four months. In the southern hemisphere, the picture was similar. Adults born in the Australian autumn--the European spring--lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. The study focused on people born at the beginning of the 20th century, using death certificates and census data. Although nutrition at all times of the year has improved since then, the seasonal pattern persists, Doblhammer said.
But on the other hand, according to a study of more 40,000 people, those born in spring and summer report themselves luckier than those born in autumn or winter. Professor Richard Wise-man who led the research explained that the temperature at the time of birth might influence the development of the brain and seasonal factors make a difference as well. | high7543.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "In the Warring States Period."
},
"options": [
"In the Zhou Dynasty.",
"In the Warring States Period.",
"In the Eastern Han dynasty.",
"In the Stone Age."
],
"question": "When did the \"Ran LU\" become popular?"... | How did the ancient Chinese keep food warm in winter?
Facilities like electric rice cookers, microwaves, and electric kettles, make it easy for people to keep food warm and enjoy a comfortable winter. So how did Chinese people in ancient times keep food warm in winter without these? In fact, ancient Chinese people used their own methods of heat preservation as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
* "Wen Ding", ancient rice cooker
One of the major functions of an electric rice cooker is to keep food warm. The "Wen Ding", an ancient cooking container, served the same purpose, but instead of using electric energy, the ancient cooking container, served the same purpose, but instead of using electric energy, the ancient cooking container preserved heart by burning fuels like charcoal.
The "Wen Ding" unearthed in Nanjing in 1989 is thought to be the oldest of its kind discovered in China, dating back to the Stone Age, The craftsmanship of making the "Wen Ding" was developed in the Bronze Age. The bronze Ding from Shang and Zhou dynasties took on different shapes and structures.
* "Ran LU", ancient small hot pot
The "Ran LU" is a small size cooking vessel made of bronze, which can be divided into three parts. A charcoal stove forms the main structure, with a bottom tray to hold charcoal ashes, and a movable cup at the top. Some experts have concluded that the vessel's structure suggests it may have been used as a small hot pot and that these vessels became popular in the Warring States Period(475--221 BC)
*Bronze You, ancient kettle
The Bronze You was one of the most common wine containers during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. The Bronze You can also be used to warm wine. For example, the Bronze You with beast mask design, unearthed in Jiangxi province, has an opening where charcoals could be placed. Just as people today can't do without an electric kettle, the Bronze You allowed people to enjoy a hot drink.
*Bronze Yan, ancient steamer
Although the "Wen Ding" was effective at keeping food warm, the ancient Chinese people later found that its burning produced pollution. As a result, the Bronze Yan was made with a two-tier structure and used to steam rice and other grains. After the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-AD 220), further improvements to the Bronze Yan led to the modern-day steamer. | high15004.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He was not drawn into learning."
},
"options": [
"He was a troublemaker in class.",
"He was not drawn into learning.",
"He often played outside in the schoolyard.",
"He tried to get his teacher's attention."
],
... | I was fairly new to this particular school since my parents only moved to the area. There was a boy, who, as it turned out, was an orphan and was living and working for a small farming family. He didn't appear at first glance to ever be fully engaged in the school learning process;he would sit quietly, never seem to get any attention from the teacher, and would spend a lot of time staring out of the window just behind him.
Over the next few weeks, I got to know this boy while playing outside in the schoolyard playing baseball, or soccer. He was very athletic and very good at anything we played. I started to wonder why he didn't seem to do well in school and why the teacher ignored him.
He told me he had been in several foster homes since he was a little boy and that most of his time in the last few years had always been on farms. He said he was made to work before he went to school and as soon as he got home until it was time for bed. He was never given a chance to go out and play, nor was he allowed to have any friends although he told me he really didn't have any friends anyway, because he was an orphan and they did not want anything to do with him.
I had never before been acquainted with prejudice of any kind. Here was one characteristic of a human being who through no fault of his own carried a label that prevented him from even having friends as a child. His potential was also being ignored by the teacher. It wasn't that he couldn't learn, or didn't want to -- it was because he wasn't encouraged or in some cases, allowed to.
We may all meet people through the years that we tend to apply labels to without really taking the time to get to know them, to discover their real potential because our vision is clouded by how we always put people into _ that we are used to or comfortable with. | high13461.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Internet use in China"
},
"options": [
"shopping online",
"Internet use in China",
"the Chinese typical netizens",
"popular search engines"
],
"question": "The passage is mainly about _ .",
"question_type... | The economy has developed a lot while the Internet is still not fully used in China. A study shows that about two-thirds of typical Chinese Internet users use the computer for news, often entertainment-related, or for online games, music or movies, all can be downloaded for free. Most prefers messages to e-mail, seldom makes online shopping at all.
Although they are now depending on the Internet more often than before to communicate with others who have the same professions, hobbies and political interests, online shopping still remains unpopular in China. Three-quarters of users surveyed have never bought anything over the Internet, and only 10 percent do shopping even once a month. Among those who do buy online, most pay for entertainment while others buy phone cards, or computer hardware or software.
"Many people don't trust the quality of goods bought online," the researcher said, "If they buy it in a store and don't like it, they can easily bring it back."
The survey was done in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Changsha. Results do not necessarily project countrywide because Internet use in the countryside is lower than in cities. The study showed that the typical netizens in the five cities are richer and more highly educated. Males make up two-thirds of the group, and more than 80 percent of users are under 24.Surprisingly, with the ages increase, the percentage decreases.
China has more than 200 million people online, however, forty-two percent say they do not use search engines. Others seek entertainment news, as well as information useful for work or study on line. Baidu. com was used by half of those surveyed, compared with a quarter for Google, the leading search engine in the United States. | high22864.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "grammar but not many words"
},
"options": [
"a lot of problems",
"words and easy grammar",
"words but no grammar",
"grammar but not many words"
],
"question": "The early language had _ .",
"question_type"... | Language is always changing. In a society where life continues year after year with few changes, the language does not change either. The earliest known languages had difficult grammar but a small, limited vocabulary. Over the century, the grammar changed, and the vocabulary grew. For example, the English and Spanish people who came to America during the sixteenth century gave names to all the new plants and animals they found. In this way, hundreds of new words were introduced into English and Spanish vocabularies. Today life is changing very fast, and language is changing fast too.
There are several major language families in the world. Some scientists say there are nine main families, but other scientists divide them differently. The languages in each family are connected, and scientists think that they came from the same parent language. About 3 percent of the people in the world speak languages that are not in these major families. | high1126.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Krunger National Park."
},
"options": [
"Serengeti National Park.",
"Masai Mara National Park.",
"Krunger National Park.",
"South Luangwa National Park."
],
"question": "If you want to see more kinds of wild ani... | There are hundreds of national parks and wildlife areas in Africa that you can travel to. Here are the top four travel destinations in Africa:
Tanzania----Serengeti National Park
During the annual migration , when the wildebeests and zebras pack up and leave their living areas to find fresher ones, the Serengeti is an astonishing place to be. It's a very good travel spot in Africa at other times of the year too, but the migration has been ranked by many as one of the wonders of the natural world.
Kenya----Masai Mara National Park
If you want to see the big cats, this wildlife park is the best of the best. Lion, leopard and cheetah abound and they are relatively easy to spot because of the grassland vegetation which means you get good views for miles around. Another big plus is the fact that going off road is allowed and it is a big advantage because the animals will rarely oblige you and stay next to the major roads.
South Africa-Kruger National Park
For the variety of species no other places in Africa can come close to the Kruger Park. And because it is so large it has a number of different ecosystems that you can pass through in your search for animals and birds. It is one of the best managed parks in Africa and the accommodation is well-equipped, too.
Zambia-South Luangwa National Park
South Luangwa is a diamond in the rough, just waiting for enough exposure to bring it to its rightful place in the crown of prime Africa trips. It has been regarded as one of the best places in Africa to see the special leopard and it is the birthplace of the walking travel. | high6891.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Special consideration ought to be shown to them."
},
"options": [
"Since women have claimed equality, they no longer need to be treated differently from men.",
"It is generally considered old-fashioned for young men to give up thei... | Manners nowadays in metropolitan cities like London are practically non-existence, it's nothing for a big, strong schoolboy to elbow an elderly woman aside in the dash for the last remaining seat on the tube or bus, much less stand up and offer his seat to her.
This question of giving up seats in public transport is much argued by young men, who say that, since women have claimed equality, they no longer deserve to be treated with courtesy , ) and that those who go out to work should take their turn in the rat race like anyone else. Women have never claimed to be physically as strong as men. Even if it is not agreed, however, that young men should stand up for younger women, the fact remains that courtesy should be shown to the old, the sick and the burdened. Are we really so lost to all ideals of unselfishness that we can sit there indifferently reading the paper or a book, saying to ourselves "First come, first severed", while a grey-haired woman, a mother with a young child stands? Yet this is all too often seen.
Older people, tired and quick-tempered from a day's work, are not angels, either-far from it. Many a brisk argument or an insulting quarrel breaks out as the weary queues push and shove each other to get on buses and tubes. One cannot commend this, of course, but on does feel there is just a little more excuse.
If cities are to remain pleasant places to live in at all, however, it seems imperative , not only that communications in transport should be improved, but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite. All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and too rushed to be polite. Shop assistant's won't bother to assist, taxi drivers growl at each other as they dash dangerously round corners, bus conductors pull the bell before their desperate passengers have had time to get on or off the bus, and so on and so on. It seems to us that it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration . | high7557.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Your 20's are the basis of the rest of your life."
},
"options": [
"It's easy to see how the decisions you make in your 20's affect the rest of your life.",
"Your 20's are the basis of the rest of your life.",
"It often can s... | You are young and free. It's sometimes hard to see how the decisions you make in your 20's affect the rest of your life. The truth is, your 20's are the foundation for the rest of your life. Here are 4 mistakes 20-somethings should stop making now to ensure a bright future.
Stop wasting time.
You can waste time in many ways, especially before establishing your future. With your entire future ahead of you, it often can seem like there are unlimited amounts of time. It's not the case. Use your time to do things that matter to you. Spend time on things like traveling, networking, building relationships and climbing the corporate ladder.
Stop wasting money.
Too often, in our 20's, we want stuff. From expensive designer clothes, to fancy electronics, and many other possessions that take up a huge chunk of our income. Stop wasting money on these things. They are going to be out of date and out of style quicker than you imagine. Take your _ income and invest in your future to ensure you have great experiences.
Stop staying in bad relationships.
Your first love can be hard to get over. And bad relationships can linger much too long. Stop spending time with people who don't make you a better person. When you're in a bad relationship, it will make the rest of your life more difficult. Evaluate your relationships .
Stop _
Whether it's depending on your parents for bills or relying on your co-workers , your 20's are a time to become more independent. Take help when you need it, but start working towards financial independence. | high8664.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Spotting the rare animals."
},
"options": [
"Filming the huge national park.",
"Reporting the event in the air.",
"Picturing the running rhinos.",
"Spotting the rare animals."
],
"question": "What made Hamlin so... | Giraffes Are Being Killed for Their Tails
Documentary filmmaker David Hamlin recalls how excited he was at the sight of three giraffes standing in a small clearing when he was flying over the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Garamba National Park in late June. "Seeing these giraffes from the air was really exciting," says Hamlin, who was working for National Geographic. That's because Garamba is huge, extending over nearly 2,000 square miles of mostly forested land, and it's a rare, lucky event to come across any of its 40 remaining giraffes.
But Hamlin's thrill at seeing and photographing the giraffes didn't last long. Twelve hours later, people looking after the national park reported hearing gunshots, and they later discovered three bullet-riddled bodies of dead giraffes in the sun. "It was horrible for me and the team," Hamlin says "to realize that most likely it was these guys, _ we'd seen." Hamlin decided to document the sad event to raise awareness about illegally shooting animals in the park.
Garamba is Africa's second oldest national park and has been hit hard by illegal shooting in recent years. Its rhinos have been wiped out, and elephants have suffered huge losses. The same goes for its Kordofan giraffes, one of Africa's nine giraffe subspecies. Fewer than 2,000 now wander central Africa, according to Julian Fennessy, co-director of the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. Garamba's Kordofan giraffes represent the last population in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "If the number slips in half, then we're in an extremely serious situation," Fennessy says. "Every single giraffe is valuable."
Congolese usually kill the giraffes for one body part, their tails, considered a rank symbol in some communities. Meanwhile men from neighboring South Sudan target the giraffes for their meat to feed poor villagers. But the massive bodies (giraffes can grow to 18 feet and weigh up to 3,000 pounds) of these three giraffes were complete -- only the ends of their tails were missing. According to Leon Lamprecht, joint operations director for African Parks, "men use the tail as treasure to the bride's father if they want to ask for the hand of a bride." "What an absolute waste!" Lamprecht says. | high15010.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "introduce a new sport parkour"
},
"options": [
"introduce a new sport parkour",
"show how parkour is popular in the world",
"Tell the history of parkour",
"explain the basic movements in parkour"
],
"question": ... | Parkour is a new sport that is developing quickly in the world. The aim of parkour is to jump, climb or run over any all stair, or fence on your path easily. Usually, it is done in a city environment. Practicers take very wall or roof as their training place. If you have seen the beginning of the James Bond movie Casino Royale, then you have seen an excellent example of parkour.
David Belle, a young Frenchman, developed parkour in the 1990s. His father's experiences as a fireman as well as an acrobat influenced him a lot. His childhood friend, Sebastien Foucan, is the actor in the movie Casino Royale with his parkour performance. Foucan is thought to have developed free-running, which is a more artistic and skillful type of parkour. David belle traveled to India and said one way he trained was by watching a physical one. The aim is to become so skillful, and it is almost unnecessary for you to think about the different actions in running through a path full of barriers .
Parkour is not exactly a sport. It is not developed fro competition. It is more about learning to control mind and body in difficult situations. There are many basic movements in parkour. One example is where practicers swing through the narrow space between two bars while keeping their body level with the ground. This is called the underbar. Other movements are the tic-tac and the kong vault jump. Skillful practicers seem to get out of control of gravity.
The popularity has spread largely because of parkour videos and organizations on the Internet. And if you search on the Web, you will find parkour groups performing their skills near you. | high16519.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "for himself"
},
"options": [
"for himself",
"as an experiment",
"in his own bedroom",
"with a teacher's guidance"
],
"question": "Mc Garry first started cooking _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | At 10 years old, Flynn Mc Garry became sick of the meals his mother cooked for him. So the Los Angeles native took matters into his own hands and started making his own dinners. One of his specialties? Trout with braised leeks .
Now 13, the young chef is being praised as a "food prodigy ". He will spend his summer apprenticing with some of the best chefs at LA's famous restaurants, MSNBC Nightly New reports.
Mc Garry began making a name for himself in the culinary world when John Sedlar, owner of the trendy Playa Restaurant, let Mc Garry take over the kitchen for a special nine-course meal. The meal sold out almost instantly.
"Flynn is a very unusual young man, and he's very, very passionate," owner John Sedlar told MSNBC.
By usual teenage boy standards, it's true. So strong is his passion for cooking that the young man has turned his bedroom into an experimental kitchen laboratory.
Instead of video game consoles, baseball trophies and movie posters, Mc Garry's room is lined with mixers, pots and pans, cutting boards and a stainless steel worktable. It's where Mc Garry cooks his monthly pop-up dinners, which are served from his family's dining room, a monthly supper club he calls Eureka.
Mc Garry is deft and confident in the kitchen, with skills he's been practicing since he was a child. What started out as a means of self-preservation from his mom's unsatisfactory cooking has turned into a passion that the teen hopes to develop into a career.
"My goal? Michelin three stars, a restaurant in the top 50 list," he told MSNBC. "Hopefully the top five." Meanwhile, Mc Garry's 13-year-old resume is already richer and more impressive than most cooks many times his age.
Mc Garry isn't the only talented young prodigy to surprise experts in his field in recent years. At just 17 years old, physicist Taylor Wilson is already teaching graduate-level courses in physics and has built a functioning nuclear reactor. | high3731.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "they are safe and handy"
},
"options": [
"they cannot be lost or stolen",
"they can be used anywhere",
"they are safe and handy",
"they can save travelers plenty of money"
],
"question": "People like to carry th... | When traveling abroad, it is wise to carry your money in traveler's checks because checks are protected against loss or theft. If your checks are lost or stolen, the issuing authority will refund your money.
Not only are they safe, they are also convenient. They are available in different currencies and they can be cashed at most banks throughout the world. Most shops, hotels and restaurants also accept them.
Traveler's checks are very easy to use. When you collect them, you sign each check once. The cashier enters the amount in your passport. When you cash, you sign each check again. The cashier will usually ask to see your passport again too.
To get traveler's checks you usually go to your bank. They can be paid in cash or in other ways. Large amounts, however, must be ordered in advance.
For the safety and convenience of traveler's checks, you are charged two commissions(,): an insurance commission when you buy them and an encashment commission when you cash them.
It is suitable to make a note of the serial numbers of your checks. Keep this separate from your traveler's checks.(191) | high11276.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "happy"
},
"options": [
"angry",
"disappointed",
"happy",
"frightened"
],
"question": "We can infer when John Grogan wrote the book \"Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog.\", he was very _ .... | The Labrador has won the honor of the most popular breed for the past eighteen years. It has been described as gentle, clever and friendly. Yet not all Labs are the same.
John Grogan discovered _ after he and his wife adopted a Labrador that they named Marley. The dog caused Mr. Grogan a lot of trouble, but it also provided many stories for his newspaper articles. Later, he wrote a best-selling book, "Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog."
Marley was happy and fun-loving. But he was also extremely large and difficult to control. He bit anything that he could find around the house, including plastic, clothing and jewelry. And he had a great fear of loud noises, especially thunderstorms. Unfortunately, the Grogans lived in Florida where many thunderstorms develop. Marley would attack the furniture, walls and doors until his feet bled if he was left alone in the house during a thunderstorm. Marley almost damaged their home several times.
John Grogan said that at first he considered that probably his dog could be trained to be a show champion. But he soon realized that was impossible. Marley didn't like to learn skills that didn't belong to dogs, and he was driven out of the dog training school for causing troubles for other dogs. He didn't want to hide his emotions. He would show his anger and tiredness if he felt them.
Even if that, Marley still had earned a place in the Grogans'. He didn't know how to dance, and he didn't know how to walk on its two legs, but he was what he was. He would never be a Lassie or a Benji or an old Yeller for he would never like to take part in a dog show, but the Grogans accepted him and loved him very much. | high10168.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "show that anti-Jewish feelings exist among some students in her school"
},
"options": [
"show how anti-Jewish most students at her school are",
"show that anti-Jewish feelings exist among some students in her school",
"compla... | Liah Kaminer remembers hearing the shock from the audience when two seniors rapped the words "raise your hand like a Nazi" at a school assembly during her sophomore year.
It wasn't the only instance of anti-Semitism that Kaminer, 17, of Hall High School in Connecticut, says she witnessed at her school. There were other comments, like a boy asking two other students in her class if they were Jewish. When they replied that they weren't, he said, "Oh, good." Kaminer recalled. He patted them on their backs and said, "You're one of us."
Kaminer, who is Jewish, said she was hurt by the remark, and after a while she got tired of seeing such comments swept under the rug . So she decided to take action.
After reaching out to the administration and connecting with social studies department supervisor Stephen Armstrong, Kaminer and Armstrong put together a class on anti-Semitism. They presented it to every ninth-grade social studies class during the last week of school this year. In the class, Kaminer and Armstrong showed a clip from the ABC show, What Would You Do? where actors portrayed a Jewish couple and a bakery employee who yelled at them with anti-Semitic comments. They had class discussions about what stereotypes students had heard.
"I was a little surprised and confused by how much of this still goes on at Hall." Armstrong said. "That's why we're doing this. Although students are taught about the Holocaust in history classes, it's a pity that kids are seldom asked to think about this topic in a present-day situation."
"The fact that a teenager was teaching her fellow students made the class more effective." Armstrong said. "I could have done it - a couple of classes I did it myself - but it was a lot more effective when a kid was with me. It wasn't just some teacher talking. It was a kid who had experienced some of the stuff very personally." | high17607.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it could sound in the sky"
},
"options": [
"it was made of bamboo",
"it could sound in the sky",
"Li Ye was a musician",
"it looked like a whistle"
],
"question": "The kite made by Li Ye was named after a Chines... | The kite was originally called Zhiyuan in North China, and Yaozi in South China. Early in the Five dynasties, a man named Li Ye used to make and fly a kite in the emperor's court. He once attached a whistle made of bamboo to the kite. Sound was let out when the kite was flying. The kite was named after Zheng, a kind of Chinese music instrument. Then it was named Fengzheng in Chinese.
The earliest kite in the world was made by Motse, a famous Chinese philosopher, who lived 2,300 years ago, for military purposes. He spent three years making an eagle and managed to fly it. The eagle was later regarded as the first kite in the world. Kite-flying became a recreation probably from the Tang dynasty when the royal family and people of the highest class were addicted to it. It was said that the Emperor Xuanzong in the Tang Dynasty once was interested in a kite named Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea flying in the air. Later, the paper-made kite was invented, which cost less and spread quickly among the common people. As time went on, kites flew to various countries in the world. 'The well-known British scientist, Dr. Needham, once described kites as an important scientific invention which spread to Europe from China in his book, A History of China's Science and Technology. The invention of the kite inspired men's dream of flying and led to the invention of the airplane. | high18534.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The number of students each session can admit."
},
"options": [
"The age of students who can attend the Tech-Camp programs.",
"The number of students each session can admit.",
"The programs the Camp can offer.",
"The wa... | Tech-Camp
prefix = st1 /6 Devon Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
a technology day camp for students 12--17
About Tech-Camp:
Tech-Camp is a day camp with a focus on computers and electronics technology. We offer 2-week summer programs for students of 12 to 17 years of age. We have a computer lab with the latest and fastest equipment, an electronics lab, and a video production studio. Our staff is special, too. Our program leaders are experts in computers and electronics, of course, but they are also people who care about children and enjoy working with them.
The benefits of Tech-Camp:
In all of our programs, we show students how to work in teams and how to solve problems by themselves. We encourage them to think creatively.
What students will do at Tech-Camp?
Each day at Tech-Camp is filled with useful, interesting and challenging activities. For example, in the Computer Program, students learn basic computer programming, and how to use the Internet. In the High-tech Program, they make radio-controlled model cars and produce their own short videos.
Program Session 1
Computer Program 15June-26June
High-tech Program 29June-10July 27July-7August
Fee: HK $ 2,000 per student
(10% discount available for groups of l0 or more students)
For more information about Tech-Camp, please contact Director of Summer Program, Ms Julia Brown, by phone, fax or e-mail.
Telephone :26548898 Fax: 26948850
e-mail: juliab@ techcamp. com. HK | high17161.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Spain is eager to improve its economic competitiveness"
},
"options": [
"Spain is eager to improve its economic competitiveness",
"it is urgent to increase sleeping hours for Spaniards",
"Spanish schools suffer form high drop... | Trying to recover from a devastating economic crisis, Spain is considering moving the country's clock back by one hour.
Many people regard long afternoon naps and late dinners as perfect aspects of the Spanish way of life. Until the 1940s, Spain was on the same time as Britain and Portugal. In World War II, Spain and Portugal moved the clocks forward to align them with Nazi Germany. The same happened in Portugal. After the defeat of Hitler, Portugal returned to Greenwich Mean Time, but Spain did not.
"The fact that for more than 71 years Spain has not been in its proper time zone means we sleep almost an hour less than the World Health Organization recommends," lawmakers in the Spanish Parliament wrote in a proposal."This has a negative effect on productivity, absenteeism, stress, accidents and school drop-out rates."
Last September, a parliamentary commission recommended that the government turn back the clocks by one hour and introduce a regular eight-hour workday. For the time being, the Spanish government is treating the campaign seriously but it hasn't taken any action yet.
Spain's time zone issue explains why everything in Spain happens later, from meal times to broadcast entertainment (primetime doesn't start until 10 pm). Many urban Spaniards complain of a never-ending workday that begins in the morning but is interrupted by a traditional late-morning break and then again by the midday siesta--a two-hour long lunch and nap that usually start at 2 pm. If workers return to their desks at 4 pm, they end up working late into the evening.
Under the proposed new schedule, the lunchtime break would be cut to an hour or less. The interruption-filled Spanish workday would be replaced by something closer to a 9-to-5 schedule. Ignacio Buqueras, president of the Association for the Rationalization of Spanish Working Hours, told The New York Times that changing the Spanish schedule would be good news for working mothers. It would also allow families more free time together and boost Spain's economic recovery.
Maria Angles Duran, a sociologist with the Spanish National Research Council, is skeptical that changing the time zone will reverse low productivity, which she attributes more to the structure of the service-oriented economy. But she agreed that a more normal work schedule would help women, who often complain that their husbands deliberately schedule meetings in the early evening.
"For men, this is perfect," Duran said, "They arrive home and the children have already had their baths! Timetables can be used as a sort of weapon." | high18252.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "sleeping more and better helps regulate the symptom mediators"
},
"options": [
"the researchers obtain information about the sleep habits by frequent interviews",
"the researchers do their research in the National Institutes of Hea... | People who averaged fewer than seven hours of sleep per night in the weeks before being exposed to the cold virus were nearly three times as likely to get sick as those who averaged eight hours or more, a new study found.
Researchers used frequent telephone interviews to track the sleep habits of more than 150 men and women aged 21 to 55 over the last few weeks. Then they exposed the _ to the virus, quarantined them for five days and kept track of who got sick.
Besides sleeping more, sleeping better also seemed to help the body fight illness: Patients who fared better on a measure known as "sleep efficiency"--the percentage of time in bed that you're actually sleeping--were also less likely to get sick.
The results held true even after researchers adjusted for elements such as body-mass index, age, sex, smoking and pre-existing antibodies to the virus.
The researchers aren't exactly sure why sleeping better makes you less likely to develop a cold. But they do try to give an answer: "Sleep disturbance influences the regulation of symptom mediators that are released in response to infection." In plain English, maybe tossing and turning when you're infected with the cold virus contributes to the symptoms that define a cold.
The researchers were based at Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia, and the study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. | high5426.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "It is below ice."
},
"options": [
"It is under the sea.",
"Its lava affects the airlines.",
"It is the largest volcano.",
"It is below ice."
],
"question": "What makes Grimsvotn different from other volcanoes?",... | A volcanic eruption in Iceland has sent ash across northern Europe. Airlines have stopped or changed the flights across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving hundreds of passengers stuck in airports.
Grimsvotn is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe. What makes
Grimsvotn different is that it lies under a huge glacier of ice up to 12 metres thick. The hot volcano heats up the ice above it, which then forms a layer
of water between glacier and the volcano, keeping it stable. As the water flows out from under the glacier, the pressure lifts. The lava from the volcano then comes up to the surface. This is exactly what is happening today.
Now airlines have to make changes to their flights so as not to fly through the clouds of volcanic ash. According to KLM, one of Europe's biggest airlines, airplanes cannot go under the cloud or over it. Going through the cloud can result in ash getting stuck in the airplane's engines, causing damage to the plane.
The eruption has also caused problems for animals in Iceland. The volcano left ash and sharp, glass-like rocks all over the countryside. Farmers are keeping their animals inside to stop them eating ash-covered grass or the sharp objects. | high2349.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Independence Day"
},
"options": [
"Christmas Day",
"New Year's Day",
"Independence Day",
"Thanksgiving Day"
],
"question": "The Art Institute of Chicago can be visited on _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_que... | No trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to the Art Institute, which is the second largest art museum in the nation.
Opening hours:
Mon - Wed & Fri - Sun, 10:30 am - 5 pm; Thu, 10:30 am- 8 pm; closed on New Year's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.
Highlights:
* The Modern Wing contains contemporary masterpieces by Dali, Matisse, Miro, Picasso, Pollock, and Warhol.
* View one of the world's finest Impressionist collections, including masterpieces by Monet, Degas, Renoir, Seurat, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
* Thorne Miniature Rooms offer a detailed view of European homes from the 16th century through the 1930s and American homes from the 17th century to 1940.
* The past returns as over 550 works from 4,000 years of art come together in Of Gods and Glamour, located in the beautiful new Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art.
Advice for visitors:
* Free guided tours are available daily at noon.
* Free art-making activities are available for children each weekend from 11 am to 2 pm.
* Visit the Family Room in the Ryan Education Center, open daily from 10:30 am - 5 pm, and introduce your child to the museum's collections with a variety of hands-on activities. Assemble puzzles based on masterpieces you'll see in the galleries, build architectural wonders with colorful blocks, and learn about art through stories and games at Curious Corner.
* Check out the Lion's Trial tour for children ages 5-10. This tour is especially designed for the young people in your group! Don't miss it!
Getting there:
You can take the follow buses: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 14, 26, 28, 126, 143. | high11510.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "help the Javanese with their illness"
},
"options": [
"help the Javanese with their illness",
"find ways to grow better crops",
"do some research about the island",
"spend his holiday"
],
"question": "Christian ... | Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a _ .
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn't eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate -- refined white rice . When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery -- that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins . The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person's food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don't, they can also take vitamin pills. | high4738.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "8 were killed by a fall of a large mass of snow down a mountainside."
},
"options": [
"12 people were lost until now.",
"25 people were rescued instantly.",
"The rest who stayed alive killed 8 people.",
"8 were killed b... | The shocking disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has captured the attention of millions around the world as the search for the airplane and its passengers and crew continues. What happened to the flight's 239 passengers and crew after the plane left Kuala Lumpur on Saturday? It is becoming an increasingly desperate question as the days pass.
But it's hardly the first mystery of its kind. Here are some half-solved and unsolved airline mysteries that kept investigators clueless for years.
Air France Flight 447: An Airbus A330 flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris _ into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board. But it took a full five days for search and rescue teams to find the wreck and another three years for investigators to report that ice crystals had caused the autopilot to disconnect. The bodies of 74 passengers remain unrecovered.
Amelia Earhart: Ace pilot Amelia Earhart disappeared in her twin-engine monoplane Electra over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. No trace of her plane was ever found even after a multi-million dollar search effort, and Earhart was officially declared dead in 1939.
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739: A U.S. military flight left Guam in 1962 with more 90 personnel headed for the Philippines, but it never arrived. The pilots never issued a distress call, and 1,300 people involved in the U.S. military search never found any trace of wreckage.
British South American Airways: It took more than 50 years to find any trace of the 11 people aboard a 1947 flight that disappeared in the Andes Mountains. A pair of Argentineans rock climbers discovered engine wreckage in the Andes in 1998, and an army expedition later found human remains as well.
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571: A flight headed to Santiago, Chile carrying 45 passengers and crew crashed into the Andes Mountains in poor weather in 1972, killing twelve people. In the meantime, eight were killed in an avalanche that hit the plane's wreckage where they were taking shelter, and the rest stayed alive by eating the flesh of the dead before they were finally found more than two months after disappearing out of the sky. | high7231.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Shirley Black survived her husband Charles Black"
},
"options": [
"Shirley Black had been ill in bed for a long time",
"Black's family was of five generations before she died",
"no doctors and nurses were allowed in Black's h... | Shirley Temple Black, who lifted America's spirits as a bright-eyed child movie star during the Great Depression and later became a US diplomat , died at the age of 85 at her home in Woodside, California, on Monday.
A family statement said, "We announce with great sadness that diplomat Shirley Temple Black, former Hollywood child star and forever America's little darling peacefully passed away at her Woodside, California, home from natural causes, at the age of 85, on February 10, 2014." She was surrounded by her family and caregivers.
"We respect her for a life of remarkable achievements as an actor, as a diplomat, and most importantly as our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and good wife for fifty-five years of much-missed Charles Alden Black, who has passed away."
Temple's film career began in 1932 and she found international fame two years later aged in the film Bright Eyes, famous for the song On the Good Ship Lollipop. The youngster was seen with her hair in curls, and the unforgettable performance made her one of the biggest box office draws of the times. She was awarded a Juvenile Academy Award in 1935 and starred in films such as Curly Top and The Littlest Rebel, helping the US deal with the depression of the 1930s. And she was credited with helping save the film company 20th Century Fox from being bankrupt .
But after retiring from the entertainment world in her early 20s with a special Oscar under her belt for the movie Stand up and Cheer when she was six, she created a role as an outstanding diplomat, serving as the US ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia.
Temple was also a delegate to several international commissions and was involved with the United Nations. She was the first woman to serve as US chief of protocol in the Department of State. | high8102.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Four ocean scientists will tell visitors some information about whales."
},
"options": [
"A large number of scientists will attend the Festival of Whales celebration.",
"The Festival of Whales celebration will be held from March 5 ... | The Ocean Institute welcomes people to the City of Dana Point's Festival of Whales celebration on both weekends.The event celebrates the migration of the whales off our coast.Respected ocean scientists of the ocean Institute introduce visitors to the world of whales.The speakers are arranged as the following.
Saturday,March 5,12:30 pm
Dr Gwen Goodmanlowe from Califomia State University is a full-time lecturer in the Department of Biology,and advises students working on degrees in marine biology.She received her doctorate in zoology from the University of Hawaii-Honolulu.
Sunday,March 6,12:30 pm
Matt Leslie,from Scripps Institute of Oceanography,has studied whales off the coast of Australia.Some of his current research projects include population structure analysis of whales using performance testing.He will lecture on guides for treatment of marine animals.
Saturday,March 12,12:30 pm
Dr Merkens,from Scripps Institute of Oceanography,will present her latest research on how sound or music can be used as a means to identify characteristics of whales and to find out how whales communicate with one another in the environment.
Sunday,March 13, 2 pm
Robert L. Pitman is a marine ecologist working for the National Marine Fishing Service.He began his career 35 years ago,studying seabirds and whales,and spends much of his time at sea on vessels at locations all over the world.His main interest is the ecology of the Antarctic killer whale.
The Festival will allow visitors to know about new discoveries in marine animal research and to explore a variety of information on whales.Visitors will have the opportunity to listen to underwater whale sounds,and enjoy hands-on activities.Guests will tour the tall ship Pilgrim.
Cost:$6.50 adults,$4.50 children(ages 4-12).For more information, please visit www.ocean-institute.org or call(949) 496-2274. | high15776.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To escape the damaging earthquake."
},
"options": [
"To attend Michael and Linda's wedding.",
"To support the organization.",
"To escape the damaging earthquake.",
"To help distribute free daily meals."
],
"ques... | Last Thursday, Michael and Linda stood behind large food trucks distributing meals to 4,000 homeless people for their wedding reception on the border town of Kilis. The couple had decided that instead of hosting their friends and family for a traditional feast reception, they would feed the victims from an earthquake-stricken area.
The idea came from the bridegroom's father, Ted, who volunteers for a Turkish relief organization. For the past few years, the organization has distributed daily meals to thousands of people who've suffered from natural disasters. He _ a representative of the organization and suggested that the family cover part of the costs of feeding them for the day.
Then he told his son, who was surprised by the suggestion, but soon won over. When he told that to the bride, she was really shocked but finally accepted because in southeastern Turkey there is a real culture of sharing with people in need. They love to share their food, their table and everything they have. And afterwards she was quite amazed about it. So, they arrived at the distribution center on Thursday to spend the day serving food and taking photographs with their grateful recipients .
On Tuesday evening, the newly married couple were still pleased with their decision to quit a personal celebration for one with a greater good. "It's like sharing a dinner with your friends and family who have this kind of thing on a daily basis or sharing something with people who don't even have the most basic things," Michael said. "Hopefully, this will also give the start for other wedding dinners to be held here with our brothers and sisters in need." | high12019.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "What they wrote."
},
"options": [
"What they wrote.",
"Where they wrote.",
"When they wrote.",
"How often they wrote."
],
"question": "What was the difference between the two groups of participants in the study?... | For anyone still doubting the belief that our emotions influence our physical health, a new study from New Zealand should be able to settle the matter. It reports that the physical wounds of healthy seniors healed more quickly if they wrote about their most upsetting experiences.
This confirms the results of a 2010 study, and extends those findings to cover older adults--a group that is likely to suffer wounds (as from surgery), and one with less access to other ways of lowering tension (such as exercise).
Reported in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, a research team led by the University of Auckland's Elizabeth Broadbent made a study featuring 50 healthy adults ranging in age from 64 to 97. They were asked to write for 20 minutes per day for three consecutive days.
Half were asked to write about the most upsetting experience in their life, describing their deepest thoughts, feelings, and emotions about the events, ideally not previously shared with others. The others were asked to write about their daily activities without mentioning emotions, opinions or beliefs.
Two weeks after the third day of writing, all participants received a standard 4mm skin biopsy on their inner arm. The very tiny wounds caused by the biopsy were photographed regularly over the following days to determine the rate at which they healed.
On the 11th day after the biopsy, the wounds completely healed on 76.2 percent of those who had done the expressive writing. That was true of only 42.1 percent of those who had written about everyday activities.
"The biological and psychological mechanisms behind this effect remain unclear," the researchers wrote, noting that those who had done the expressive writing did not report lower stress levels or fewer depressive symptoms than the others in the control group. Even if they weren't consciously aware of feeling more relaxed or positive, the expressive writing appeared to have caused some sort of bodily reaction--probably involving their immune systems--that _ their recovery. | high13307.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "showing favoritism is common in many families"
},
"options": [
"showing favoritism is common in many families",
"most mothers like their sons better than their daughters",
"only two-thirds of the women interviewed have more t... | In any family with more than one child, children seem to naturally compete for their parents' love and attention. Parents say they love every child equally. But is that true?
Susan, founder of a consulting firm in Chicago, interviewed 216 women and found that even though none of her questions asked directly about a parent favoring one child over another, about two-third of the women said there was a favored child. And they also remembered their experience when they were young. One of the women said, "My mother always liked my brother better, and he got to summer camp in 1968 and I didn't.
Plumez, who interviewed parents with both biological children ( ) and adoptive children for an adoption book in 2008, found that what matters most is whether your temperaments ( ) are pleasing. "In some cases, parents would say they felt closer to their adopted children, "she says. "Some parents like the children with characters similar to theirs. Two people who are shy and withdrawn might get along well, unless the shy parent doesn't like that aspect of themselves and they try to push the naturally withdrawn child to be more _ ."
It could be a result of gender, birth order or how easy or difficult a child's temperament may be, but a parent's different treatment has far-reaching effects. Studies have found that less-favored children may suffer emotionally, with decreased self-esteem and behavioral problems in children. Favoritism is a reason for the next generation not to like each other.
Experts say it's not realistic to say everyone should be treated equally, because no two people are the same and they related differently to others.
"It does not mean the parent loves or likes one child more. It has to do with which one of them is independent," says psychologist Lauriet Kramer of the University of Illinois. | high14468.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "cared much about her children"
},
"options": [
"cared much about her children",
"was sick of staying upstairs alone",
"could not stand living in a wooden house",
"did not deal well with her family affairs during the flo... | 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 5p.m., 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'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. | high7966.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The Harbourside Development and the Australian Wildlife Park."
},
"options": [
"The Harbourside Development and the Australian Wildlife Park.",
"The Harbourside Development and Taronga zoo.",
"The Australian Wildlife Park and... | The Harbourside Development is one of the world's most exciting places to shop. It is right on the edge of Sydney Harbour, and there are over 200 shops, selling everything from home-made sweets to the latest clothes in fashion; from Australian souvenirs to Swiss watches and Japanese cameras.
The Australian Wildlife Park has been specially built to give people an extra close look at Australia's native animals. Have your photo taken with a kangaroo, touch and feed koala bears. There are talks every afternoon about these animals, which are only found in this part of the world. There is also an excellent souvenir shop.
A visit to the Australian Museum is like an adventure across Australia. There are shows on the people and their way of life, and the whole continent. Talks and guided tours help to make your visit unforgettable. There is also a cafe and a good book shop, selling excellent maps.
Taronga Zoo has Australia's finest collection of rainforest birds and sea-life centre which has many of the fish that can be found off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. Taronga is also famous for its large group of South East Asian monkeys. Fast food can be got at cafes. | high24024.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The daughter is a freshman in college."
},
"options": [
"The daughter is a well-rounded college student.",
"The father faced the greatest challenge in 2006.",
"The daughter is a freshman in college.",
"Steve Jobs gave t... | Dear daughter,
As we drove off from Columbia, I wanted to write a letter to you to tell you all that is on my mind.
I want to tell you how proud we are. Getting into Columbia is a real testament of what a great well-rounded student you are. Your academic, artistic, and social skills have truly blossomed in the last few years. You have become a talented and accomplished young woman.
College will be the most important years in your life. It is in college that you will truly discover what learning is about. You often question "what good is this course". I encourage you to be inquisitive, but I also want to tell you: "Education is what you have left after all that is taught is forgotten." What I mean by that is the materials taught isn't as important as you gaining the ability to learn a new subject, and the ability to analyze a new problem. That is really what learning in college is about - this will be the period where you go from teacher-taught to master-inspired, after which you must become self-learner. So do take each subject seriously, and even if what you learn isn't critical for your life, the skills of learning will be something you cherish forever.
Follow your passion in college. Take courses you think you will enjoy. Don't be trapped in what others think or say. Steve Jobs says when you are in college, your passion will create many dots, and later in your life you will connect them. In his great speech given at Stanford commencement, he gave the great example where he took calligraphy, and a decade later, it became the basis of the beautiful Macintosh fonts, which later ignited desktop publishing, and brought wonderful tools like Microsoft Word to our lives. His expedition into calligraphy was a dot, and the Macintosh became the connecting line. Enjoy picking your dots, and be assured one day you will find your calling, and connect a beautiful curve through the dots of yourself .
Most importantly, make friends and be happy. College friends are often the best in life, because during college you are closer to them physically than to your family. Also, going through independence and adulthood is a natural bonding experience.
So please treasure your college years - make the best of your free time, become an independent thinker in control of your destiny, evolve yourself into a bi-cultural talent, be bold to experiment, learn and grow through your successes and challenges.
When I faced the greatest challenge and opportunity in my life in 2005, you gave me a big hug and said "bonne chance", which means "good luck" and "good courage". Now I do the same for you. Bonne chance, my angel and princess. May Columbia become the happiest four years in your life, and may you blossom into just what you dream to be.
Love,
Dad (& Mom) | high9793.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "compares the passengers' faces to flowers"
},
"options": [
"tells us one of his painful experiences",
"compares the passengers' faces to flowers",
"describes a man walking among the crowd",
"shows a wet, black tree bran... | In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
This is the only Ezra Pound poem that many people will read in their lives. Why? One obvious reason is that it's just two lines long. The poem, which can be understood as "A man sees a bunch of faces in the subway and thinks they look like flowers on a tree branch," is an exercise in shortness. Pound wrote it after having a spiritual experience in a Paris metro (subway) station.
In 1916, the US poet originally thought he could best describe his vision in a painting. Unfortunately, he wasn't a painter. So he wrote a thirty-line poem, which he didn't like. He dropped the long version in the waste bin. Six months later, he wrote a shorter poem, but didn't like that one either. Finally, a full year after the experience, he had been reading short Japanese poems called haikus, and he figured he would try this style. The result, which was published in 1913, is one of the most famous and influential works in modern poetry.
This poem is one of the monuments of the 20th-century artistic movement known as "Imagism". Basically, Pound and his friends thought that images weren't just decoration: they were the highest form of speech. By finding the right image, the poet can express the true, spiritual reality of a thing, which is more important than using a bunch of adjectives to describe its physical appearance. Thus, "In a Station of the Metro" is a poem that consists of one image expressed with absolute exactness and nothing else.
To the imagists, the best way to describe an experience is not to use more and more words; the best way is to find exactly the right words. Have you ever told a beloved one that "words can't express" how much you love them? Well, Pound would say that you're just being lazy. In his view, words can express anything, even if it takes an entire year to find the right ones. | high13850.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Offer their dogs to be Police Dogs."
},
"options": [
"Offer their dogs to be Police Dogs.",
"Stop their dogs from biting people.",
"Take care not to lost their dogs.",
"Give their dogs good training."
],
"questi... | Sri Lankan police made an appeal for the public to donate their pet dogs to help the fight against terrorism and crime on the war - torn island.
"Make your pet a hero-to detect terrorism and make our motherland Sri Lanka a country with a new facelift," the police department said in a public notice carried by the state-run Daily News.
It said that donated dogs should be between six months and two years old and must have an impressive pedigree . German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers, Rottweilers, Dalmatians, Cocker Spaniels and Doberman Pinschers are preferred.
Chief Inspector Lal Senavirathne said 25 people donated their pets, but only 18 dogs could be enlisted as the others did not meet the recruitment. He said the dogs would be trained to identify explosives, search for buried mines, sniff down drugs, deal with criminals and even perform tricks for the public. The dogs will retire after serving a maximum period of eight years and will be returned to their original owners.
"We already have 170 dogs deployed in 30 units, including the operational area or conflict areas in the island's north and east", Senavirathne told AFP by telephone from his headquarters in the central town of Kandy.
He said it was the first time they were making a public appeal because of pressure on the police kennels , which usually import about half of their annual requirement.
"This time, we hope to enlist about 50 dogs. They will be given six months extensive training and another six months on the job," he said. "Thereafter they will be officially called Police Dogs."
Sri Lanka's dog population is about 2.3 million while it has 19.5 million people, and about 20,000 to 30,000 people are annually treated for homeless dog bites. | high22455.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Ray"
},
"options": [
"McDonald",
"Ray",
"Wendy",
"Three old women"
],
"question": "_ started McDonald's restaurant.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
... | Every people uses its own special word to show its ideas and feelings. Some of these expressions are commonly used for many years. Others are popular for just a short time. One such American expression is "Where's the beef?" It is used when something is not as good as it is said to be. In the early 1980s "Where's the beef?" was one of the most popular expressions in the United States. It seemed as if everyone using it at the time.
Beef, of course, is the meat from a cow, and food is more popular in America than a hamburger made from beef. In the 1960s a businessman named Ray began building small restaurants that sold hamburgers at a low price. Ray called this "McDonald's". Ray became one of the richest businessmen at last in America.
Other business people watched his success. Some of them opened their own hamburger restaurants. One company called "Wendy's" said its hamburgers were bigger than those sold by McDonald's or anyone else. The Wendy's Company began to use the expression "Where's the beef?" to make people know that Wendy's hamburgers were the biggest. The Wendy's television advertisement showed three old women eating hamburgers. The bread that covered the meat was very big, but inside there was only a bit of meat. One of the women said she would not eat a hamburger with such a little piece of beef. "Where's the beef?" she shouted in a funny way. The advertisement for Wendy's hamburger restaurants was a success. As we said, it seemed everyone began using the expression "Where's the beef?" | high12596.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A storywriter."
},
"options": [
"A journalist.",
"A storywriter.",
"An interviewer.",
"An interviewee."
],
"question": "Based on the questions in this interview,what do you think Ms Tan's profession is?",
"q... | Ms Tan,you've referred to your new novel as your eighth book.
That's because it took me six or seven attempts at a second novel before I started and completed this one.
*Why do you think you had so many false starts?
I would say that my reasons were wrong:I was trying to prove that I wasn't just a mother-daughter storyteller,or I was trying to prove that I didn't just have to write about things that were strictly Chinese or Chinese-American.Those were never the right reasons for writing those early stories.And I could never come up with other,better reasons for continuing them.
*What kept you going on this book?
This book was different because it was based on my mother's real life.The reason for writing it became more personal and emotional.After The Joy Luck Club came out,my mother was always explaining to people that she wasn't any of the mothers in that book.And at one point she said to me,"Next book tells my true story."And then she started telling me things I never knew before.She also told me many,many stories,because my mother doesn't generalize.The book really grew out of that.
*Have you ever visited China?
Yes.I've been there twice:about three years ago and then again last November,both times with my mother and my husband.
*Was it difficult to capture the Chinese-American dialect without sounding like a parody ?
No,because it's the language I've heard all my life from my mother.She speaks English as it's direct translation from Chinese.But it's more than that:Her language also has more imagery than English.
*Can you think of an example?
Somebody might say to me,"Don't work so hard.You'll kill yourself."My mother will say to me,"Why do you press all your brains out on this page for someone else?"So it's very vivid.That's the way she talks.
*Have many readers told you that the Chinese mother in your book reminded them of the typical Jewish mother?
Many people have told me that.I think the mother-daughter relationship is very intense in both cases.Culturally there is an acceptance that mothers have the power to tell their children,especially their daughters,how to conduct their lives--not simply up until the time they are 18,but for the rest of their lives.However,when children grow up in a different culture from their parents',they tend to keep more secrets from their parents.The children think,"They just wouldn't understand that I had to do this."And that can really create a gap,and it can grow as the number of secrets grows. | high23993.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The story is too long and has too serious a theme."
},
"options": [
"The story is directly related to their daily life.",
"The story is too long and has too serious a theme.",
"They often get confused with the complex relatio... | It is a novel that is probably more talked about than read. People think: "It's such a big book! It has such a serious theme!" The feeling that they are going to be taught a long, hard lesson often puts readers off. But really, War and Peace (1869), which tells the stories of five upper-class families in Russia at the time of the 1812 French invasion, is not to be missed. Reading this novel is one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, like climbing the Great Wall: You will regret it if you do not try.
Earlier this month, USA Today reported that a six-episode War and Peace miniseries produced by the BBC would air next year.
With a complex plot and so many characters, readers unfamiliar with the work might be most interested in the characters from the financially-troubled Rostov family of Moscow. Count Rostov has four teenage children. Natasha is in love with Boris Drubetskoy, who is about to become an army officer. Nikolai Ilyich loves the poor Sonya, a ward of the family, but his family is not happy with their relationship. The proud Vera is about to start a happy marriage with a German-Russian officer. The youngest Rostov is the 9-year-old Petya, who, like his brother Nikolai, has his heart set on fighting for his country.
The lives of all are about to be changed by the upcoming great war that involves many other major characters of War and Peace, such as Prince Andrei, who goes into a military career partly in order to get away from his unhappy marriage to the socialite Lise.
The novel has a great reputation among many kinds of writers and millions of readers. US writer Ernest Hemingway wrote: "I don't know anybody who could write about war better than Tolstoy did." A comment by the great 20th-century Russian short-story writer Isaak Babel shows the rich sense of history that Tolstoy's work conveys. "If the world itself could write, it would write like Tolstoy," Babel commented. | high18905.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the history of Earth Day"
},
"options": [
"the importance of Earth Day",
"the person who planned the Earth Day",
"the history of Earth Day",
"the first Earth Day"
],
"question": "The passage mainly talks about ... | In 1963,former Senator Gaylord Nelson began to worry about our planet (A senator is a person that the people of the United States have chosen to help make the laws.). Senator Nelson knew that our world was getting dirty and that many of our plants and animals were dying .He wondered why most people weren't trying to solve these problems. He talked to other lawmakers and to the President. They decided that the President would go around the country and tell people about these concerns . He did, but still not enough people were working on the problem.
Then, in 1969, Senator Nelson had another idea. He decided to have a special day to teach everyone about the things that needed changing in our environment .He wrote letters to all of the colleges and put a special article in Scholastic Magazine to tell them about the special day he had planned (Most of the schools got this magazine) and he knew that kids would help him.
On April 22,1970, the first Earth Day was held .People all over the country made promises to help the environment. Everyone got involved and since then, Earth Day has spread all over the planet. People all over the world know that there are problems we need to work on and this is our special day to look at the planet and see what needs changing. Isn't it great? One person had an idea and kept working until everyone began working together to solve it. See what happens when people care about our world? | high20242.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "has been practiced for around 2,400 years"
},
"options": [
"has a longer history than folk medicine",
"has been practiced for around 2,400 years",
"bases its treatments on observation and logic",
"was very successful in... | There are three branches of medicine. One is called "doctor medicine" or "scientific medicine". Scientific doctors try to observe sickness, look for logical pattern, and then find out how the human body works. From there they figure out what treatments may work. This kind of medicine is believed to date from the 4thcentury BC. Although nowadays it is successful, in the ancient this approach probably did not cure many patients.
The second kind of medicine is called "natural cures" or "folk medicine", in which less educated people try to cure sickness with various herbs. These folk healers also use observation and logic, but they are not so aware of it. They try things until they find something that seems to work, and then they keep doing that. Folk medicine flourished long before the development of scientific medicine and was more successful in ancient times.
The third kind is called "health spas" or "faith healing". Sometimes this may be as simple as touching the holy man and being immediately healed. Other times, a magician may make you a magic charm, or say a spell , to cure you. Some religious groups organize healing shrines for the sick. In these places people rest, get plenty of sleep, eat healthy food, drink water instead of wine, and exercise in various ways. They also talk to the priests and pray to the gods. If you are feeling depressed or you have been working too hard, going to these places may be just the right thing to make you feel better. | high10381.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "someone was knocking at the door"
},
"options": [
"her mother-in-law was ill",
"her father-in-law called her",
"someone was knocking at the door",
"someone had broke into her house"
],
"question": "The author's ... | The more people I meet, the more I love my dog. Every day I am reminded why I love him so much.
Three weeks before Christmas in 2008 at about 2:00 in the morning, my dog woke us up out of a sound sleep because someone was knocking at our door. He barked in front of me as if to protect me from the stranger who was knocking. My husband answered, and it was a local police officer telling us that my father-in-law had called the police because he forgot our number. My mother-in-law was suffering from a brain disease and was in the hospital. We thanked the officer and raced to the hospital. We would have taken him, but the hospital would consider him to be a dirty pet.
After visiting the hospital we drove home and hugged our dog once more. At this point it was unlikely that little dog remembered waking us up. What he did remember was that we left him alone for several hours and he missed us. He thought we missed him, too, so he greeted us at the door with his tail wagging .
Someone tried to break in our house that summer, but, once again, our little dog saved the day. Our curtains were damaged, but no one got in. When I got home from work, I found parts of my curtains lying on the floor. We called the police and the officer said that he did a great job.
My dog is a loving sweet dog who just wants some attention. I worked with him for months and now he sits, dances, sings, shakes hands, and so much more. The best part is he looks out for me as much as I look out for him.
My husband says the dog is spoiled ; I say he finally has a loving home. | high11921.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To get back their football."
},
"options": [
"To go boat rowing.",
"To get back their football.",
"To swim in the open water.",
"To test the umbrella as a sail."
],
"question": "Why did the two boys go to the se... | (2013*,B)On a sunny day last August,Tim heard some shouting.Looking out to the sea carefully,he saw a couple of kids in a rowboat were being pulled out to sea.
Two 12yearold boys,Christian and Jack,rowed out a boat to search for a football.Once they'd rowed beyond the calm waters,a beach umbrella tied to the boat caught the wind and pulled the boat into open water.The pair panicked and tried to row back to shore.But they were no match for _ and the boat was out of control.
Tim knew it would soon be swallowed by the waves.
"Everything went quiet in my head,"Tim recalls ."I was trying to figure out how to swim to the boys in a straight line."
Tim took off his clothes and jumped into the water.Every 500 yards or so,he raised his head to judge his progress."At one point,I considered turning back," he says."I wondered if I was putting my life at risk."After 30 minutes of struggling,he was close enough to yell to the boys,"Take down the umbrella!"
Christian made much effort to take down the umbrella.Then Tim was able to catch up and climb aboard the boat.He took over rowing,but the waves were almost too strong for him.
"Let's aim for the pier ,"Jack said.Tim turned the boat toward it.Soon afterward,waves crashed over the boat,and it began to sink."Can you guys swim?"he cried."A little bit,"the boys said.
Once they were in the water,Tim decided it would be safer and faster for him to pull the boys toward the pier.Christian and Jack were wearing life jackets and floated on their backs.Tim swam toward land as water washed over the boys'faces.
"Are we almost there?"they asked again and again."Yes,"Tim told them each time.
After 30 minutes,they reached the pier. | high5817.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "They spend most of their time sleeping at night."
},
"options": [
"They spend most of their time sleeping at night.",
"They like to stay in shallow bays during the day.",
"They keep half of their brain awake while sleeping.",... | Swimming in the water of Hawaii's Big Island is a fun experience. But it can be more exciting if there are dolphins swimming around and jumping out of the sea too. For many people, it would be a wonderful dream to swim with these lovely animals! However, this may not be good for dolphins. They may get hurt because of human interaction .
Dolphins are active and usually look for food at night. In the day, they like to rest in shallow bays . Many people think the dolphins are awake during the day as they swim. But when they sleep they rest half of their brain and keep the other half awake to breathe, so they may be sleeping even when they're swimming in the water.
From 2010 to 2013, spinner dolphins of Hawaii's Big Island were exposed to human activities more than 82 percent of the time, according to Julian Tyne, a researcher at Australia's Murdoch University.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says disturbing the animals in their near-shore habitat could force them to swim to less favorable places, putting them at risk of attack by sharks and other animals.
Besides, when people are around, dolphins become more active. Thus, they can't get enough sleep. "Disturbing their resting behaviors can actually affect their long term health and the health of the dolphin population," Ann Garrett of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service told the Associated Press.
As a result, the NOAA wants to make rules to help protect the dolphins. For example, the agency may ban swimming with the Hawaii spinner dolphins. Or they may stop people from swimming in shallow bays when the dolphins are resting. Tour operators must also be taught to watch for signs to know when the dolphins are in their resting state. | high14859.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "07:30"
},
"options": [
"Midnight",
"00:30",
"05:00",
"07:30"
],
"question": "At what time do London Underground services begin to operate on Sundays?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answ... | London's transport services offer you a special experience of the city. Here's a round-up of the transport choices available to you.
* London Underground
There are 11 colour-coded Underground lines. Services run regularly from around 5:00 to 00:30 (Sunday 07:30 to 23:30).
Visit tfl.gov.uk/tube for more information.
Tip:
Always stand on the right when using the escalators at Tube stations. It can get hot and busy on the Tube during peak travel times, so you may prefer to travel outside these hours.
* Buses
A cheap and easy way to travel around London. They generally run from 5:00 to 00:30. Night buses operate on many major routes from around midnight to 05:00, and some operate a 24-hour service.
It is not possible to pay for your London bus fare in cash. Instead you can pay with a Visitor Oyster card, Oyster card, Travelcard or UK-issued contactless payment card. A single bus journey is PS1.50 with an Oyster card or UK-issued contactless payment card.
To help you get home, if you don't have enough credit on your Oyster card, you will be able to make one more bus journey.
After this you will need to add the credit on your card before you use it again. If your contactless payment card has been issued outside the UK, please check tfl.gov.uk/contactless before you use your card to travel on our bus services.
For more information visit tfl.gov.uk/buses.
Tip:
Some bus routes are especially good for sightseeing --- try routes 9, 14, 15 and 22. The New Routemaster bus featured in the James Bond film Skyfall and runs on routes 9, 11, 24, 38 and 390. | high14681.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Delivering bad news properly is important in communication."
},
"options": [
"Learning ancient traditions can be useful.",
"Receiving bad news requires great courage.",
"Helping others sincerely is the key to business success... | In ancient Egypt the pharaoh treated the poor message runner like a prince when he arrived at the palace if he brought good news.However if the exhausted runner had the misfortune to bring the pharaoh unhappy news, his head was cut off.
Shades of that spirit spread over today's conversations.Once, a friend and I packed up some peanut butter and sandwiches for an outing.As we walked light-heartedly out of the door picnic basket in hand, a smiling neighbor looked up at the sky and said, "Oh boy, bad day for a picnic.The weatherman says it's going to rain." I wanted to strike him on the face with the peanut butter and sandwiches.Not for his stupid weather report, but for his smile.
Several months ago I was racing to catch a bus.As I breathlessly put my handful of cash across the Greyhound counter, the sales agent said with a broad smile, "Oh, that bus left five minutes ago." _ !
It's not the news that makes someone angry.It's the unsympathetic attitude with which it's delivered.Everyone must give bad news from time to time and winning professionals do it with the proper attitude.A doctor advising a patient that she needs an operation does it in a caring way.A boss informing an employee he didn't get the job takes on a sympathetic tone.Big winners know when delivering any bad news, they should share the feeling of the receiver.
Unfortunately, many people are not aware of this.When you're tired from a long flight, has a hotel clerk cheerfully said that your room isn't ready yet? When you had your heart set on the toast beef, has your waiter merrily told you that he just served the last piece? It makes you, as traveler or diner, want to land your fist right on their unsympathetic faces.
Had my neighbor told me of the upcoming rainstorm with sympathy, I would have appreciated his warning.Had the Greyhound salesclerk sympathetically informed me that my bus had already left, I probably would have said "Oh that's all right.I'll catch the next one." When they bear bad news, big winners deliver bombs with the emotion the bombarded person is sure to have | high20530.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "following public opinion"
},
"options": [
"in the year of 1955",
"following public opinion",
"to show its national power",
"to develop Japan's economy"
],
"question": "The Japanese government decided to build th... | Taj Mahal, Agra, India
As many as 28 different varieties of precious stones were used to decorate the outside of the Taj Mahal. Construction took around 20 years. The building, which was made from white marble from the quarries of Rajasthan, appears pink in the morning, white in the day and golden in the moonlight.
Akashi Kaikyo Bridge, Akashi Strait, Japan
It took 10 years to construct the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge. It connects the city of Kobe, on Japan's mainland, with Iwaya on Awaji Island. Before it opened, the only way to get between the two cities was by ferry. However, the waterway was at the mercy of severe storms and when two ferries overturned in 1955, killing 168 people, public anger convinced the government of the need for a bridge. It's the longest suspension bridge in the world, with a length of 1,991 meters.
Panama Canal, Panama
More than 4. 5 million cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction of this canal's locks and dams. The Panama Canal is a 47-mile long waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The earth and rubble dug to make way for it was enough to bury Manhattan to a depth of four meters. A series of locks allows ships to pass through the water. Each lock door weighs 750 tons and each lock fills with 52 million gallons of water to accommodate the 15,000 ships that use the canal every year.
Grand Canyon Skywalk, Arizona
The Skywalk's foundation is strong enough to support 71 million pounds , Located 1,219 meters above the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon's Sky Walk consists of one million pounds of steel and 83,000 pounds of glass. It was the creation of Las Vegas businessman David Jin, who approached the Hualapai Tribe with the idea of a glass walkway over the Grand Canyon in 1996. The Sky walk was assembled on site. | high11935.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Occasional pains."
},
"options": [
"Occasional pains.",
"Continual work.",
"Constant pains.",
"Various difficulties."
],
"question": "If one person only wants to be good,what will he/she face?",
"question_ty... | There are a great number of people in the world while few people are great.I think there is probably only one great person out of 10,000 at best,and most probably much less than that.
The reason why there are only few of them is that most people do not pay the price of greatness.There are so many people who want to be great,why only very few of them actually pay the price? The answer to the question explains the difference between the almost 100% people who want to be great and the much less than 0.01% who actually be so.The reason is that the road to greatness is full of pains.
Greatness requires sacrifices and there is no sacrifice without pain.The kind of sacrifices required for greatness is the ones that make the process continuously painful for long time.If you only want to be good it may be painful just every now and then,and many people can still handle it.But being great is a total difference.The pain is much deeper and it is continuous,so very few people can endure this kind of pain.Most people naturally choose things that bring pleasures to them.It's unnatural to choose pain over pleasure,let alone doing it continuously for long time.But that's what I believe is the secret to greatness: The secret to greatness is choosing pain over pleasures continuously for long time. | high5803.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "improve communication between scientists at CERN"
},
"options": [
"help people get information easily and quickly",
"support the development of mobile technologies",
"make it easier for British scientists to communicate",
... | Not a day goes by when we don't use the World Wide Web. Today it has become almost as important to every family as food and water! This year, the World Wide Web has turned 25 years old. What many people don't know is that the web was at first created to improve communication between thousands of scientists in Switzerland.
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee was a 34-year-old British physicist working as a software engineer at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. Since CERE was a huge organization with thousands of scientists, communication between them was becoming increasingly difficult.
Berners-Lee wanted to develop a system to solve the problem. His paper suggested an information system, where a page on one computer could have a link to another page on another computer ( connected through the Internet) allowing scientists to read lots of information quickly. However, Berners-Lee's boss said that it sounded exciting but impossible.
Even though there were many difficulties and few supporters, Berners-Lee went on to develop the World Wide Web. He came up with ideas such as Hyper-text Transfer Protocol to allow computers to talk to each other, Hyper-text Markup Language (HTML) to create the pages, a server to serve the pages, and a browser to see them.
In December 1990, the World Wide Web was demonstrated and in 1991, the WWW project was made public, so that other programmers could develop their own browsers. Berners-Lee believed that it could be used for more than scientific purposes. He wanted the Internet to be easy for anyone to use-a free open software. His wishes soon came true.
Although the World Wide Web has today turned into a completely different thing from what it meant at first, it has become necessary and important to our lives, powering our mobile technologies and the way we get information. | high18911.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Shop owners."
},
"options": [
"Teachers.",
"Agents.",
"Shop owners.",
"Lawyers."
],
"question": "Who are probably fans of the Mosquito?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"... | Some businesses and apartment buildings are telling kids to go away. A device called the Mosquitois being used in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New York to keep kids from gathering in big groups and causing trouble.
The Mosquitomakes a noise that only kids can hear. About 3000Mosquitounits have been fixed in the United Kingdom. In the United States, managers of an apartment building in New York City recently fixed one to keep noisy kids from taking over the building's entrance-hall.
A children's rights agency in England wants the device forbidden. The agency says the device unfairly targets teens. Some also worry that the high sounds could hurt young ears. Fans of the Mosquito say it keeps kids out of trouble and off private property.
"Mosquito devices violate the human rights of kids. The use of the devices is targeted at kids because it considers all kids as troublemakers. The devices are also harmful because the noise could hurt kids' hearing. Besides violating our rights, the Mosquitois dangerous. It could hurt the ears and the hearing of teens, babies and animals because they are more sensitive," says California eighth grader Kelly Straky. "It is not right to place the device in a public place. Teenagers have as much right to public places as adults. I listened to theMosquitosound, and it was extremely loud. It hurts not only your ears but also your whole head. It isn't just annoying; it's painful. It should not be allowed."
Fans of the Mosquitobelieve that property owners have a right to decide who can be on their property and who cannot.Mosquitodevices are a method of protecting private property and keeping the peace. Property laws are put into place to protect the public.
"Yes, I do believe that the rights of teens should be valued, but we must always put ourselves in other people's shoes and see the other side. In this case, doing so allows people to understand the negative effects, such as crime, that loitering can have on an area or a community," said Kayla Hill from New York. | high20256.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it's a trend to remake beloved animated films into live action ones"
},
"options": [
"it's a famous Chinese legend.",
"it's a trend to remake beloved animated films into live action ones",
"it earned over $330 million at the ... | Disney has adapted a series of beloved animated films into its live-action movies, and that trend has not even begun to slow.
On Monday, the company announced that the newest movie to get the live-action treatment would be Mulan.
Based on the same Chinese legend as the 1998 animated movie, Mulan will follow in the footsteps of Cinderella, Maleficent, and several already-announced upcoming movies.
Since 2010, Disney has released three live-action adaptations of formerly animated movies: Alice In Wonderland, Maleficent, and Cinderella.
All three have proven to be financial successes, with Alice In Wonderland earning over $1 billion and Maleficent bringing in $758 million.
Even the most recent offering, Cinderella, has managed to earn over $330 million in its first three weeks of wide release.
Fans of live-action remakes will not have to wait for Mulan, since Disney has already planned four other adaptations to hit theatres first.
The Jungle Book is the next movie to get a live-action revival, planned for 2016.
A retelling of Beauty And The Beast - starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, and Audra McDonald - will begin production in May, with an expected release date of March 17, 2017.
Surprisingly, the other Disney cartoon getting an adaptation is 1941's Dumbo, the story of a flying elephant.
Tim Burton signed on to direct that tricky movie on March 10. | high10395.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "they have to stay too close together"
},
"options": [
"they can't move themselves",
"they cannot talk with one another",
"they are afraid of accidents",
"they have to stay too close together"
],
"question": "Pro... | Many of us use them several times a day without really noticing. And yet the way we behave in lifts, or elevators as they are known in the US, reveals a hidden anxiety.
Passengers seem to know instinctively how to arrange themselves in an elevator, like the dots on a die. With each additional passenger, the bodies shift, going into the open spaces.
On your own, you can do whatever you want--it's your own little box. If there are two of you, you take different corners, creating the greatest distance. When a third person enters, you will unconsciously form a triangle. And when there is a square, with someone in every corner, a fifth person is probable going to have to stand in the middle.
Why are we so awkward in lifts?
"You don't have enough space," says Professor Babette Renneberg, a clinical psychologist at the Free University of Berlin. "Usually when we meet other people we have about an arm's length of distance between us. And that's not possible in most elevators, so it's a very unusual setting. It's unnatural."
But perhaps there is more to it than just social awkwardness.
"In the back of our minds we are a little anxious," says Nick White, an officer in New York who was unfortunate enough to be trapped in a lift for 41 hours. "We don't like to be locked into a place. We want to get out of the elevator as soon as possible, you know, it's a frightening place to be."
During his terrible experience, he began to think of another enclosed space--a tomb.
Dr. Lee Gray agrees that a sense of powerlessness is the main cause of lift anxiety.
"You're in a machine that's moving, over which you have no control. You cannot see the elevator engine, you don't know how it's working." he says. | high24030.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To introduce a few Nobel prize winners who did experiments on themselves."
},
"options": [
"To introduce a few Nobel prize winners who did experiments on themselves.",
"To list difficulties that scientists went through in order to ... | Unlike chemists and physicists, who usually do their experiments using machines, biologists and medical researchers have to use living things like rats. But there are three Nobel prize-winning scientists who actually chose to experiment on themselves - all in the name of science, reported The Telegraph.
1. Werner Forssmann (Nobel prize winner in 1956)
Forssmann was a German scientist. He studied how to put a pipe inside the heart to measure the pressure inside and decide whether a patient needs surgery.
Experiments had been done on horses before, so he wanted to try with human patients. But it was not permitted because the experiment was considered too dangerous.
Not giving up, Forssmann decided to experiment on himself. He anaesthetized his own arm and made a cut, putting the pipe 30 centimeters into his vein. He then climbed two floors to the X-ray room before pushing the pipe all the way into his heart.
2. Barry Marshall (Nobel prize winner in 2005)
Most doctors in the mid-20th century believed that _ was down to stress, spicy food or an unusually large amount of stomach acid. But in 1979 an Australian scientist named Robin Warren found that the disease might be related to a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori.
So he teamed up with his colleague, Barry Marshall, to continue the study. When their request to experiment on patients was denied, Marshall bravely drank some of the bacteria. Five days later, he lost his appetite and soon was vomiting each morning - he indeed had gastritis.
3. Ralph Steinman (Nobel prize winner in 2011)
This Canadian scientist discovered a new type of immune system cell called the dendritic cell. He believed that it had the ability to fight against cancer.
Steinman knew he couldn't yet use his method to treat patients. So in 2007, when doctors told him that he had cancer and that it was unlikely for him to live longer than a year, he saw an opportunity.
With the help of his colleagues, he gave himself three different vaccines based on his research and a total of eight experimental therapies. Even though Steinman eventually died from his cancer, he lived four and a half years, much longer than doctors had said he would. | high7972.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They admire each other."
},
"options": [
"They help each other.",
"They attack each other.",
"They admire each other.",
"They don't like each other."
],
"question": "What's the relationship between London and Pa... | Europe is home to a variety of cultural treasures. Lonely Planet, the world's largest travel guide publisher, has offered pairs of cities for culturehungry but timepoor travelers.
London and Paris
It takes you about two hours to travel from London to Paris by Eurostar, a high-speed railway service. The two capital cities have been competing in fashion, art and nightlife for decades-but each secretly looks up to the other.
No one can doubt the grand and impressive beauty of Paris' Louvre Museum, but if you want to save money, you cannot skip the British Museum free to visit. Compared with London, Paris has more outdoor attractions such as the beautiful green walkway La Promenade Plantee.
In Paris, you'll see diners linger over red wine. While in London, you can try some afternoon tea, eat fish and chips or salted cake.
Vienna and Bratislava
Austrian capital Vienna and Slovakia city Bratislava are an hour apart by train. But since they are linked by the Danube River, the best way to travel is by ship. A tour of the two cities is the perfect way to experience everything from 17th century's Habsburg dynasty splendor to scifi restaurants.
Vienna is famous for Mozart and imperial palaces. You can appreciate the perfect blending of architecture and nature in the grand Schonbrunn Palace, and reward yourself with a cup of Vienna coffee, which has made its way to the world's cultural heritage list.
Bratislava is best known for its fine dining-the remarkable UFO restaurant. You can enjoy a meatladen dinner here in an amazing setting. | high9787.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Sitting less does people good and may help people live longer."
},
"options": [
"They should touch their toes.",
"Standing more can cure some diseases.",
"Sitting less does people good and may help people live longer.",
... | If you are sitting, please stand up. Move your legs. Touch your toes if you can. Do anything but sit. New research shows that if you cut down on the time you spend sitting, you might live longer. Sitting less than three hours a day might extend your life by two years. Cutting television time to less than two hours a day can add one point four years to life.
The human body is designed to move. The fact is just the opposite. Modern lifestyles and office jobs rarely give us the chance to move around. We sit while we're eating; we sit in the car; we sit while we are watching TV. And most of us sit for many hours at work. Sitting is something we do all the time. On average, Americans sit for four and a half to five hours a day. But that does not make sitting good for us.
Though you may exercise often, that does not mean you can sit for the rest of your waking hours. We can't throw away physical activity. _ is extremely important. Even if you exercise for 30 minutes a day, what goes on in the other 23 and a half hours a day is also very important.
Changes are coming to some offices, especially in the design of desks. A "standing desk" lets people stand while they work. Another new design is called the "treadmill desk". It is an exercise machine that lets you walk slowly in one place. Even some U.S. schools begin to experiment with desks that are part bicycle to keep children moving.
Many companies may not buy a standing desk for everybody. However, they may get five standing desks or a treadmill desk for their employees and put them in a certain place where people can go for an hour a day to answer their emails or talk on the phone. Experts suggest some other activities: take a walk at lunchtime; walk to the offices and talk directly instead of emailing colleagues. All these activities may help you live longer. | high13844.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "make a sharp contrast"
},
"options": [
"introduce a topic",
"attract readers'attention",
"make a sharp contrast",
"show the beauty of nature"
],
"question": "The writer describes a happy scene at the beginning o... | Golden sunlight danced in the treetops, and children's laughter filled the park. The smell of popcorn played on the breeze, and life seemed good. It was one of the happiest Saturday mornings I had spent with my little daughter, Gigi.
That is, until two strangers threw her into their car and sped away. It seemed like a bad dream. I could barely whisper when the police questioned me. For hours we waited,but there was no word on the whereabouts of the car. Tears would start to come. Then nothing. I was numb with fear.
"Go home, Ma'am," the police officer said. "I'll have someone drive you. We'll also want to monitor your telephone. The kidnappers might call, and we'll want to keep track. Trust me, these guys can't get far. " After what had just happened, it was hard for me to trust anything.
My friend Gloria came over that afternoon. "I heard about Gigi on the radio," she said. "Everyone is looking for the car. The interstates are all blocked." She took my hand.
"Look here," Gloria said. " I want you to have this picture, and I want you to pray with me."
It was a picture of a little girl sound asleep in her bed. Standing by the bed was a tall, blond angel. His hand was touching the girl's shoulder as he smiled down at her.
My nerves were frazzled. "You know I don't believe in that kind of thing!" I snapped. "I'm too exhausted for any hocus-pocus right now, Gloria!I want my daughter home!" I started to shake, and then I began sobbing.
Gloria placed the photo on our mantle and knelt down beside me. "Just pray with me," she said, holding my hand.
I had no strength left, so we prayed and waited what seemed an eternity. Together, we waited by the phone until sunset. The phone never rang.
Suddenly, the front door swung open. I looked up and screamed.
There stood Gigi. "Gigi! Thank God!" I cried, throwing my arms around her, "Where did those men take you? How did you get home? Did the police find you?"
"No Mommy!" said Gigi. "I was really scared because those men said they were taking me far away. We were going really fast on an old rock road never seen before. But then a tall man walked out in front of the car, and they ran off the road and hit a tree."
Then the tall man ran up and opened the car door and pulled me out. He was really nice, and said I would be okay now, and that those men couldn't hurt me. I must have gone to sleep, because then I woke up here in front of our house. He must have brought me home,"
"But who... how did he know... where to bring you?" My voice broke and trailed to a whisper.
"I don't know, Mommy," Gigi said. "But he was really friendly, and I wasn't scared of him at all."
Just then Gigi noticed Gloria's picture on the mantle. "That's him!" She gave a loud cry, pointing at the picture. "Mommy, the tail blond man dressed like an angel. That's the man that pulled me out of the car!"
I felt chill-bumps across my neck and arms. Gloria turned pale. "Are you sure that's the man?" Gloria asked.
"Yeah, that's him. Except he didn't have wings, and he was wearing blue jeans and a tee shirt. But that's him exactly. I'd remember him anywhere!"
Later that night, the police found the injured kidnappers in their damaged car fifty miles from our home. When questioned-the driver remembered making a sharp turn to avoid hitting a tall blond man and the backseat door that Gigi sat by had been completely torn off its hinges.
Twenty years have gone by. We have never heard from anyone claiming to have rescued Gigi and there have been no logical explanations for Gigi's miraculous escape and return home from a wreck so far away.
There have always been things that people can't explain. But, from that day forward, I believe that all experiences, positive and negative, are given to us for our strengthening and learning.
Gigi now takes her little girl to the park on Saturdays. They enjoy the sunlight as it dances in the treetops, the smell of popcorn, and the laughter of children. She keeps Gloria's picture on her mantle, and she remembers her angelic friend. And, like my daughter, I have a faith that has carried me through many trials since that day many years ago. | high8499.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because they are more likely to be under pressure."
},
"options": [
"Because they are more likely to be under pressure.",
"Because they receive more attention from their parents.",
"Because they have less sense of belonging a... | What makes us happy?
For 15-year-old Ellie Wilson from London, going through the turbulent period between childhood and adulthood is "a pain". However, she also enjoys happy times with friends, even though they have a lot of arguments.
"The thing about me and my friends is that one minute we're up and then the next we're down; one minute I want to shout the house down, the next I feel so happy that I just want to hug everyone in the room at once," she said to British paper The Independent.
Wilson's generation have all the latest fashions and electronic equipment. But owning them does not necessarily make them happier. New research shows that it is the simple things in life that please us most.
Close friends, playing sport and a stable home life are more important to a teenager's happiness than the wealth of their parents, according to a study published this month by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex in Britain.
Researcher Gundi Knies found families' incomes didn't necessarily play a part in happiness. But happy children tend to have their own bedroom, a bike or other leisure equipment.
Children who have friends over for tea once a fortnight and those who go swimming once a month were also happier with their lives than those who do not.
A sense of belonging clearly had an influence on how satisfied people were. Children with lots of friends reported higher levels of happiness than those without.
Children who live with both their parents were happier than those living in single families and step family relationships.
Diet plays an important role too. Children who have fewer than five portions of fruit and vegetables a day or who eat fast food most days tend to be less happy.
The study also finds that girls make up both the happiest and least happy groups of children.
"Older girls are unhappier because they are going through puberty and their parents become more protective. Girls also become very conscious of the way they look and the way they are treated," Knies told UK newspaper The Observer. "In general boys don't face the same pressures." | high22441.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They had a habit of alcohol drinking."
},
"options": [
"Their ancestors came to America to sell alcohol.",
"They founded the breweries in European countries.",
"They had a habit of alcohol drinking.",
"They were the maj... | The Puritans get a bad reputation in America--especially when it comes to alcohol.
Mayflower, the first ship that came over from England to Massachusetts Bay, actually carried more beer than water.In fact the Founding Fathers of America liked a drink--Samuel Adams was a partner in his father's brewery, and Thomas Jefferson was famous for importing European wines.
Early Americans took a healthful small drink for breakfast, whiskey was a typical lunchtime drink, ale accompanied supper and the day ended with another drink called nightcap.Most Americans in 1790 consumed an average of 5.8 gallons of pure alcohol a year.In 1830, consumption reached 7.1 gallons a year and alcoholism was starting to have a serious influence on communities.Women and children might be in physical danger if the man of the house began drinking.If he became ill or lost his job through drinking, there was no social safety net to support or protect his family.Eventually, alcoholism was being treated as a disease.
By the late 19th Century, support for Prohibition, banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol, was powerful.The first arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol was in 1897.On 16 January 1919, Prohibition was set into law.However, by the 1930s when American economy was experiencing a hard time it was widely believed that making alcohol legal again would provide badly-needed jobs and taxes.So in February of 1933, Prohibition was endeD. Still, Prohibition had a great influence on alcohol drinking in this country.In 1955, Americans drank an average of 2.3 gallons of pure alcohol a year.The Prohibition movement was still quite strong after Prohibition ended and it led to a lot of local prohibition on alcohol.
The American presidency has done a lot to rehabilitate alcohol and make it respectable again.Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama can all be seen on film drinking socially and making official toasts with international celebrities. | high12582.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "bring about a drop in the divorce rate"
},
"options": [
"tear many troubled families apart",
"contribute to enduring and strong family ties",
"bring about a drop in the divorce rate",
"cause a lot of conflicts in the fa... | In times of economic crisis, Americans turn to their families for support. If the Great Depression is any guide, we may see a drop in our sky-high divorce rate. But this won't necessarily represent an increase in happy marriages. In the long run, the Depression weakened American families, and the current crisis will probably do the same.
We tend to think of the Depression as a time when families pulled together to survive huge job losses. By 1932, when nearly one-quarter of the work force was unemployed, it had declined by around 25 percent from 1929. But this does not mean that people were suddenly happier with their marriages. Rather, with incomes plummeting and insecure jobs, unhappy couples often couldn't afford to divorce. They feared that neither would be able to manage alone.
Today, given the job losses of the past year, fewer unhappy couples will risk starting separate households. Furthermore, the housing market meltdown will make it more difficult for them to finance their separations by selling their homes.
After financial disasters family members also tend to do whatever they can to help each other and their communities. A 1940 book, "The Unemployed Man and His Family," described a family in which the husband first reacted to losing his job "with tireless search for work." He was always active, looking for odd jobs to do.
The problem is that such an impulse is hard to sustain (continue). For some, the hardships of life without steady work eventually defeated their attempts to keep their families together. The rate rose again during the rest of the decade as the recovery took hold.
Millions of American families may now be in the initial (earliest) stage of their responses to the current crisis, working together and supporting one another through the early months of unemployment.
Today's economic depression could well generate a similar backlog of couples whose relationships have been irreparably ruined. So it is only when the economy is healthy again that we will begin to see just how many fractured families have been created. | high23987.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the idea that cold leads to colds doesn't stand up"
},
"options": [
"colds are really full of myths",
"viruses are the factors causing colds",
"colds are more severe than other illnesses",
"the idea that cold leads to c... | The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is probably why there are more myths(,) about it than any of the other illnesses.
The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold.They are not.They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person.You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one.If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever.But they do not.And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time.After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be doused with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty rooms.Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion.Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? In spite of the most painstaking research, no one has yet found the answer.One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold.There are drugs and pain suppressors such as aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms. | high21160.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Dehydration"
},
"options": [
"Snow",
"Dehydration",
"Fire",
"Crashes"
],
"question": "What is the leading reason for injuries at theme parks?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | We all know that theme parks are places to have fun and amuse ourselves, but among so many exciting rides there are also some dangers, Make sure you know what the safety standards are for all the attractions at the park. If you do that , you will be safe and have fun.
Drink water. Believe it or not , dehydration-- when your body doesn't have enough water--is the commonest cause of injuries at theme parks. Drinking water while you are at the park is not enough.You must make sure that you drink enough water before your visit.
Use your "common sense". There are lots of people around , so make sure where your friends or family are .Also ,if you are walking and want to stop , make sure nobody is walking behind you. First step aside,then look behind and if you aren't in anybody's way,then stop.It might sound exaggerated ,but crashes between people can cause accidents.
Follow the instructions. The majority of theme parks have instructions for each ride. Some rides only allow people of a certain height. So make sure you are not too tall or too short before boarding any ride. Also, people with certain diseases or conditions are advised not to go on some rides. Do remember : If you are told not to go on a ride, then DON'T.
Do not ride with a bad atomach or if you've just eaten. Rides can make you ill because of their violent changes of direction and your lunch may end up on someone else's head: surely not a very pleasant experience.
Have fun, relax, and be a little brave!
Some rides might look scary but theme parks are very safe places. | high5195.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Movie theatres' ban on outside food"
},
"options": [
"The pleasure of enjoying snacks.",
"A Michigan man's fight for his right",
"Movie theatres' ban on outside food",
"Bad manners in movie theatres."
],
"questi... | You and your friends are settling into your seats. The new Spider- Man movie is about to start and you've got the snacks: soda and popcorn. Food is part of what makes the movie fun.
Just as the lights go out, you catch a slight smell of ...tuna fish?! You turn your head, searching for the source. Then you spot him: A couple rows back, some guy is enjoying a tuna fish sandwich. How's he get that in here? You wonder. Then you remember how much you paid for your snacks.
What invites the unwelcome outside food is probably the price. Why pay $5 for a bag of M&Ms when you can get them for a dollar at the corner store?
Earlier this year, a Michigan man decided to fight for his right to snack. Joshua Thompson is suing his local theatre after it banned outside food. He argues the ban breaks a Michigan law that prevents business from charging extremely high prices. However, most legal experts believe Thompson has little chance of winning his case though he does have a point: 85 percents out of every dollar of treats a movie theatre sells is pure profit .
The truth is that movie theatres are more in the snack business than the movie business. A huge part of the ticket income goes to the Hollywood studio. This makes sense, since the studio have to pay the costs of movie production and advertising. But that often doesn't leave much cash for the theater, which also has its own running costs. If customers stopped buying food, owners would have to raise ticket prices even higher.
Of course, there's another reason to think twice before bringing food into the movies: It's against the rules. Breaking those rules can be unpleasant consequences, too. Some theatres will kick you out if they catch you. Even without the threat of punishment, we should follow rules all the time-----out of respect.
Here's a good idea: Eat before the movie. | high16914.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A dog greets a maid merrily and follows her into a house."
},
"options": [
"A little dog coming close to the bus when it stops.",
"Two maids get off the moment the bus stops.",
"A dog waiting for someone.",
"A dog greet... | Every weekday morning I take the 8:30 bus to go to my job. I know by sight several people who also ride in that bus. Some of the girls work as maids. They get off at each stop in ones, twos or threes.
But at one corner something wonderful happens. Before the bus stops, a little dog races out of the nearest house. He doesn't look at two of the maids who get off. But for the third he has a joyful "Hello!" From head to tail his little body wags his happiness. Everyone on the bus watches until the maid and the dog go into the house.
One day not long ago the maid wasn't on the bus. I wondered if the dog would be waiting for her. Sure enough, he was!
He stood at the back door of the bus for a minute. I could see his joyful welcome turning into fearful worry. Where was she?
The driver closed the back door. The dog ran to the front door. It, too, shut in his face.
Everyone on the bus felt sad. Poor little pup! He looked so unhappy, standing there!
The driver couldn't stand it. He opened the door and looked down at the dog. "She didn't come today," he said, in a loud, kind voice.
A man in a front seat leaned forward. "Maybe she will come tomorrow," he called.
The dog wagged his tail as if to say "thank you." He watched the bus as we pulled away. Then he turned to trot home -- alone.
The next day everyone on the bus was happy to see the maid back again. Yes, the dog was waiting for her.
The welcome he gave her was even warmer and more delighted than usual. We all smiled at one another. How bright and good the morning suddenly seemed to us! | high24018.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "fight for a chance to attend the 2012 London Paralympic Games"
},
"options": [
"gain some experience for the 2012 London Paralympic Games",
"get better training for the 2012 London Paralympic Games",
"fight for a chance to at... | The 2012 Olympic Games are coming! More than two hundred disabled bikers from thirty-three countries have been competing in Los Angeles, California. They are seeking a chance to compete at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. The games are to open in August after the end of the London Olympics. Here, let's know something about three excellent disabled bikers who will be seen at the 2012 Paralympic Games.
American cyclist Jennifer Schuble got hurt in her brain when she was a college student and lost some of the feeling in her feet. Her arm was later damaged in a car accident and she has muscle sclerosis . But she says cycling let her return to competitive sports, "Doing physical exercise has always been part of my daily life, and every day I play soccer run to keep fit. With cycling, I'm able to strengthen my legs." She won the gold medal in the five-hundred-meter event at the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008. Like most of the riders, she has moved beyond her disabilities, dealing with daily life just like everyone else.
American Sam Kavanagh lost his leg in a skiing accident seven years ago. After recovering, he returned to cycling which he had enjoyed in college. He says the American team will have a hard time during the competition, " Great Britain has top athletes in paracycling events. The Americans alwayse come flying. They're very strong. But I have confidence in our team."
British Paralympic champion Sarah Storey was born without a working left hand. She has won gold medals in both cyvling and swimming. She competed in her first games in 1992. She also competed in the Commonwealth Games in 2010 against non-disabled athletes. Sarah Storey says getting ready for the Paralympic Games needs continuous training. She will keep training even after the games. | high23777.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "how popularity takes place"
},
"options": [
"how diseases spread",
"how ideas are formed",
"how popularity takes place",
"what diseases and ideas have in common"
],
"question": "The writer's main purpose is to t... | It seems like every year brings a new outbreak of sickness.Recent research tells us how diseases spread, from person to person.And it also gives us an idea how we can spread something better than diseases.
An author called Malcom Gladwell recently published a book explaining how the process works.We usually think of an epidemic as a force of nature that rolls over anyone in its way.In fact, it starts with a single person or very few people.These people travel around and infect small groups in different places.When enough of these groups are infected, then the disease suddenly seems to be everywhere.Gladwell also found that the process of infection was not just limited to disease? It also affects the world of ideas.
The process can be seen in books and fashion.So called _ are not pushed towards the public.They spread through hundreds of small reading groups until the day when everybody you know seems to have a copy.A group of young people may decide to wear an item of clothing simply because no one else is wearing it.Designers who monitor street fashion then pick up the idea and spread it.Finally everyone is wearing it.
New York is often described as an unfriendly place.People are too busy looking after business to look after each other.In the early 1990s, one unknown person decided to perform at least one kind act a day.This caught on with his or her friends.The newspapers noticed the trend .New York became full of people smiling and carrying each other's bags.
The success of trends like this fits in with other social phenomena .One is the 80/20 rule.This was invented by economists who noticed that in any situation 20 percent of the people did 80 percent of the work.Another is the "bystander problem".Psychologists noticed that in accidents where a large number of people were around, no one stepped forward to help.Each person supposed that someone else would do something.When there were less people present, more of them decided to offer help.
What all this proves is the power of individuals and small groups.The "epidemic model" could be a great way of making a business grow or spreading an idea.A small start can make a big difference. | high22469.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Enthusiasm can make you succeed and enjoy life."
},
"options": [
"Enthusiasm is more important than experience.",
"Enthusiasm can give people more success and fame",
"Enthusiastic people will never get old",
"Enthusiasm... | Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers advised, "Barbara, be enthusiastic ! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience." How right they were!
"Nothing great was ever done without enthusiasm," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste that helps you hang in there when the things get tough. It is the inner voice that tells you, "I can do it!" when others shout, "No, you can't!" It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn't stop working on her experiments.
We are all born with wide-eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is the childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such youthful air, whatever their age. At 90, cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing the cello . As the music flowed through his fingers, his shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As writer and poet Samuel Ullman once worte, "Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."
Enthusiastic people also love what they do, not considering money or title or power. Patricia Mellratl, a retired director of the Missouri Rpertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, "My father, long ago, told me, 'I never made any money until I stopped working for it.'"
We can't afford to waste tears on "might-have-been". We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after "what-can-be". We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses finding pleasure in the sweet of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow. | high7782.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "within an inch of life"
},
"options": [
"within an inch of life",
"on the way to success",
"left aside by her family",
"in a good state"
],
"question": "According to Fox News, Bobbi Kristina is _ .",
"que... | Bobbi Kristina Brown's family has been gathered around her since she was hospitalized on Saturday after being found unconscious in the bathtub of her suburban Atlanta townhome.
Whitney Houston's only child is now at Emory University Hospital and is still fighting for her life, as a family statement said on Monday.
Nothing has changed, despite reports that are popping up and painting a more serious picture.
Fox News reported Wednesday that the situation is horrific. "It's now a matter of when the family wants to let go and accept that she's pretty much not going to make it," a source told FOX411. "They've left it up to the family as to how long they want to keep her alive."
People Magazine is also reporting that a doctor told Brown's family on Wednesday that nothing more could be done. "Everyone is coming to the hospital to say goodbye," said a family member.
And the Daily Mail says Brown has been taken off life support.
But Bobby Brown issued a statement late Thursday denying these reports.
"If we issued a statement every time the media published a false report regarding this matter, that's all we would be doing 24 hours a day. This is false, just as is the vast majority of the other reporting that is currently taking place," he said, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
A source close to the family tells USA TODAY that it's wrong to say the family is gathering to say goodbye, because the family has been there since the beginning, so nothing is any different today for them.
Also, Brown is "not brain dead," as has been reported.
And, as for other stories saying that the Houston family is feuding with Bobbi Kristina's dad, Bobby Brown? Those aren't true either. They "are NOT fighting," says our source. | high9977.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "a biography book"
},
"options": [
"a story book",
"a biography book",
"a science book",
"an advertisement"
],
"question": "This passage is mostly probably taken from _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_question... | Donald John Trump(born June 14, 1946), is an American businessman and politician who became the President-elect of the United Stateson November 8, 2016. Since 1971 he has chairedThe Trump Organization, the principalholding companyfor his real estate ventures and other business interests. Duringhis business career, Trump has built office towers, hotels, casinos, golf courses, andother branded facilitiesworldwide.
Trump was born and raised in New York City and received abachelor's degreein economics from theWharton Schoolof the University of Pennsylvaniain 1968. In 1971, he was given control of his fatherFred Trump's real estate and construction firm. Trump has appeared at theMiss USApageants, which he owned from 1996 to 2015, and has madecameo appearancesin films and television series.
Trump and his businesses, as well as his three marriages, have received prominent media exposure. He hosted a popularNBCreality show, The Apprentice, from 2004 to 2015. As of 2016, he was listed byForbesas the 324th wealthiest person in the world, and 156th in the United States, with a net worth of $3.7 billion in October 2016.
Trump first campaigned for the U.S. presidency in2000, winning twoReform Partyprimaries. On June 16, 2015, Trump again announced his candidacy for president, this time as a Republican. Trump became known for his opposition toillegal immigrationandfree trade agreements, as well as his frequently non-interventionistviews on foreign policy, and quickly emerged as the Republican nomination front-runner.As of March 23, 2016, Trump has won 21 contests in the2016 Republican presidential primaries.
He was elected as the 45th U.S. presidentin the2016 electionon theRepublicanticket, defeatingDemocraticnomineeHillary Clinton, andis scheduled to take officeon January 20, 2017. At 70 years old, he will be theoldest person to ever assume the presidency. | high14865.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "He graduated from United States Military Academy at West Point in 1831."
},
"options": [
"He had his own interesting personal history as other famous writers.",
"He graduated from United States Military Academy at West Point in 183... | Throughout the centuries, various writers have contributed greatly to the literary treasure trove of books lining the shelves of today's libraries. In addition to writing interesting material, many famous writers, such as Edgar Allan Poe, were larger-than-life characters with personal histories that are as interesting to read as the stories they wrote. Poe's rocky life included being driven off from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1831 and an ongoing battle with alcohol. Yet, despite heavy gambling debts, poor health, and terrible unemployment, Poe managed to produce a body of popular works, including "The Raven" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."
Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, once lived among the man-eaters in the Marquesas Islands and wrote unusual tales inspired by his years of service in the U.S. Navy. Dublin-born Oscar Wilde was noted for his charismatic personality, his outrageous lifestyle, and creating witty catchphrases such as, "Nothing succeeds like excess." D.H. Lawrence wrote shameful novels that were often cut, and Anne Rice led a double life writing bestselling horrible novels under her real name and using "A.N. Roquelaure" for the lowbrow unhealthy novels she penned on the side.
Nonconformist author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau once fled to the woods and generated enough interesting material to fill his noted book Walden. Thoreau wrote on the issue of passive resistance protest in his essay "Civil Disobedience" and served time in jail for refusing tax payments in protest of the United States government's policy towards slavery. American short story writer O. Henry's color1ful life was ruined by tragic events, such as being accused and sentenced for stealing money from an Austin, Texas bank. Despite his success selling his short stories, O. Henry struggled financially and was nearly bankrupt when he died.
As diverse as these famous authors' backgrounds were, they all led unconventional lives while writing great literary works that will endure throughout the ages. The next time you read an interesting book, consider learning more about the author by reading his or her biography so you can learn about the unique life experiences that shaped his or her writing. | high23011.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The public would feel proud of him/ her and thus showed love and respect for him/ her"
},
"options": [
"He/ she would be condemned by the public.",
"He/ she would be awarded by the government.",
"He/ she would have to worry a... | Chinese media and Internet users on Monday condemned lack of morals in society after a toddler was struck twice -by two different vans-and left bleeding on the road as more than a dozen bystanders did nothing to help the seriously injured girl.
The incident, captured by a surveillance camera and broadcast by Southern Television Guangdong (TVS),showed the two-year-old girl was knocked down and run over by a white van on a narrow market street on the afternoon of Oct.13,in Foshan City of Guangdong Province.
The driver fled the scene of the accident,leaving the girl to bleed on the sidewalk.Over the next six minutes,more than a dozen people walked by the girl,yet not one individual did anything to help her.The girl was then hit a second time by another van before an elderly trash collector came to her aid and brought the attention of the girl's mother,according to the video and eyewitnesses.
Doctors said that the girl,who was put on life support after being hospitalized,remains in a deep coma.The girl's parents,who are migrants living in the city,are now with her.
Police said the drivers of both vehicles have been arrested.However,the apathy of the bystanders shown in the video has shocked the public,as Internet forums have seethed with anger, and people are questioning the morality of society.
High moral standards were once triumphed as national pride in China where individuals known for selflessly helping others were adored by the public.
But in recent years,the perception of a decline of morals has become a hot topic as profit and materialism are perceived to be affecting society's values.
On Sept.2 an 88-year-old man in central China collapsed,his face striking the pavement.Yet,no one came to his aid,and he ended up choking to death on the blood from his nose.
Some have linked the absence of good Samaritans to a previous case in which a man trying to help an elderly woman who fell was accused of harming her.
A strong chorus of opinion on the Internet says laws should exempt Samaritans from liability ,yet laws themselves cannot solve society's morality dilemma.
Cao Lin,a China Youth Daily commentator,said in a signed article published on Monday that the worry of liability should not be an excuse for not helping,and this case exposes the decline of humanity in Chinese society. | high101.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the dose of propofol wouldn't cause the singer to die."
},
"options": [
"he was the main cause of Michael Jackson's death.",
"the judge was unfair for him.",
"the dose of propofol wouldn't cause the singer to die.",
"hi... | Michael Jackson's personal doctor was found guilty on Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter in the pop star's drug-related death in 2009 - but may not spend much time in jail.
Dr. Conrad Murray, 58, was led away in handcuffs after the jury in Los Angeles convicted him guilty. Dozens of fans outside the court erupted in cheers and some burst into tears.
"Justice was served. Michael is with us," said Jackson's brother Jermaine.
Murray faces up to four years behind bars when he was sentenced on November 29 but may spend only months in LA's overcrowded prisons.
Murray did not admit guilty for giving the "Thriller" singer a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol - normally used in surgery that ruled the main cause of his death at the age of 50..
The judge ordered Murray, who had been free on bail for two years, held in prison until his sentencing. The doctor did not speak at the six-week trial.
Jackson's mother Katherine and sister Rebbie cried silently at the result. Other family members in court included his siblings La Toya and Randy, along with his father Joe.
I am," Katherine Jackson said when reporters asked if she was pleased.
Murray admitted giving Jackson a small dose of propofol to help him sleep. but his lawyers argued the singer was dependent on the drug and likely gave himself an extra fatal dose and swallowed a handful of sedatives without Murray's knowing.
Prosecutors said Murray was to blame for administering the drug in a home setting, failing to monitor Jackson, delaying a call to emergency services and failing to tell medical personnel he gave the singer propofol.
Judge Michael Pastor said Murray was "now a convicted person who has been considered the causative factor in Michael Jackson's death."
Pastor said the doctor should be imprisoned before being sentenced to protect public safety. | high18087.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "what attitude you take towards life"
},
"options": [
"the ups and downs you've experienced",
"what attitude you take towards life",
"how simple a life you manage to live",
"the kind of environment you stay in"
],
... | Just be happy. Sounds too simplistic, doesn't it? But, in reality, we can have much more happiness if we choose to consider things from a positive point of view. Everyone experiences the ups and downs of life, however, we can make a decision to take advantage of the negative or practice what the old saying says to do:" _ !"
It really boils down to your attitude and you have the ability to work your attitude into any shape you like. Here are some tips:
*Ignore those who tell you life is too difficult to be happy. what do they know?
*When you awaken each morning, be thankful for another day, even if it's raining.
*Smile at those you meet, even if they don't return the favor.
*Don't borrow trouble. Each day has enough of its own.
*Don't allow trouble to bury you in its gray depth of sorrow.
*Don't give in to negative thinking.
*Be positive even when others are not.
*Refuse to give up on anything worth having or doing.
*Do something you enjoy each day, even if it's just a walk in your neighborhood.
* Whistle as you go though the day.
*Work at being happy because it's worth it.
You're human, like everyone else, and from time to time you need a little pick-me-up in your decision to be happy. When you reach that stage, find someone else who has decided to be happy. Join forces with him and march forward in your decision to be a happy person. Simply speaking, a happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
Choose today to just be happy----as much as it depends on you! | high20518.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It s women's job."
},
"options": [
"It's a mysterious job.",
"It's a little difficult.",
"It s women's job.",
"It s only man's job."
],
"question": "What is the housework like in the traditonal husbands' eyes?",... | The relations between man and wife are changing. A majority of working women remain in full charge of their home; they come back at night to the cleaning, washing, and cooking that constitute their second career. But more and more husbands are sharing the burden and willingly taking on chores that their fathers would have
rejected as unmanly, and as too mysteriously difficult anyway. In such cases, man and wife become equal partners, both working outside, both pushing the vacuum cleaner, actually, the number of husbands who do help that way is much smaller than the number of those who accept the idea in theory. _ . The marriage can be destroyed when the wife is more
successful in her profession than her husband in his, particularly when she earns more than he does. Sociologists see in this situation one of the main reasons for the increase in the divorce rate-another reason being the husband's refusal to help with the housework or the care of the children. A third reason could be the growing
awareness of the professional woman that she doesn't hare to remain married if she is too unhappy. | high21606.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They consider it is quite good for Li Jing if it doesn't affect her studies."
},
"options": [
"They think to a student journalist is purely a waste of time.",
"They worry that to be a student journalist will affect her studies",
... | While many teenagers may dream of meeting with pop star Jay Chou or NBA hero Yao Ming, Li Jing had a far more powerful person on her mind. The Senior 2 from Beijing No. 35 High School dreamt of meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
After more than a year of hard work and with a little good luck, Li fulfilled her dream. On October 11, 2004, the 16-year-old girl joined a team of Chinese Journalists who went to the Kremlin , Moscow, to interview Putin.
Li felt nervous before talking with Putin."But his greeting and warm smile put me at ease," she said.
Li admires Putin very much, because of his strong will and style of leadership. "He looks very cool," Li said. During her interview, Li asked Putin whether he plans to educate his two teenage daughters to be officials in the future. Putin smiled and answered he hopes they can do whatever job suits their interests and personalities.
Although Li would only have several minutes, she started working on her interview questions last August after applying for the opportunity. "Journalists" work is by no means easy. You need to do lots of homework on your _ ,"she said. She read many books about Putin and Russia in her spare time.
Li's parents encouraged her to be a student journalist. "We fully support her, as long as it does not affect studies,"said her father. Previous in her job for a student magazine, Chinese Young Journalists, she wrote a letter to President Hu Jintao during the SARS epidemic .
Li has learnt a lot from her experience. She said learning to manage her time and develop the confidence to speak with important people were not things she could learn in class. | high3282.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Pasteur's wife was of some help to him in his work.."
},
"options": [
"Pasteur was a scientist and doctor as well.",
"Pasteur lived for less than seventy years.",
"Everybody knows that Pasteur succeeded in finding a way of pr... | Louis Pasteur, one of the world's great scientists, was born in 1822, and died in 1895.While still a young boy, Louis Pasteur made his decision to become a scientist. He spent much of his life time studying the diseases of cattle, chickens and other tame animals. His wife learned to help him with his work. Almost everyone knows that Pasteur is the man responsible for finding a way of preventing milk from spoiling . Not many people know he was the first to imagine and to prove that air we breathe is full of germs . One of his greatest successes was finding a treatment for people and animals to prevent a disease called rabies . Louis Pasteur won many honors and could have got large amount of money. But Pasteur preferred to live simply. The real happiness of this unusual man came from his work. Louis Pasteur did so well in his life that the French government took up his work and created the Institute Pasteur in the year 1888. | high2188.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "when she is alone"
},
"options": [
"because she can't afford so much water",
"because her husband doesn't like that",
"when she is with her friends",
"when she is alone"
],
"question": "CherBearCM doesn't flush ... | I have to admit: I don't flush the toilet every time I go to the bathroom. In fact, I firmly believe "If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."
I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that I work at home. Alone (well, except for the cats and dog). All day. And I drink a lot of water, which makes for many trips to the bathroom.
Another thing I have to admit: I also try to use very little toilet paper. I wash my hands after, though. Every time. (So maybe the water I don't use flushing makes up for the water used to wash my hands?)
Ironically, my husband, who only uses toilet paper when necessary, always flushes. But he doesn't seem to mind that I don't flush every time. Or, at least not enough to file for divorce. Yet.
Posted by Juliet Farmer
Jun 14, 2010 at 10:21 PM
_
When I'm at home alone I do not flush every time I pee . My husband hates that, though, so when he's home, I flush a little more often. I grew up doing that because I had a family that lived with huge tanks and you have to do it that way because it's easier on the system, so it doesn't bother me. I do flush when I'm out in public, at people's houses that don't have big tanks and when we have company!
CherBearCM, Jun 15, 2010 at 4:21 PM
Not always. But I have 4 children who are always hanging from the door knob while I pee anyway. So I'm lucky I have time to wash my hands after. The average toilet uses 8 gallons of water per flush! Much less than what it takes to wash my hands after. (just saying)
luvbnmomnwife, Jun 15, 2010 at 4:32 PM | high11909.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "her achievements as a woman pilot"
},
"options": [
"her sad and unhappy childhood",
"her efforts to reunite her parents",
"her devotion to her work of nursing",
"her achievements as a woman pilot"
],
"question":... | Amelia Earharl was born on July 24,1897 in Atchison, Kansas at her grandparent's house. Soon after her birth, Amelia's parents separated. The girl lived with her grandparents until she was 10. In 1917, Amelia entered a nursing school and witnessed the horrors of war. She served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse at a military hospital until Novermber,1981,. She later said,"There for the first time I realized what the World War meant... I saw only men without arms or legs...".
In 1920, Amelia's parents had reunited in California. Amelia decided to leave Columbia and join them. Amelia's love for flying was born when her father took her to an aerial show, in which she got to ride in a flight over Los Angeles.
Amelia started taking flight lessons with Anita Snook at Kinner Field near Long Beach, California. Amelia _ quickly and soon became an excellent pilot. In July of 1920, she purchased her first plane. She named it "The Canary". In October of 1922, just a few years after taking up flying, Amelia began attempting to break records. She first broke the height record of 14,000 feet.
In 1925, Amelia took a position at Dension House in Boston as a social worker. While there, Amelia got a call that would change her life forever. On April 27th, 1926, Captain Hill Railey called Amelia to take part in a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. She would only be a passenger. Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gorden flew the plane, but Amelia became the first woman to make the trip across the Atlantic. Amelia didn't think she deserved the attention she received but was more determined than ever to make the trip herself. While in London, and back in the United States, Amelia toured the country, giving lectures and speeches. | high21612.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Smog is worse for people with lower resistance to diseases."
},
"options": [
"People are clear about the causes of the smoggy weather.",
"Children staying indoors will not get respiratory illnesses.",
"Smog is worse for peopl... | The fourth round of heavy smog to hit Beijing in four weeks has sent more people to the hospital with respiratory illnesses and led to calls for laws to control the pollution.
Pan Shiyi, a celebrity real estate developer said he is planning to propose a Clean Air Act to the local government. As a representative to the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, he started an online survey at 9:20 a.m. Within three hours, more than 25,000 web users, or 99 percent of total respondents , welcomed his proposal on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter.
They have good reasons to stand alongside Pan. The latest round of haze reduced visibility to under 500 meters in many parts of the city. The smog has also led to a great increase in respiratory illnesses, particularly among children and the elderly. Anxious parents and doctors almost all blame the smoggy air for the illnesses. Though most schoolchildren are home for the winter holidays, the bad air can easily move indoors. Besides, ordinary medical masks fail to provide adequate protection, so some people have turned to gas masks and respirators .
The causes of the scary smog are rather mysterious, though experts blame excessive emissions and the mountains around Beijing that trap pollution in winter, unless there is adequate wind to clear it away. Some critics have pointed fingers at China's top two oil firms, China National Petroleum Corp and China Petrochemical Corporation, saying the companies' outdated production technologies produce large quantities of substandard, high-polluting gas fuel.
Meanwhile, concerned Beijingers have moved their brainstorming sessions to cyberspace. If Pan's proposal for a Clean Air Act is adopted, netizens say the new law should include items providing for "car-free days" in times of smog, higher standards for vehicle fuel, stricter restrictions on industrial and exhaust gas emissions, and more effective protection for the public.
Beijing is not the only city that has ever lost the blue sky. Five days of thick fog caused thousands of deaths in Britain in December 1952, urging the government to pass the first Clean Air Act in 1956, which introduced smokeless zones and cleaner fuels to reduce pollution. That may provide some experience for Beijing to refer to. | high3296.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "sad"
},
"options": [
"relaxed",
"sad",
"proud",
"calm"
],
"question": "How did Edison's mother probably feel when reading the letter?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | One day Thomas Alva Edison was given a letter by his teacher. His teacher asked him to give it to his mother. Edison thought it was something nice. After he returned home, he proudly gave it to his mother, saying "My teacher let me give this letter to you."
Not knowing what it was, Edison's mother opened it, and then her eyes opened wide. With tears in her eyes, she looked at her son and read out the letter aloud, "Your child is a genius. This school is too small for him and doesn't have enough good teachers to train him. Please teach him yourself."
The fact was that Edison liked asking strange questions in class. His teachers thought he was mentally ill. They could no longer stand him and decided to stop him from going to school. However, Edison's mother didn't give up on her son. She taught him at home.
Many years after Edison's mother died and he was already one of the greatest inventors, one day he was looking through the old family things. Suddenly he saw a piece of folded paper in the corner of a drawer. He took it and opened it up. It read, "Your son is addled (mentally ill). We won't let him come to school any more."
Edison cried for hours and then he wrote in his diary, "Thomas Alva Edison was an addled child, but, by his hero mother, he becomes the genius of the century."
Having faith in those we love is very important. We should have faith in those around us. Even if others have given upon you, you should have faith in yourself. | high14871.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Apples."
},
"options": [
"Butter.",
"Chocolates.",
"Hamburgers.",
"Apples."
],
"question": "Which of the following should be kept in your fridge if you want to lose weight according to the passage",
"questi... | Figuring out how to lose weight is a challenge for many of us, particularly considering that the quickest path to weight loss is different for everyone. Of course the common methods are always proper diet and exercise, which not only work in weight loss but also keep a body healthy. Of course you've heard this before -- the challenge is to follow through. Others have lost weight by following these simple guidelines, and so can you.
Set small, practical goals. If you have a lot of weight to lose, try for 5 pounds, relax a bit and then go for 5 more.
Start a regular exercise program and _ . Don't be afraid of those sweat suits and pants!
Do extra exercise in addition to your regular program. Park at the far end of the parking lot and walk; take the stairs instead of the lift.
Healthy foods are an important ingredient in losing weight. Eat low-fat, high-fiber foods such as salads and vegetable pastas. Choose foods that you like. Learn to prepare healthful, low-calorie foods that taste good by checking healthy cook books for new recipes. Eating well doesn't have to mean eating dull.
Eat smaller more frequent meals. This way your body starts to increase its metabolism so that calories are burned faster. Also mini-meals can prevent overeating.
Plan ahead and keep a food diary. Keep the fridge stocked with healthy foods such as vegetables and fruit and you'll be less likely to run out for high-calorie, high- -fat junk food. This will help you know where you can improve your diet. | high23005.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Parents pass away before children grow up."
},
"options": [
"Parents bring up children.",
"Parents give love and care to children.",
"Parents educate children to be good persons.",
"Parents pass away before children gro... | People in the United States honor their parents with two special days:Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June. These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care. These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother's Day people wear carnations. A red one symbolizes a living mother. A white one shows that the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honor parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit the cemetery .On these days families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father's Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is "the thought that counts". Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies, and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays. | high673.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The Moon and the Tide"
},
"options": [
"The Moon and Ocean",
"The Moon and the Tide",
"Water Levels",
"The Pull of the Moon and the Sun"
],
"question": "Which of the following may be the best title for the passa... | The water level of oceans rises and falls alternately twice a day. This movement of water is called the tide. Tides are causer by the pull of the sun and the moon on the earth' s surface; since the moon is closer, it affects the tides more than the sun. When the moon is directly overhead, it actually pulls on the water that is below it. This causes the water level to rise because the water is pulled away from the earth. As the moon disappears over the horizon, the pull lessens and the water level settles back towards the ocean bottom. When the water reaches its highest level, we have high tide. And when the water comes to its lowest level, we have low tide from its lowest point, the water rises gradually for about six hours until it reaches high tide. Then it begins to fall continuously for about six hours until it reaches low tide. Then the cycle begins again. | high23763.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To spend a special vacation."
},
"options": [
"To meet Robinson Crusoe.",
"To spear the shark for food.",
"To spend a special vacation.",
"To swim in the North Pacific Ocean."
],
"question": "Why did the Flakes ... | What's life like on a deserted island? Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona decided to find out.
The adventurous senator took a vacation from Capitol Hill and went on a fourday Robinson Crusoe style holiday with his two teenage sons to a remote, deserted island in the North Pacific Ocean.
The senator and his sons, 15yearold Tanner and 13yearold Dallin, traveled 5,200 miles from Phoenix, Arizona to the island of Biggarenn. They didn't carry any food or water.
The island is part of the Marshall Islands. It offered no basic supplies, so the Flakes had to catch and cook their own food and purify their water. Their diet was made up of coconuts, crabs and fish. They caught the crab and fish themselves and cooked the food over an open fire started with a magnifying glass .
The Flakes brought along a lobster trap in the hope of having some delicious treats, but lost it within the first few hours after it was attacked by a shark. They also carried two pumps to remove salt from ocean water. It took them hours each night to pump for just a few gallons of fresh water.
One of the most memorable moments of the trip, the father said, was when he and his 15yearold son were almost caught by sharks after spearing a fish in the ocean.
Still, it was quite an enjoyable holiday for them. "For a dad it was a wonderful thing. No video games around, no television, no disturbance, no texting," Flake recalled. | high13878.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "to tell an interesting experience"
},
"options": [
"to tell an interesting experience",
"to show the easiest way out of a difficulty",
"to describe the trouble facing a newly married woman",
"to explain the difficulty o... | The easy way out isn't always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug, my husband of one month, to a special meal. I glanced through my cookbook and chose a menu which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take time, I started on it as soon as Doug left for work. As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozen would be better, so I doubled everything. As Dong loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was a sticky dough covered with ugly yellowish marks. realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldn't have to face Doug laughing at my work, I went on preparing the rest of the meal, and, when Doug got home , we sat down to Cornish chicken with rice . He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went outside, saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the windows to see what he was doing. Looking out, I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in out rubbish bin . Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped closer and looked harder. Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast made the surface shake and sigh as though it were breathing. I had to admit what the 'living thing 'was and why it was there. I don't know who was more embarrassed by the whole thing Doug or me. | high9963.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The disabled"
},
"options": [
"The old",
"The disabled",
"The young",
"The deaf"
],
"question": "_ are not accessible to the Combination Room in Cambridge university without a lift. [ ]",
"question_type... | How many historic churches, pubs or buildings are there in your city? Are there worth preserving? Or are they just a waste of space? There are arguments for and against spending money on historic buildings.
Dangerous staircases. Uneven floors. A lack of IT infrastructure. The problem with many old buildings is that they're... old - and extremely expensive to modernize. Take the case of the Combination Room in Cambridge University. It was built in 1347 and was initially used for lectures. Later, it became the Regent House - the university's parliament. It's of enormous historical value and cultural interest. However, it doesn't meet accessibility standards for disabled people. As a result, a lift needs to be installed, but not everyone is happy about this. "Noting will persuade me that this lift would not in its effect, be a substantial alteration to the most precious room in the university. It would destroy the symmetry of that beautiful room," said one user.
In general, modern buildings don't have this type of problem. They can be built according to the latest environment standards, with draught proofing and insulation to help reduce carbon emission and save energy. They can also be made wheelchair accessible, and they can be designed to ensure maximum comfort and space. Anyone who's been to a modern cinema, theatre or concert hall recently may understand the difference between the new buildings and older ones, which tend to have smaller seats, less space and poorer acoustics.
Very often, there's money to be made by knocking down old building... especially if they're in city centers. So, the biggest threat to many historic buildings comes from developers. One of Croydon's oldest pubs, The Rose and Crown, is a perfect example of this. A property development company has recently been granted permission to convert the 18th century building into flats, much to the disappointment of many local residents. "The bar is full of unique features and perfect examples of a traditional London pub. It really would be truly tragic for this Grade II listed building to be turned into soulless flats," said a spokesperson for English heritage.
So, are these buildings really worth preserving? "Traditional buildings such as churches, town halls, schools and hospitals give England its character," the spokesman added. " _ "[(<<>> 20116 "Building Bash")] | high21174.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It should be controlled by an autopilot system."
},
"options": [
"It should be controlled by an autopilot system.",
"It should be controlled by \"laser sintering\".",
"A pilot controls it using a remote control.",
"A pi... | Look, this is the first plane in the world to be created using the new technology of "3D printing". The airplane was built using only a computer--but it can fly at a speed of 100mph and has a two-meter wingspan.
It was produced using a special nylon laser printer that builds up something layer-by-layer. The parts were made separately and attached using a "snap fit" technique so the aircraft could be put together without tools in minutes.
No fasteners at all were used in the manufacture of the plane. Unmanned and electrically powered, the plane can travel in near silence and is also equipped with a small autopilot system. The special production process used is known as "laser sintering "and allows the designers to create shapes and structures that would normally include costly manufacturing techniques. This technology allows a highly-tailored aircraft to be developed from your own design to first flight in days, while using traditional materials and techniques would take months. And because no tooling is required for manufacture, major changes to the shape and scale of the aircraft can be made with no extra cost.
Professor Jim Scanlon, who led the team, said, "The process allows the design team to revisit historical techniques and ideas that would have been too expensive using traditional manufacturing." He added, "This form of structure is very firm and lightweight, but very complex. If it was manufactured traditionally it would require a large number of individually tailored parts that would have to be connected or fastened at great expense."
The new printed plane is known as the Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft--or SULSA for short--and is part of a wider project using cutting-edge manufacturing techniques. The University of Southampton has been at the leading position of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle development since the early 1990s. | high5181.txt |
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