questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "A secret organization."
},
"options": [
"A kind of train.",
"A special railroad.",
"A group of slaves.",
"A secret organization."
],
"question": "What can we say the Underground Railroad is?",
"question_type... | Historians say Harriet Tubman was born in the year 1820.Nobody really knows.But we do know that Harriet Tubman was one of the bravest women ever born in the United States.
From a very early age, Harriet knew how slaves suffered.At six years old, she was sent to the fields.Working outside not only made her body strong but also made her learn about the Underground Railroad, through which she helped hundreds of people escape from slavery later.She also learned many things from other slaves, which one day would help her lead her people to freedom.She became more of a rebel .
In 1844, at about age 24, she married a free black man named John Tubman.By now, Harriet was sure she wanted to try to escape.Suddenly, the time came.Her owner died.Though opposed by her husband, she decided to escape.With the help of the Underground Railroad, and through a variety of suffering she finally crossed the border into Pennsylvania, where slavery was banned .Later, she told a friend, "I felt like I was in heaven."
Now that Harriet was free, she did not forget the hundreds of other slaves back in Maryland.Harriet traveled back and forth eighteen times, helping about 300 slaves escape into free territory.She became an expert at hiding from slave hunter.The people she helped called her Moses.At one time anyone finding Harriet was promised $40,000 for catching her --dead or alive.
During the Civil War, Harriet Tubman went into enemy territory to spy for the North.She also served as a nurse.After four years of bloody fighting, the North won the war.
After the fighting ended, Harriet Tubman returned to Auburn, New York.She kept working.She traveled and gave speeches to raise money for better education for black children.She also worked for women's rights and housing.Harriet Tubman died in 1913.She was about 93 years old.By that time, she was recognized as an American hero.The United States government gave a funeral with military honors for the woman known a Moses. | high20691.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "whom and how many people to invite"
},
"options": [
"how much they were going to spend",
"how many people were willing to come",
"whom and how many people to invite",
"which type of party they were going to hold"
],... | My son wanted to give a party for my birthday. We discussed the invitations and the cost of the party. However, we had very different ideas about whom and how many people to invite. He thought that the people we knew had badly disappointed me by not keeping in touch with me since the death of my wife. But my idea of a relationship among people was to be friendly to everyone.
He said, "Come on, Dad, where have all these so-called friendly, good people been since Mum passed away? They visited us in the past because Mum made good food." I replied, "I am sorry to hear that. Is this the reason why you do not want to invite those people? It's no wonder that you are unhappy. Can you live alone? Are you teaching your children to do the same in the future?" I asked myself where I had gone in his upbringing. My wife had often blamed me for not paying enough attention to communication with other people when I was raising our son. I realized at this moment that she was quite right.
Hours later, my son phoned me to say that he accepted his wife's advice and agreed to have a party with some of my friends. In the end, we had a great time. And he didn't "hate" those friends any more. "Happy Birthday, Dad! Sorry that I have kept you away from your friends. I love you."
On hearing what he said, I was full of happiness and excitement. I was proud that he could change his mind. | high23398.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "practice a new language a lot"
},
"options": [
"can't live without language",
"lead a happy life every day",
"practice a new language a lot",
"are taken good care of adults"
],
"question": "By \"Language is thei... | Many people believe that you lose the ability to learn new languages as you get older. Language experts, however, will tell you that you're never too old to learn a new language. As you get older, it can be more difficult to learn a new language, though.
Children and adults learn new languages in different ways. For children, language is their life. They study for thousands of hours every year, because they need to learn languages to become part of their communities. Adults, on the other hand, are already part of a language community. Learning a new language means becoming part of another language community, and adults rarely get the chance to practice as much as young children do.
Moreover, children learning a new language are expected to make mistakes. This gives them freedom when learning to be daring and confident. Adults, however, often feel pressured to be perfect when learning a new language. This can discourage many people and make it even harder to learn a new language.
When young children learn a new language, they come to see various languages as a "normal" part of society. This mindset helps them embrace learning a new language without feeling like they're doing something unusual or "too hard".
So if you want to learn a new language, go for it! It's never too late to learn a new language. If you're older, it may take more work, but it can be done. If you're a young child, though, now is the time to step out and learn a new language! | high14534.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "what has made some education systems successful"
},
"options": [
"what has made some education systems successful",
"China's education system and competitive exams",
"how to relieve Chinese students of their heavy schoolwork"... | The World Bank has looked at the distinguishing features of successful school system.
According to the World Bank's education specialist, Harry Patrinos, this include: improving the quality of teachers and making sure that teachers are highly regarded; providing information to make schools accountable and giving autonomy to schools and head teachers.
This matters not only for individual pupils but also for the well-being of countries, he says, because improving educational performance has a direct impact on improving economic performance.
China's education performance-- at least in cities such as Shanghai and Hong Kong-- seems to be as spectacular as the country's fast growing economy.
Certainly both these open and outward-looking cities consider education to be important and are willing to adopt the best educational practices from around the world to ensure success. In Hong Kong, education accounts for more than one-fifth of entire government spending every year.
"Shanghai and Hong Kong are small education systems, with a concentration of ideas, manpower and resources for education," says Prof Cheng.
Under the banner "First class city, first class education", Shanghai set about systematically re-equipping classroom, upgrading schools and improving the curriculum in the last decade.
It got rid of the "key schools" system which concentrated resources only on top students and top schools. Instead staff were trained in more interactive teaching methods and computers were brought in.
About 80% of Shanghai school leavers go to university compared to an overall average of 24% in China.
Meanwhile, dynamic Hong Kong was forced into educational improvements as its industries moved to cheaper mainland Chinese areas in the 1990s.Its survival as a service and management hub depends on upgrading knowledge and skills.
In the last decade Hong Kong has concentrated on closing the gap for all students, says a report by McKinsey management consultants.
The report, How the World's Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better, rated Hong Kong's education system among the best in the world. | high9340.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he didn't know he was going to be adopted"
},
"options": [
"he was with his own parents",
"he was very happy and excited",
"he was about ten years old then",
"he didn't know he was going to be adopted"
],
"quest... | On the night of November 14, 1978,a six-year-old Korean boy was flying to the United States. All he knew was that he was on a plane heading for somewhere. The plane landed at Kennedy International Airport, where he was greeted by a family. This young boy was me.
I have grown up in a town where there were few Asians, so I stuck out in the crowd. I made friends quickly and they treated me just like anyone else. You may ask if anyone made fun of my appearance. Well, of course, I met that' kind of person. I just shrugged it off.
As an adopted child, I have something that others don't have. I have had the benefit of two families. I'm lucky to have got a chance to start a new life. But we must try never to forget our past. Someday I will go back to Korea to find out what kind of culture I left behind.
There is only one thing that I regret about being adopted. When I argue with my parents and they realize they are losing the argument, they sometimes wonder what I would be doing if I were back in Korea. I don't understand this because I thought the purpose of adopting someone was to give them a better chance of growing up in a family. Some day when I am older, I want to adopt a girl and raise her the way my parents have raised me, but I would do it better, for I know what went well and what did not. | high6073.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "hearing and closely watching others speak"
},
"options": [
"repeating the words of other people",
"remembering the full sentences they hear",
"hearing and closely watching others speak",
"figuring out the meaning of dif... | Newborns begin to develop language skills long before they begin speaking. And, compared to adults, they develop these skills more quickly. People have a hard time learning new languages as they grow older, but babies have the ability to learn any language easily.
For a long time, scientists have tried to explain how such young children can learn the complicated grammatical rules and sounds of a language. Now, researchers are getting a better idea of what's happening in the brains of the tiniest language learners. This new information might help kids with learning problems as well as adults who want to learn new languages. It might even help scientists who are trying to design computers that can communicate like people do.
Most babies go "ma ma" by 6 months of age, and most children speak in full sentences by age 3. For many years, scientists have wondered how the brains of young children figure out how to communicate using language. With help from new technologies, scientists are now finding that babies begin life with the ability to learn any language. They get into contact with other people, listen to what they say and watch their movements very closely. That is why they quickly master the languages they hear most often.
Studies show that, up to about 6 months of age, babies can recognize all the sounds that make up all the languages in the world. Starting at around 6 months old a baby's brain focuses on the most common sounds it hears. Then, children begin responding only to the sounds of the language they hear the most.
In a similar way older babies start recognizing the patterns that make up the rules of their native language. For example, English children who are about 18 months old start to figure out that words ending in "-ing" or "-ed" are usually verbs, and that verbs are action words. | high12145.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "After they had a right way of marking time."
},
"options": [
"When they learned that no one could stop time.",
"Before they invented a calendar.",
"Before they learned how time went by.",
"After they had a right way of ... | Long ago, little attention was paid to a person's birthday. Even though everyone knew that people grew older, they had no way of correctly marking time. It wasn't until the early people learned more about how time passed that they made a note of time changes. Then they developed a calendar and began to celebrate special events such as birthdays. When birthdays first started to be celebrated during the early days, common people, especially children, hardly celebrated their birthdays.
Today, birthdays are celebrated by the young and the old alike all around the world. Many countries have different customs from ours of celebrating birthdays. At the same time there are a lot of people that celebrate birthdays in quite similar ways as we do. Some of the countries are very similar to the United States, such as Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland.
Customs within countries can be affected by things like language, religion, geographic location, and economic conditions. No matter what the customs are, however, they are always followed by the majority of the people in each country. For example, not all children in the US have birthday parties, candles or birthday cakes, but most of them do.
However, the reasons why we celebrate birthdays and use different symbols are very much the same to everyone. The reason why we have birthday parties goes back to long time ago. At that time people believed that good and bad spirits appeared when a child was born and influenced that child through his / her life. The belief brought about the custom of having birthday parties. They believed that surrounding the birthday person with friends, family and good wishes would frighten the bad spirits away. | high22086.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because it was very delicious and nice."
},
"options": [
"Because it was very delicious and nice.",
"Because it was only made for children.",
"Because it was made by mother-in-law.",
"Because it was good to health."
... | Our children grew up on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Even my husband and I sometimes ate one secretly at late night with a glass of milk. It was too delicious and tasty. My mother-in-law was the jelly maker in this family. The jelly was made of either grape or blackberry. The only job I did to the jelly making was to save baby food jars , which my mother-in-law would fill with the tasty gel , pack them up and send back to our home. For the past 22 years of my married life, whenever I wanted to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for ourselves, all I had to do was reach for one of those little jars of jelly. It was always there.
This past December, my mother-in-law passed away. Among the things in the house to be divided by her children were the remaining canned goods in the pantry . When my husband brought his jars home, we carefully put them away in our pantry.
The other day I reached in there to get jelly for a quick sandwich, and there _ was. Sitting all alone on the far side of the shelf was a small jar of grape jelly. As I picked up the jar, I suddenly realized something that I had failed to see earlier-this was the last jar we would ever have from my mother-in-law. Although she had been dead for nearly a year, so much of her had remained with us. Our children had never known a day without their grandmother's jelly. It seems like such a small thing, and most days it was something that was ignored. But today it seemed a great treasure.
No longer was it just a jar of jelly. It was the end of a family tradition. I believed that as long as it was there, a part of my mother-in-law would always live on. | high8738.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Her road to success was full of pain and frustrations."
},
"options": [
"She was constantly under pressure to write more.",
"Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.",
"She did not quite live up to her reputation ... | In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition which she won last year.
As a writer, I know about winning contests - and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection letter from the publisher. I also know the pressure of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn't win the contest again? That's the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and destroyed hopes can resurface in our children.
A revelation came last week when I asked her, "Don't you want to win again?" "No," she replied, "I just want to tell the story of an angel going to first grade."
I had just spent weeks correcting her stories as she spontaneously told them. Telling myself that I was merely an experienced writer guiding the young writer across the hall, I offered suggestions for characters, conflicts and endings for her tales. The story about a fearful angel starting first grade was quickly "guided" by me into the tale of a little girl with a wild imagination taking her first music lesson. _
Staying back and giving kids space to grow is not as easy as it looks. Because I know very little about farm animals who use tools or angels who go to first grade, I had to accept the fact that I was co-opting my daughter's experience.
While stepping back was difficult for me, it was certainly a good first step that I will quickly follow with more steps, putting myself far enough away to give her room but close enough to help if asked. All the while I will be reminding myself that children need room to experience, grow and find their own voices. | high12623.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "human behavioral use of space"
},
"options": [
"what nonverbal communication is",
"human conversation",
"the life of Edward T. Hall",
"human behavioral use of space"
],
"question": "This passage is mostly about ... | A normal conversation between strangers involves more than talk. It also involves the dynamics of space interaction. If one person gets too close, the other person will back up. If the first person invades the other's space again, the other person will back up again. The person who finds himself or herself backing up is trying to increase the distance of the comfort zone. The person closing in is trying to decrease that distance. Most likely neither person is fully aware of what is going on.
In the 1960s, American anthropologist Edward T. Hall was a pioneer in the study of human behavioral use of space. His field of study became known as proxemics.Hall said that personal space for people in the United States can be defined as having four distinct zones: the intimate zone within 18 inches of your body, for whispering and embracing; the personal zone of 18 inches to four feet, for talking with close friends; the social zone of four to 10 feet, for conversing with acquaintances; and the public zone of 10 to 25 feet, for interacting with strangers or talking to a group.
Historians say that our standards of personal space began with the Industrial Revolution in the 18thcentury. In cities such as London and New York, people of different social and economic classes were suddenly crammed together, so they unconsciously developed a commonly understood code of courtesy to restrict the space around them.
People exhibit nonverbal messages of discomfort when their zones are violated. Invaded people might tap their toes, pull at their hair, become completely rigid, or even become angry. As hall noted in his landmark work, a comfortable conversation needs to include the parameters of human personal space. | high22938.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Courageous and persistent."
},
"options": [
"Independent and knowledgeable.",
"Stubborn and trustworthy.",
"Courageous and persistent.",
"Aggressive and sympathetic."
],
"question": "Which of the following adjec... | On July 12, 1997, Malala Yousafzai was born in Mingora, Pakistan, located in the country's Swat Valley.
Yotsafzai attended a school that her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, had founded. After the Taliban began attacking girl schools in Swat, Malala gave a speech in Peshawar, Pakistan, in September 2008. The title of her talk was, "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?"
When she was 14, Malala and her family learned that the Taliban had issued a death threat against her. Though Malala was frightened for the safety of her father----an anti-Taliban activist-she and her family initially felt that the fundamentalist group would not actually harm a child.
On October 9, 2012, on her way home from school, a man boarded the bus Malala was riding in and demanded to know which girl was Malala. When her friends looked toward Malala, her location was given away. The gunman fired at her, hitting Malala in the left side of her head. Two other girls were also injured in the attack.
Despite the Taliban's threats, Yousafzai remains a firm advocate for the power of education. On October 10, 2013, in acknowledgement of her work, the European Parliament awarded Yousafzai the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. That same year, she was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She didn't win the prize, but was named a nominee again in March 2014.
Malala Yousafzai's Speech at the United Nations (Excerpt)
Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing. Malala Day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality.Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured.I am just one of them.
...
Dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up.
So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity:
We call upon the world leaders that all the peace deals must protect women and children's rights.
We call upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world.
We call upon all governments to fight against terrorism and violence, to protect children from brutality and harm.
We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of educational opportunities for girls in the developing world.
We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave--to embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential. | high14252.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He might run into bankcruptcy."
},
"options": [
"He couldn't produce enough for the suppliers.",
"The creditors wouldn't lend him any money.",
"His products didn't sell well.",
"He might run into bankcruptcy."
],
... | The business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy .
Suddenly an old man appeared before him. "I can see that something is troubling you." he said. After listening to the executive, the old man said: "I believe I can help you."
He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying: "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time." Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.
The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!
"I can settle all my debts in a moment!" he realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe, just knowing it would give him the strength to work out a way to save his business.
With renewed optimism, he made better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big deals. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.
Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check. At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.
"I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller." And she led the old man away by the arm. | high9426.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "public schools"
},
"options": [
"private schools",
"universities",
"public schools",
"community college"
],
"question": "According to the passage,students in Canada can get education for free in _ .",
"... | Getting a good education is more important today than ever before. It is the best thing you can do to build a better future for your children and yourself.
Most children in Canada attend public schools. Public schools are completely founded by governments through tax income. Boys and girls attend the same school and share the same courses and classes. Schooling in Canada is provided in English and in French.
The rest of Canadian children attend private schools,which are supported mainly by fees paid directly by parents. Some private schools enroll only boys or girls.
By law,children must attend school from age 5 to 16.Children are usually in school between 8:30 or 9:00 a.m.,and 3:00 or 4:00 p.m.Monday through Friday,from September to the middle of June. There are several different levels in the Canadian education system. The first is called Elementary Schools. In most provinces Elementary Schools include Kindergarten through Grade 7 or 8.
From Grade 8 or 9 through 12 or 13,children go to Secondary School or High School. High School students must take certain courses for several years,such as English or French and mathematics. Some courses help students get a job after they graduate from school. Other courses prepare students for college or university. In Canada,teenagers usually make these choices for themselves,with the advice of their teachers,guidance counselor and parents.
Schools usually offer extra activities at the end of the normal school day. These include sports,games,music and clubs.
Most elementary and high schools encourage parents to take part in school activities. Parents' nights are organized from time to time. These are chances for parents to discuss their children's progress with teachers. You may wish to bring a friend with you. After graduating from high school,many young adults continue their studies through postsecondary education. | high6715.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "To build a greener environment."
},
"options": [
"To build a greener environment.",
"To fix a worldwide road network.",
"To call on people to take exercise.",
"To replace the public transport."
],
"question": "W... | The German city of Hamburg has announced plans to become car-free within the next two decades. It is an ambitious idea, but city officials obviously feel that the personal motorcar does not fulfill a function that walking, biking and taking public transport cannot. The goal of Hamburg's project is to replace roads with a green network, which will allow people to navigate through the city without the use of cars.
Banishing the car from urban areas is becoming a common trend in many European cities. London imposes a "congestion charge" on private vehicles entering the city centre during rush hours. Copenhagen is building bicycle superhighways radiating out from the city centre. These developments combined may make worrying reading for driving enthusiasts. Is the time of the personal car over?
In the century since the Ford Model T was introduced in 1908, global vehicle numbers have swollen to well over a billion. But according to recent research, the growth may have stopped.
According to Professor Michael Sivak, at the University of Michigan, "motorization" in the US might have reached a peak in 2008, and that the figures have been on the decline since.
"New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, each have more than thirty percent of households without a light duty vehicle," says Sivak. In fact, the figures show that fifty-six percent of households in New York (which top the list) don't have a car. "I think that will be surprising to most people. It was surprising to me, and I am in the business. "
Sivak thinks a number of factors could be contributing to the trend, including workingfrom home and the movement of populations back to city centers. In China, Beijing and Shanghai are looking at plans to limit the number of new vehicles being registered to control prouth. It's a movement more cities are looking towards, particularly in the US. | high18468.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "accommodation at an ancient villa"
},
"options": [
"accommodation at an ancient villa",
"fresh fruit, vegetables and meat",
"the best French wine",
"admission to Saint-Emilion"
],
"question": "The free holiday i... | Welcome to our homepage!
We've teamed up with two travel agencies to give members of our club the chance to win a holiday to the South of France or one to the Maldives.
The winner and their three guests will enjoy a seven-night getaway at the Villa Le Priotlet -- a centuries old stone villa set on the banks of the Dordogne River. This property has been lovingly restored and furnished, and is ideal for small families to relax surrounded by peaceful views and gentle countryside. The beautiful gardens surrounding the property are full of seasonal treats for you to pick and enjoy, including figs, pears and grapes. The property is also situated just 15 minutes from the UNESCO World Heritage site of Saint-Emilion, which has been producing some of the world's best wine since Roman times.
We'll also give another lucky member a seven-night stay for two people on their island tour to the Maldives. With white sand beaches, coconut trees and blue warm seas, the Maldives is a must-see destination. Accompanied by a local guide, guests have the chance to combine island life with cultural activities, as well as experiencing all those things for which the Maldives are famous: diving and snorkeling and relaxation. The guesthouse accommodation is handpicked to provide a balance of comfort, good service and local atmosphere.
To enter this competition, click on "enter competition" in the information box below. | high10034.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "We should help others in need."
},
"options": [
"We should try to do what our friends ask us to do.",
"We should help others in need.",
"Always saying\"yes\" means you are dishonest.",
"Always saying\"no\" means you are... | Are you the type of person who always says"yes"?I've come to learn that it is very im-portant to learn to say NO!It's okay. People are still going to like you. They may even respect you more because they know you are honest.
I,m not saying to say"no" to someone who really needs your help. I'm talking about re-fusing that meeting that you really do not want to attend or that birthday party that you don't want to be a guest at.
Think for a moment how you feel when you say YES to something that you really don't want to do. If you're like I once was,you can't sleep at night and you think about it too much. It weighs on your mind. You try to find ways out. Whatever you're saying to yourself,if you really wanted to go,you wouldn't have all of these thoughts.
So,why not just say NO from the beginning? Maybe you feel like if you don't show up at the meeting(by the way,it is not one you must attend) your boss isn't going to like you or your co-workers won't respect you. Maybe you feel as if your mom,dad or sisters won't love you as much if you don't do everything for them that they ask every occasion.
If these people are your true friends,family members,or a good boss,they will like or love you the same no matter what. People treat you the way you teach them to,and if you're some-one who always says"yes" then that's what they,re expecting.
You need to do what is right for you. Of course we do have real obligations in life to ful-fill,but we do not have to do everything others want us to do. | high2573.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Altira Macau"
},
"options": [
"The Water Club at Borgata, Atlantic City",
"Altira Macau",
"Waldorf Astoria Chicago",
"The Charles Hotel, Munich"
],
"question": "In which of the hotel pools can you look out to th... | When it comes to hotel pools, the indoor variety has long been inferior to their outdoor -- often rooftop -- counterparts. But these days, striking decoration, luxury facilities and stunning settings mean many indoor swimming holes can now challenge even the most glamorous of outdoor pools. So go ahead and take a dip at these luxurious indoor pools.
The Water Club at Borgata, Atlantic City
This nongaming hotel, which is part of the large Borgata complex in Atlantic City, has three indoor pools (and two more outdoors) so there's really no reason for things to get crowded at any of them. A two-lane lap pool is in the two-floor Immersion spa on the 32nd floor and is set against full-length windows that look out to the Atlantic Ocean, the perfect setup for a water workout. An extremely attractive top-floor pool surrounded by lounge chairs, cabanas and lush foliage expresses a more exotic tropical scene than the property's Jersey Shore location. Rooms from $249/ night. www.theborgata.com
Altira Macau
On the 16th floor of the tallest building on the island of Taipa is the glamorous indoor infinity pool of the impressively massive gaming complex of Altira Macau. It's easy to see why Forbes once named it one of the best hotel pools in the world: One side faces all of the city with crystal-clear floor-to-ceiling windows. Rooms from $235/ night. www.altiramacau.com
Waldorf Astoria Chicago
The spa at this hotel is done mostly in a stark white, which only further emphasizes the gorgeous rose-design tile-work at the bottom of the pool, giving bathers the feel of swimming over a bed of roses. The 102,600 individually patterned tiles come from Bisazza, an Italian company renowned for its mosaic tile production. Rooms from $435/night, double occupancy.
www.waldorfastoriachicagohotel.com
The Charles Hotel, Munich
One of the largest pools in Munich, at The Charles Hotel, is also one of the most beautiful. The entire spa is outfitted with marble mosaic tiles, mostly in subdued color1s punctuated with red flourishes. At the pool itself, a very pretty mosaic of red coral shows respect to the 19th century Bavarian royalty, the Wittelsbach family, known for its collection of red coral paraphernalia, from dining cups to jewelry. Rooms from $375/ night, double occupancy. www.roccofortehotels.com | high17983.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because she helped astrange old lady."
},
"options": [
"Because she met her bestfriend.",
"Because she helped astrange old lady.",
"Because she learned howto use a wheel chair.",
"Because she had anappointment with her ... | Today was a special day for me. I had my doctor'sappointments in a town that's about 45 minutes from where I live.
After my appointment was done, Istarted walking down from the building through a long breezeway and I noticed an elderly woman pacing at the end. I asked if she waswaiting for someone or she needed assistance.
As it turned out, she was havingtrouble walking the distance and had looked for a staff member to pick her up.No one had come for several minutes. I asked her to sit still when I went toget a wheelchair. I ran full speed to the help desk and asked for one. Thereceptionist and I walked to the end of the breezeway to the lady, who said, "Iwant her to help me."She was referring to me. I carefully, slowly andattentively helped the woman into the wheelchair. After she was seated, shesoftly looked up to me and thanked me for my help. How could I not have helpedher? I just wanted her to be alright.
When I returned home, I called my bestfriend to ask if she needed me. She wanted me to take her and her boyfriend tothe Boost Mobile Store. I did and after all was taken care of, I took myfriends back home. I thanked them for the opportunity to help them and that Iappreciated it. Maybe it meant little to them, but a lot to me. | high19776.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it was unfair that the boss only promoted Bobby."
},
"options": [
"Bobby wasn't fit to be a manager.",
"Bobby was lazy though he was clever.",
"the boss was expecting to hear good words.",
"it was unfair that the boss o... | John and Bobby joined the same company together just after graduation from college the same year. Both worked very hard. After several years, however, the boss promoted Bobby to the position of manager but John remained an ordinary worker. John couldn't
it anymore, gave his resignation to the boss and complained that the boss only promoted those who only said good words to him.
The boss knew John worked very hard for the years. He thought for a moment and said, "I hope you will do one more thing for our company before you leave."
John agreed. The boss asked him to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. John went and returned soon. He said he had found a man selling water melons. The boss asked how much they per kilo. John shook his head and went back to the seller to ask and returned to tell the boss $1.2 per kilo.
The boss told John to wait a second, and he called Bobby to come to his office. He asked Bobby to go and find anyone selling watermelons in the market. Bobby went, returned and said, "Boss, only one person is selling watermelons. $1.2 per kg, and $10 for 10 kg. He has 340 melons in all, 58 of which are on the table. Every melon weighs about 2 kg. Brought from the South two days ago, they are fresh and red. "
John was impressed and realized the difference between himself and Bobby. He decided not to resign but to learn from Bobby. | high16445.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "about 200"
},
"options": [
"about 680",
"about 330",
"about 68",
"about 200"
],
"question": "How many in 1000 births would die in Ethiopia in 1990?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer... | Ethiopia has greatly reduced its death rates for children under the age of five years during the last two decades, new UN statistics show. The report says Ethiopia has cut the number of child deaths, by two thirds or so, to 68 per 1,000 births compared to that in 1990.
The government owed the improved figures to its growing economy. Despite the reduction, the UN Children's Fund said Ethiopia needed to do much more to improve health facilities for pregnant women.
Ethiopia is one of Africa's poorest states, although it has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years and is one of the continent's leading coffee producers. Its economy centers around agriculture, which in turn relies on rainfall.
The BBC's Emmanuel Igunza in the capital, Addis Ababa, says Ethiopia was once representative of poor nutrition in Africa. But the latest UNICEF figures show Ethiopia is one of the few African countries on the path to realizing the development goal of reducing child death rates, he says.
Ethiopia's Health Minister Kesetebirhan Admasu said increasing family incomes had helped improve people's health. "This has also resulted in better nutrition for children and women; this has translated into better medical conditions ---- all these have a direct or indirect influence on the survival of children," he told BBC Africa. He said the government has also been "aggressively expanding its primary health care network".
"We have now 93% coverage( ) of one health centre for 25,000 people, which basically means one health facility within a 7km area," he said. | high5208.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Many people may never become great though they have a good memory."
},
"options": [
"Charles Dickens had a good memory because he was a famous writer.",
"People without a good memory cannot be great men of the world.",
"Peopl... | Some people have very good memory and they can easily remember quite long texts. There are other people who can only remember things when they have said them again and again. The famous English writer Charles Dickens said that he could walk down any long street in London and then tell you the name of every shop he had passed. Many great men of the world have a wonderful memory.
A good memory is greatly helpful in learning a language. Everybody learns his own language by remembering what he hears when he is a small child, and some children, like the boys and girls who live abroad with their parents, seem to learn two languages almost as easily as one. In school it is not so easy to learn a second language because the students have so little time for it, and they are very busy with other subjects too.
A man's mind is like a camera, but it takes photos not only of what we see but also of what we feel, hear, smell and taste. When we take a real photo with a camera, Some people have very good memory and they can easily remember quite long texts.In the same way, there is much work to be done before we can keep a picture forever in our minds.
Memory is a diary, and we all carry it about us. We keep things we have experienced in this diary. | high2567.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "couldn't help the students with their study"
},
"options": [
"is like drinking water to end thirst",
"couldn't make a difference in the short term",
"is good for the students' future life",
"couldn't help the students w... | Recently we asked for people's opinions about paying students to encourage them to come to class and get higher scores on tests. Some American schools are doing this.
More of the people were against the idea than were for it.
Some people said paying students sends a message that money is the only reason they should study for. Steven from prefix = st1 /Chinasays students should study for knowledge. Money may make a difference in the short term, he says, but we should think about the long term.
Zhao Jing Tao, a college student in China, thought of an old saying. Paying students is like "drinking poison to end thirst"-- trying to solve a problem without thinking of the bad effects.
Dinh Minh Tuan from Vietnamsays rewards are important because they prepare students for the future life. But young children should get things they value more than money, like funny books, pens and film tickets.
There was a suggestion from South Korea that if rewards are necessary for learning,they could be gathered like a charity fund. This money could be used for a project designed by the students.
Francisco Mora from Colombiasays the city ofBogotapays parents, so children do not have to work until they finish their basic education. This, he says, has increased the number of students who come to public schools.
Teresa Finamore wrote: "I am an Italian teacher of math and science for students from eleven to fourteen. I think that it is wrong to pay students. Each student has to understand that going to school, he gets a wonderful chance to live better in the future and also at present."
Nelly Constant in France wonders, if young people get paid for studying, what will they expect from a job --a rocket to the moon?
Sergio Fernandes from Brazilsays paying students is not realistic. But Camillus Chiemela, a Nigerian living inGermany, feels it will help to make the education system better. Students' expectations will be much higher.
Naval from Russiaalso says yes to the idea: "We should at least get something for our time wasted. Because in my country students pay money to go to school or get good grades from teachers."
And Lucy Ding from Chinasays most Chinese students work hard for two reasons: their parents' expectations and pressure from teachers. She says getting rewards will become a good thing that will get students to work hard for themselves, for the things they hope to get. | high17997.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "His classmates looked down upon him."
},
"options": [
"His teacher scolded him in class.",
"His teacher refused to read his essay.",
"He failed to hand in his essay on time.",
"His classmates looked down upon him."
... | Tears ran down from my eyes as I saw the essay my high school English teacher had just handed back. A big F was written on top. I was hopeless. I was stupid!My face burned with shame when my classmates called me stupid.
"I'm the only one who doesn't know my ABCs!"I sobbed to mum.
"I'll help,"she promised.
Every day I sat with her,but to me,cat looked like cta and red was reb. Frustrated,I would return to my bedroom and draw,filling the paper with houses,restaurants and offices.
"When I grow up,I want my own store,"I told mum,pointing to my drawings.
"That's great!"she said,"but first you have to learn to read."
Later,I was diagnosed with dyslexia .So mum took me to a learning centre,where I was given reading exercises. But I still struggled. Finally,I graduated,but I was afraid of my reading skills.
"I'll never get a job!"I cried to mum later again.
"Don't focus on what you can't do,"she comforted."Concentrate on what you can."
But what can I do?I wondered. Suddenly,I thought of the drawings I'd made as a child and my dream of having my own store. I enjoyed sales so much that over the next few years,I tried my hand at other businesses. Today,I watch over seven branches. We have 187 employees and $15 million in sales.
While I'll never be what my teachers might have wanted,I am a success-on my own terms. The other day a student sent me a card,reading:You gave me so much confidence. I hope to be like you when I am big. Tears of joy filled my eyes. This was my A,I smiled. | high19762.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "She married a man much older than she."
},
"options": [
"She married a man much older than she.",
"She is going to give birth to their second child.",
"She lost her husband, who was as old as she.",
"She lost her father... | The church seems cold this morning, even after all the people, friends and family, fill the benches. I sit here in silence, in shock and denial. This was not supposed to happen. What about our dreams, or our plans? We were going to raise our children, travel the world, and grow old together. I'm only 37, a typical housewife. I don't know if I can do all this alone--two children, no father. What do I do or say?
The faces of so many people confuse me as they come to pay their last respects. Some have real sorrow; I can see it in their eyes. The others seem to just say, "I told you so." Those famous last words: I-told-you-so. How I can't stand them. And the pointing fingers as so-called family and so-called friends pick me out of the crowd for others to see. I want to scream and wake up but I can't do anything but sit there. How can they be so blind? I fell in love with a man. Love knows no boundaries .
He was a good man, hardworking, caring and kind. He was retired from the Navy and a gentleman. He was sensitive to others' needs, the kind of man that knew what to do or say, how to humor any situation and calm everyone's fears. I remember our first child was a big surprise to both of us. I remember when I told him the news. He fell off his chair, saying over and over in disbelief, "But I'm almost sixty." After a few months he started planning our next and even doing his famous little dance whenever he discussed the idea.
A man, thirty years older than I, lies in a coffin. Flowers, the American flag and his VFW comrades surround him, paying tribute to him as the man he really was. And I sit alone here, with our two children, in silence, praying that this cold morning at church is only a nightmare and I will awake to his loving arms again. | high4116.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it matches very few foods"
},
"options": [
"most consumers dislike it",
"it matches very few foods",
"it brings people low spirits",
"it doesn't catch people's eyes"
],
"question": "According to the passage, blu... | Everybody knows that colors are connected with certain feelings. For example, why do some people paint the walls of their rooms yellow and others pink? The same is true in stores. They want us to feel something when we look at their products.
Green, for example, tries to show the quality of a product: how good it is for us or for our environment. It also suggests that the product is healthier, has less fat and maybe fewer calories. Red, on the other hand is an aggressive color that is often used for packaging food. Red wants us to become hungry or thirsty. Purple is a kind of color that is often seen as royal. It indicates that it is something special. Producers use purple to show that something is of good quality. Blue is not very often found in food packaging because there are not very many foods that have a blue color.
Colors can also have different meaning in different cultures and countries. For example, while the color white is used in many Western countries to represent purity and innocence, it is seen as a symbol of mourning in many Eastern countries. The Egyptian pharaohs wore white crowns. A white sale is a sale of sheets, towels, and other bed and bath items. A white flag is the universal symbol for truce . A white elephant is a rare, pale elephant sacred to the people of India, Thailand, Burma, and Sri Lanka. In these countries, something that is a white elephant is either a possession that costs more than it is worth to keep or an item that the owner doesn't want but can't get rid of.
Consumers are aware that certain foods must have certain colors. When Pepsi brought out a crystal clear cola in 1992, it thought that consumers would buy it because clear meant pure and healthy. After a few months Pepsi found out that a cola had to be dark-colored. Crystal Pepsi failed and the company pulled it off the market.
Advertising professionals often need to look at a product through the consumers' eyes when choosing a color. The right packaging colors can truly improve the sales of a product but choosing a wrong color could end in failure. | high16451.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Postagram"
},
"options": [
"GPS Kit",
"Photosynth",
"Postagram",
"Planets"
],
"question": "Through which application can you receive greetings from a faraway place instantly?",
"question_type": "factiod_ques... | Our magazine is presenting to you the top five i-phone(the best seller of Apple Company) applications for more fun on hiking or camping trips recommended by our A-list field hikers and travelers.
1.GPS Kit by Garafa - Get un-lost (for $10)
What it does: Download before you leave or use your phone's data connection to view maps from Google (satellite, landscape, cycling, and street), or Bing (shaded relief, street, or image).Record your movements, drop notes or photo makers on previously-downloaded Google Earth.
2.Photosynth _ - Perfect the view (for free!)
What it does: Make interactive 360 x360 panoramas to your own taste.It saves the panorama as a single image to your camera roll after combining images.Once you get to know how to hold the iPhone and move to take the photos, you can have pretty simple, fast panoramas!
3.Soundcloud by Soundcloud - Share the sounds (for free!)
What it does: Basic sound recorder with on-board editing (cutting) functions.Upload your recordings to the internet, share on social networks and listen to and follow others! It allows for super-simple recording and uploading to the internet.You can upload all the sounds as "non-shared' files so you can download them to your computer for continued storage and editing.In addition, with this function, you will never fear your dirty laundries are to put you to shame.There is a growing community of users, including Paul Salopek who is walking around the world.
4.Postagram _ - Send moments (App is free!/$1 per card)
What it does: The app allows personalized production of e-postcards right from your iPhone.Even photos pop out from the card for sweet fridge posting! There aren't many post offices out in the mountains, so this can be critical to send a gift home.And even if there are post offices where you are traveling, sometimes it's easier, cheaper, and more fun to send your own DIY messages home.
5.Planets by Q Continuum - Love the night sky (for free!)
What it does: With automatic location detection , this basic App offers 2D maps and 3D maps of the sky for identifying planets and stars, gives you the rise/set visibility information for the sun and planets, and even has a few facts and visualizations of the moon and planets.Don't forget to download it into your i-phone. | high12637.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "have a relaxing day without pressure"
},
"options": [
"have a relaxing day without pressure",
"enjoy his first day off work in weeks",
"watch TV talk show with his children",
"go out for a walk in the nearby park"
]... | Peter waved goodbye and closed the door slowly as Jane left home to visit her grandmother. Expecting a whole day to relax, he was thinking whether to read the newspaper or watch his favorite TV talk show on his first day off in months. "This will be like a walk in the park," he'd told his wife, "I'll look after the kids, and you can go to visit your grandma."
Things started well, but just after eight o'clock, his three little "good kids"--Adam, Bob, and Christopher--came down the stairs in their night clothes and shouted "breakfast, daddy." When food had not appeared within thirty seconds, Adam began using his spoon on Christopher's head as if it were a drum. Christopher started to shout loudly in time to the beat . Bob chanted "Where's my toast, where's my toast" in the background. Peter realized his newspaper would have to wait for a few seconds.
Life became worse after breakfast. Adam wore Bob's underwear on his head. Bob locked himself in the bathroom, while Christopher shouted again because he was going to wet his pants. Nobody could find clean socks, although they were before their very eyes. Someone named "Not Me" had spilled a whole glass of orange juice into the basket of clean clothes. Peter knew the talk show had already started.
By ten o'clock, things were out of control. Christopher was wondering why the fish in the jar refused his bread and butter. Adam was trying to show off his talent by decorating the kitchen wall with his color pencils. Bob, thankfully, appeared to be reading quietly in the family room, but closer examination showed that he was eating apple jam straight from the bottle with his hands. Peter realized that the talk show was over and reading would be impossible.
At exactly 11:17, Peter called the daycare centre ."I suddenly have to go into work and my wife's away. Can I bring the boys over in a few minutes?" The answer was obviously "yes" because Peter was smiling. | high13529.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "be good for our health and make a change for the climate"
},
"options": [
"protect the animals from being killed",
"promote the development of agriculture",
"help us lose weight and keep self-confidence",
"be good for o... | If you really want to go green, here's good news: eating green is good for you. The very foods with a high carbon cost---meat, pork, dairy products, processed snacks---also tend to be filled with fat and calories. A green diet would be mostly vegetables and fruits, whole grains, fish and lean meats like chicken---a diet that's eco- and waistline-friendly. Eating green can be healthier and beneficial to the climate.
It may be hard to believe that a meal at McDonald's produces more carbon than your trip to a far away place. More than 37% of the world's land is used for agriculture, much of which was once forested. Deforestation is a major source of carbon. The fertilizer and machinery needed on a modern farm also have a large carbon footprint, as does the network of ships and trucks that brings the food from the farm to your plate.
The most efficient way to reduce the carbon footprint of your menu is to eat less meat, especially beef. Raising cattle takes a lot more energy than growing the equivalent amount of grains, fruits or vegetables. What's more, the majority of cattle in the U.S. are fed on grain and loads of it---670 million tons in 2002---and the fertilizer used to feed that creates separate environmental problems.
Focus on eating lower on the food chain, with more plants and fruits and less meat and dairy. It's simple. We can change today what goes into our bodies for the health of our planet and ourselves. | high9432.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Rome."
},
"options": [
"Egypt.",
"France.",
"Rome.",
"Sicily."
],
"question": "Which place are Francis Towne's works picture about?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answ... | 2016 Exhibitions in the British Museum
Sunken cities: Egypt's lost worlds
19 May-27 November 2016
Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery
AdultsPS16.50, Members/under 16s free
Sunken under the sea for over a thousand years, two lost cities of ancient Egypt were lately rediscovered. Their amazing discovery is transforming our understanding of the deep connections between the great ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece. Their story is told for the first time in this exhibition.
Francis Towne's watercolours of Rome
21 January-14 August 2016
Room 90/ Open late Fridays
Free, just drop in
Come and experience 18th-century Rome through an astonishing series of watercolours not displayed together since 1805.
Sicily: culture and conquest
21 April-14 September 2016
Room 35
Tickets: AdultsPS10, Members/under 16s free
This exhibition tells Sicily's fascinating stories-from the arrival of the Greeks and other settlers, to the extraordinary period of enlightenment under Norman rule in the 11thto 13thcenturies.
Early British exploration of the classical world
14 March-27 July 2016
Room 90a/ Open late Fridays
Free, just drop in
This small display features a remarkable selection of drawings by British explorers and architects, who discovered and documented some of Sicily's best surviving classical sculpture and architecture. | high14246.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "see if the signals detected are from the target black boxes"
},
"options": [
"create a sonar trap of the area",
"pick up underwater sounds",
"see if the signals detected are from the target black boxes",
"reduce the sea... | PERTH--Search crews will send a submarine deep into the Indian Ocean on Monday for the first time to try to determine whether signals detected by sound-locating equipment are from the missing Malaysian plane's black boxes, the Australian head of the search said.
Angus Houst on said the crew on board the Ocean Shield will send the underwater vehicle sometime Monday evening. The Bluefin 21 submarine can create a sonar map of the area to chartany wreckage on the seafloor.
The move comes after crews picked up a series of underwater sounds over the past two weeks that were consistent with an aircraft's black boxes.
"We haven't had a single detection in six days, and l guess it's time to go under water," said Houston.
"Analysis of the four signals has reduced the search area on the ocean floor. The experts have therefore determined that the Australian Defense Vessel Ocean Shield will stop searching with the Towed Pinger Locator later today and use the underwater vehicle Bluefin 21 as soon as possible," he said at a news conference in Perth.
_
He said the submarine will take 24 hours to do each task, including two hours to dive, 16 hours to search the bottom, then two more hours hack up and four hours to download data.
Recovering the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders is necessary For investigators to try to figure out what happened to Flight 370, which disappeared on March 8.
Houston said the search using the submarine will be a slaw and painstaking process.
The submarine takes six times longer to cover the same area as the pinger locator,and will need about six weeks to two months to examine the present underwater zone. The signals are also coming from 4,500 meters (15,000 feet) below the surface, which is the deepest the submarine can dive. | high6701.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "organize one's work and life reasonably"
},
"options": [
"help map out one's future",
"divide things into levels of importance",
"treat certain diseases such as depression",
"organize one's work and life reasonably"
... | Making lists is relaxing. It dictates the shape of the immediate future; it calms you down (it's OK, it's on a list somewhere) and it makes you feel good when you cross something off List-making is standard practice in therapy for depression). It might even help you to get things done too. The more you have to do, the more you need a list and few people with high-powered jobs get by without them. Women always think they're better at lists than men. Men tend to have tasks which they assemble 'into Action Plans whereas women just have lists of Things To Do.
James Oliver, psychologist, has created his own "time management matrix ". He writes a list of things to do and then organizes them into _ : things that have to be done straight away, other things that it would be good to do today, things that are important but haven't got to be done immediately and things that are less urgent but that he doesn't want to forget. "Using categories to order the world is the way the human mind works," he says. "After that, you should divide things into levels of importance." But he also warns, "If people get too absorbed in making lists, it doesn't work. They have too many categories and lose their ability to decide which is the most important."
It's all a question of what works best for you, whether it's a tidy notebook, a packet of Post-it notes or the back of your hand. Having tried all these, student Kate Rollins relies on a computerized list, which is printed out each morning. "My electronic organizer has changed my life," she says. "Up to now, I've always relied on my good memory, but now that I'm working and studying, I find I've got too much to keep in my head."
So what are you waiting for? No, you're not too busy to make today the first day of your upgraded time-managed life. In fact, there's no better time than the present to begin to take increased control of your work and life. So, get out your pencil and pen and make a list. | high9354.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The higher and higher pay for their courses accounts for the rise of the UK students' dissatisfaction."
},
"options": [
"Most of the university students at UK are dissatisfied with their courses.",
"The higher and higher pay for th... | A study suggests that although most students at UK universities are happy with their courses, dissatisfaction has grown as fees rise.The study highlights a big variation in teaching time, and lists different ideas about the value of getting university degrees.
Katharine Collins, a second-year college student
The course has been very interesting, but I was expecting a little more one-to-one time with my teacher.
We do about four assignments each term, each of which is about 3,000 words.However, sometimes they are not that helpful.We hope to be given the right to write feedback after every assignment, but we had no feedback at all throughout the first year.We are given grades about three weeks after we hand the assignments in.There is no feedback on where we have gone wrong or how we might improve.
Lee Millington, a creative-writing student
I choose the courses because of its reputation.There is a lack of one-to-one teaching.I would like personalized feedback from an expert in my field of writing.Some of the lectures have been quite helpful but they try to use too many different styles of writing.For example, if you want to be a poet, you might find that the lectures focus too much on novels.
I think there is too much attention paid to sharing our work in workshops and giving each other feedback.I think there should be more time given to actual teaching, rather than to feedback from people who are at a similar level to me.
Reporters from Hounsdown Secondary School, Ella, 16
When I work independently, I feel I have more freedom to develop my ideas and come up with more original viewpoints.The price of university will still be worth it to get the qualifications necessary for better jobs.
Tyier, 16
Although the cost of university is very high now, I think university is required for gaining a good and well-paid job.
Agencies | high6067.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "31 Jan 2011 7:30 PM."
},
"options": [
"21 Jan 2011 6:30 PM.",
"23 Jan 2011 2:30 PM.",
"26 Jan 2011 2:30 PM.",
"31 Jan 2011 7:30 PM."
],
"question": "If you visit London in January, at which time can you see the ... | Book now to see Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss star in The Children's Hour at the Comedy Theatre in London.
Dates: 22 January 2011 to 31 January 2011
Times: 22 Jan 2011 6:30 PM; 24--29 Jan 2011 7:30 PM; 29 Jan 2011 2:30 PM; 31 Jan 2011 7:30 PM.
Place: Comedy Theatre
The Children's Hour
The Children's Hour by Lillian Hellman is a striking play about the power of a lie. Karen Wright (Keira Knightley) and Martha Dobie (Elisabeth Moss) run a girls' boarding school in the 1930s New England. When an angry student starts a rumour that the two headmistresses are having a lesbian affair, it gradually destroys the women's careers, relationships and lives. The Children's Hour is an upsetting story of cheat, shame and courage.
Banned in London and several cities across America, The Children's Hour received its world opening on Broadway in 1934. Generations on, its exploration of a culture of fear remains remarkably relevant.
Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss Star
Keira Knightley, nominee for Best Actress 2010 Evening Standard Awards for The Misanthrope, returns to the London stage. Knightley starred in Love Actually, The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy, Pride and Prejudice.
Elisabeth Moss, best-known for playing Peggy Olson in Mad Men, made her Broadway stage debut in David Mamet's Speed the Plow in 2008. The Children's Hour will be her West End debut.
Book The Children's Hour Tickets
Book theatre tickets to see The Children's Hour at London's Comedy Theatre today. With two big stars in the leading roles, The Children's Hour tickets are sure to sell fast. Book yours online now with Visit London's secure ticket booking partner on this wetsite. Just click the green book button to buy your The Children's Hour tickets. | high1708.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Pan Am Flight 103"
},
"options": [
"China Airlines' Flight 140",
"Pan Am Flight 103",
"Air France Flight 447",
"Swissair Jetliner Flight 111"
],
"question": "Which air crash resulted from terrorist attack ?",
... | Russia's security chief has blamed an act of terror for the Russian A321 airliner crash in Egypt last month which killed 224 people. Whatever happened, the tragedy raises sad memories of horrific airplane crashes that have cost thousands of lives in recent decades .
Some of the worst such incidents--like four crashes in frightening succession into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and rural Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001; the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland; and a 1977 crash involving the apparent hijacking of a Malaysian Airlines jet that left 100 dead--involved terrorist activity. But there are many others that did not, with mechanical problems, pilot error or other reasons blamed for loss of life. Below are some examples of the latter: crashes that left at least 200 people dead in each incident.
March 27 , 1977 : A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747 beginning its takeoff crashed into Pan American World Airways Boeing 747 then still on the runway at the Los Rodeos Airport at Tenerife in the Canary Islands. A total of 574 people, aboard both planes, died .
July 11 , 1991 : The landing gear of a Nigeria Airways DC-8 catches fire shortly after takeoff Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It doesn't make it back to the airport, crashing nose-down less than 10,000 feet short of the runway and killing all 261 people aboard.
April 26 , 1994 : The pilot of a China Airlines' Flight 140 alerts the control tower at Japan's Nagoya Airport of his intention not to land and try another approach. But something goes wrong and, a short time later, the Airbus A300 crashes leading to 264 deaths--though a few passengers do survive.
September 2 , 1998 : A Swiss air jetliner that had departed New York's Kennedy airport on its way to Geneva, Switzerland, goes down off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada; none of the 229 people aboard Flight 111 make it. Investigators believe that the MD-11 lost all electrical power immediately before the crash.
June 1 , 2009 : Air France Flight 447 is on the way from Rio de Janiero to Paris when it and its 228 passengers and crew go missing somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. It's not until five days later that the first bodies are found about 600 miles off the northern coast of Brazil. Two years later, French authorities blame the crash on equipment breakdown. | high12151.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "its power source"
},
"options": [
"its power source",
"its driving system",
"its monitoring system",
"its seating capacity"
],
"question": "One significant improvement in the future car will probably be _ .",... | Some pessimistic experts feel that the automobile is bound to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all autos will be abandoned and allowed to rust. Other authorities, however, think the auto is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of urban travel in the foreseeable future.
The motorcar will undoubtedly change significantly over the next 30 years. It should become smaller, safer, and more economical, and should not be powered by the gasoline engine. The car of the future should be far more pollution-free than present types.
Regardless of its power source, the auto in the future will still be the main problem in urban traffic congestion ( ). One proposed solution to this problem is the automated highway system.
When the auto enters the highway system, a retractable ( ) arm will drop from the auto and make contact with a rail, which is similar to those powering subway trains electrically. Once attached to the rail, the car will become electrically powered from the system, and control of the vehicle will pass to a central computer. The computer will then monitor all of the car 's movements.
The driver will use a telephone to dial instructions about his destination into the system. The computer will calculate the best route, and reserve space for the car all the way to the correct exit from the highway. The driver will then be free to relax and wait for the buzzer ( ) that will warn him of his coming exit. It is estimated that an automated highway will be able to handle 10,000 vehicles per hour, compared with the 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles that can be carried by a present-day highway. | high22092.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "quality"
},
"options": [
"design",
"comfort",
"quality",
"warmth"
],
"question": "Teenage girls prefer to wear UGG boots because of the following EXCEPT _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | UGG boots have been a winterweather fashion for several years now, combining function, comfort, warmth and even some style. What many UGGenthusiasts don't know is that their boots are a breeding ground for bacteria and cause foot problems.
Doctors believe the boots, which are particularly popular among young teenage girls, are leading to a rise in the number of people suffering pains in their feet and knees.
Dr. Ian Drysdale, head of the British College of Osteopathic Medicine, believes because the foot does not get the proper support on the inside, it will lead to more ankle, knee, hip and back problems. "These boots are not designed for outside wear. Just because something becomes a trend or fashionable doesn't mean it's good or right," he said. "The particular problem with this type of footwear is that it is unsupported. It's a slipper. You wouldn't normally expect to be doing outdoor activities from something that's indoor. If you decide to wear your pajamas outside all the time, someone will come up and say it's not a good idea." Dr. Drysdale explained that the feet issues become a particular problem among young teenage girls, whose bones are "plastic" and developing when they are growing. "If that structure is developing in an inappropriate way," he said,"then the ultimate structure will be _ ."
Mike O'Neill, a consultant surgeon, said,"As the foot slides around, you get wear and tear on the joints on the inside of the foot. The ankle is in the wrong position, the thigh bone also changes position, and you get an abnormal movement in the pelvis, which leads to back problems."
UGG Australia, who makes the designer version of the boots, told The Daily Wirror that their boots are "comfort" rather than "performance" footwear and consumers should be aware of "knockoffs " which lack reinforced heels in their boots. | high7379.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because life was not easy for everyone."
},
"options": [
"Because there was no coffee to drink.",
"Because there was nothing to talk about except complaints.",
"Because life was not easy for everyone.",
"Because there w... | The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and in life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and a variety of cups -- plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, some fine -- telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress."
"What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups."
"Now consider this: Life is the coffee and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and do not change the quality of life. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. So, don't let the cups drive you... enjoy the coffee instead." | high19004.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "He felt surprised because he didn't know the author."
},
"options": [
"He felt surprised because he didn't know the author.",
"He was happy because his daughter could gain excitement.",
"He was moved because the author was wi... | I was riding my special motorbike this past weekend and stopped at a convenience store. As I was getting my wheelchair off the back, a man watched me from his car and I noticed a wheelchair in his back seat. We spoke for a moment and I asked him about the wheelchair. He answered that it was for his daughter. "Well, do you think she would like to go for a ride on my motorbike with me?" I asked. He seemed shocked that a total stranger would ask him this. He thought about it for a second and said, "OK, as long as I can follow you."
He introduced me to Amy and he sat her on my back seat. Her father followed me for a few miles and she talked non-stop about what she wanted for Christmas.
As we came back to the convenience store, she said, "This ride is the best Christmas present I could ever receive. I have been in a wheelchair my whole life and didn't know I could do this." I told her about some of the other things I do (ski, travel the world by myself, etc.). As her father was taking her off my bike, she turned to him and said, "Oh Daddy, I'm going to be OK. Mr. Bryant does all kinds of things, and I will too." Her father turned away as a tear of joy rolled down his cheek. He hugged me and said, "I was sitting here praying for a gift for Amy that would encourage her. She often felt that her life was dull compared to other children. God answered my prayer just now. Now I pray that God will bless you for your gift to Amy today." I believed what he said. Being kind and thoughtful to others, we can be an answer to prayer. | high4670.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Just after the author arrived in India."
},
"options": [
"Before the author went to India.",
"In the mid - 19th century.",
"When the author arrived in Egypt.",
"Just after the author arrived in India."
],
"quest... | Dear Florence,
We arrived in India last week, and the voyage was the worst experience of my entire life. I'm lucky to be alive!
The first part of the journey was terrible, because the ship hit bad weather almost as soon as we left Liverpool. But much, much worse was to come. Later, we were involved in a collision with another boat and we had to abandon ship!
We had been at sea for about two weeks and we were in the Mediterranean. There is now a canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea called the Suez Canal, which opened last year. Our boat stopped at Port Said, the Egyptian port at the entrance to the canal. I remember looking through the porthole of my cabin and wishing that I could go ashore and visit this fascinating place, but mummy had ordered that I was to stay in the cabin because I was feeling ill. "you must stay here for at least another two days." I remember her saying. How wrong she would turn out to be! The ship left the port and headed towards the canal . I was alone in the cabin and I watched the port disappear into the distance. Suddenly there was a loud bang, followed by the most awful crunching sound, and the ship shook and turned slightly on its side.
There was an
for a moment, then people started shouting. Mummy came running into the cabin and told me that we had collided with another boat. She took my hand and we ran along the deck towards the lifeboats. There was a lot of shouting and people were running everywhere, but the crew were all acting calmly, helping people into the lifeboats and telling people not to panic.
Well, clearly we survived, as did all the passengers and crew of the ship. The other boat wasn't so lucky. It sank and several lives were lost.
I will write about the rest of the journey soon. Please give my love to Aunt Claire and Uncle Eric.
Your loving cousin,
Jane | high16337.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a boy and a girl"
},
"options": [
"a good-looking boy",
"an ugly girl",
"two good-looking children",
"a boy and a girl"
],
"question": "Once a man had _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | Once there was a man who had two children, a boy and a girl. The boy was good-looking but the girl was not.
One day they found a mirror for the first time and they saw what they looked like. The boy was very pleased and he said to his sister, "How handsome I am! I look much nicer than you!"
The girl did not like what her brother said and gave him a hard push.
"Go away!" she said.
Their father saw what was happening. He went up to them and said to the boy,
"You must always BE good as well as LOOK good."
Then to the girl he said, "My dear, if you help everyone and do your best to please him, everyone will love you. It does not matter that you are not as good-looking as your brother." | high11458.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Solar energy and wind"
},
"options": [
"Oil and coal",
"Hydrogen and gas",
"Electricity and gas",
"Solar energy and wind"
],
"question": "Which sources of energy play a more important role in people's daily life... | Welcome to the future. It's year 2050 and Scotland is now powered completely by"clean"energy.
Homes have entire roofs made of solar materials, rooms are kept warm by wallpaper, and people go to and from work in electric and hydrogen( ) cars.
Oil is still being found in the North Sea, but it's not now only used to keep aircraft flying. And a new 500---mile underwater link with Iceland has been built to catch heat from the hot springs. There's still a role for king coal--but _ are now environment---friendly.
People will be able to import the electricity they need and export any excess they make through rooftop windmills . New technology will store electricity better and provide it on demand. Heat exchangers will provide heating and hot water.
Harmful carbon dioxide waste is being piped offshore to St Fergus and from there into some of the remaining oil--producing fields to be stored safely without entering the atmosphere. Gas remains the preferred energy source of industry and is now shipped in liquid form. But hydrogen is imported through pipelines from France and from a geothermal plant in Iceland.
Hydrogen--fuelled cars have become popular. Electric bikes are common in cities using the new urban two--wheel network. Electric vehicles have become common, and their performances have been improved because of the developments in electrical drive technology like high--temperature super conducting motors. Many people leave their vehicles in a giant park where they can be recharged from the national electrical system . Oilseed rape is widely grown to fuel some motors . | high10746.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "who wanted a profitable job"
},
"options": [
"who was not afraid of police",
"who wanted a profitable job",
"who wished to earn $ 500 with two opportunities",
"who was fond of adventure"
],
"question": "The sort... | The writers of murder stories go to a great deal of trouble to keep up guessing right up to the end. In actual fact, people often behave more strangely in real life than they do in stories.
The following advertisement once appeared in a local newspaper: "An opportunity to earn $ 250 in a few minutes. A man... willing to chances, wanted for an out-of-the-ordinary job which can be performed only once. "A reader found this offer very nice and write to the advertiser. But being a bit suspicious , he gave a false name. Soon afterwards, he received a reply. Enclosed in the envelope was a typed note instructing him to ring a certain number if he was still interested. He did so and learned on the telephone that the advertiser wanted him "to get rid of somebody" and would discuss it more fully with him the next day. But the man told the police and from then on acted under their instructions.
The police saw the two men meet and watched them as they drove away together. In the car the advertiser came to the point at once; he told the man he wanted him to shoot his wife. The reason he gave was that he was suffering from a serious disease and wanted to live in a warmer country, but his wife objected to this. Giving the man some money, the advertiser told him to buy a gun and warned him to be careful of the dog, though it would not bite, it might attract attention. He also gave him a photograph of his wife so that he would be able to recognize her.
After that, the advertiser suggested that the man should "do the job" the next morning. At the same time he would prepare his wife by telling her that a young man was going to call. After the murder they would meet again outside a railway station and the money would be paid as arranged. The second meeting never took place, for the advertiser was arrested shortly afterwards and charged with attempting to persuade someone to murder his wife. | high17029.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "have their strong points"
},
"options": [
"are very clever and passionate",
"have their strong points",
"try to remove their own weak points",
"know how to be clever and bold"
],
"question": "One of the similari... | Just saw the superhero movie, Kick-Ass, and it raised an interesting question: just because we are not superhuman, can we lead a super-heroic life? I believe we can do it in some easy steps!
Activate our super powers.
Superheroes are all good at different things. Some are really fast, some can see things others can't, and some can move things with their mind. Also we all have special talents and passions. We just have to know what they are and develop them.
Try this. List several things you're especially good at-- we'll say these are your core super powers. Next, write down what makes each of your core super powers and look for chances to use them and improve them.
Get a _ or two.
Superheroes are out there all day, fighting the good fight. And who's there to help? Every superhero has teamed up with someone else to defeat some enemies they couldn't deal with alone.
We need a support team: one or more who can be trusted and will help us when necessary. Our team members should bring different, constructive perspectives and all kinds of super powers. But we must choose wisely.
Be brave and bold.
Does it take more courage to venture down a dark road or to face a life of no ventures at all? Both can be pretty scary. But we should be brave and bold just as some successful person said: "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition ."
Live the code.
Superheroes die to protect others. They don't cheat or lie or steal. They're good role models, and they do the right things even when nobody is watching.
Though nobody's perfect, yet we should learn from superheroes and struggle not to disobey the superhero code. Turn a friend down who trusts me? Of course I won't. | high14508.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "your attention is on the content"
},
"options": [
"your attention is on the content",
"you don't fully understand the speech",
"you don't know what the speaker plans to say",
"you find the way of speech-making more impo... | It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech.At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned.Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why ? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, _ .When such moments occur, don't worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.
Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that don't really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King's famous speech - " I have a dream", you may notice that he stumble his words twice during the speech.Most likely, however, you don't remember.Why? Because you were fixing your attention on its message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition.But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker's ideas clearly and directly.Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker's attractiveness by making him more human.
As you work on your speech, don't worry about being imperfect.Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely. | high1720.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "fast rate"
},
"options": [
"fast rate",
"complex passwords",
"unique experience",
"new interface"
],
"question": "The most attractive aspect of Windows 8 is its _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
}... | Windows 8, apart from Windows 95, is the biggest surprise and the only version of Microsoft' s operating system that has been changed from the core when compared to its former one. However, a recent study has shown that under 20% of business owners would be willing to upgrade to the new version of Windows. The reason for this remains to be discussed and debated, and we will try to throw light on this research by providing you with some of the most common advantages and disadvantages of Windows 8.
Generally speaking, there are a great number of plus sides related to upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
Speed -- This is the biggest advantage to mention. Boot time has been reported to be up to nine times shorter than that with Windows 7.
New passwords -- Instead of typing your passwords, Windows 8 will let you use gestures on your favorite photos to enter your password. This is not only practical but also extremely cool!
Windows 8 experience -- Apart from computers, Windows 8 will be used on all devices, including smart phones, tablet PC's and so on. Also, owing to the fact that it has been specifically designed with touch screen users in mind, Windows 8, besides using keyboard and mouse, will offer a whole new user experience.
However, there are still some disadvantages.
The first one that has to be mentioned is that there is no Start Menu from Windows. Yes, there is no Start button in the lower left corner, and this might be a real puzzle of many Windows users. Also, many users have had a problem to get used to the new interface introduced by Windows 8. The biggest problem that is worth noticing is that Windows 8 was originally designed for touch screen users, and this may have a bad effect on desktop users who have gotten used to doing everything with the help of their keyboard and mouse. | high12179.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Where there are no written records, there is no history."
},
"options": [
"\"Remembered history\" is less reliable than written history.",
"Written records of the past played a most important in our learning of the human history.",... | If we are asked exactly what we were doing a year ago, we might have to say that we could not remember. But if we had kept a book and written in it an account of what we did each day, we should be able to give an answer to the question.
It is the same in history. Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them. Sometimes men did keep a record of the important happenings in their country, but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war. Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to write. For example, we know a great deal about the people who lived in china 4,000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for whose who lived after them. But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa, because they had not learned go write.
Sometimes, of course, even if the people cannot write, they may know something of the past. They have heard about it from older people, and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings, and those have been sung and acted and told for many generations, for most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past. This we may call 'remembered history'. Some of it has now been written history, because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing. But where there are no written records, such spoken stories are often very helpful. | high7351.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Different music will cause different emotions in us."
},
"options": [
"Music may cheer you up, but it can't let you down.",
"Music used to comfort sport players in games.",
"Electronic music can affect our emotions much less.... | Listening to your favorite music can make a person feel great and can make their emotions change. The song you are listening to can affect how you feel. Different types of music may make you cry, laugh, or even feel anger. According to researches, music is a complex sound that causes a large variety of emotional responses in listeners.
_ . Researches have shown that basic emotions, such as happiness, anger, fear, and sadness, can be recognized in and created by musical stimuli in humans.
I know from experience that when I am in a bad mood, I'll listen to my favorite CD. I don't know what it is about the music but it just makes me feel better almost instantly. All of you have CDs or songs that make you feel great when you're feeling down. Music has that power and none of us realize that until we really think about it. The physical effects that music has on us are almost the same as the emotional ones.
Music can change you in many ways, depending on the kind of music you are being exposed to. According to "Music and Emotions", electronic music with loud sounds will physically affect you more easily than any other type of music. Certain types of music can give you courage and strengthen your willpower, while other types can make you relaxed. I can think of a good example for music bringing willpower and strength to you, when you are getting ready before a sport. The sport I play is football and I know that if I don't listen to a certain mix of songs, my head is all over the place. If I listen to some certain songs I become very energized and feel better about things.
Music affects your emotions in many ways. It also affects your physical status. Music also is the key to your enjoying of a movie. Music affects your emotions by being able to change your state of mind from a sad mood to a happy one. It can also make a person feel great before a competition. Music is also the key to Movies. Without music in movies there would be no suspense, no horror and no excitement. It makes movies what they are to us. | high8062.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "about 39% of shoppers will do more than half of their shopping in actual shops"
},
"options": [
"about 7 % of the population will do both online and actual shopping",
"about 31% of shoppers will do half of their shopping in actual ... | Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll has found. Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle of Christmas shopping becomes too much.
The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov. Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equal to around 7 percent of the adult population.
Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is 0ver-crow-ding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the cheek-out are the worst thing about it.
Of the 2.065 people pored, even those who are stir taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas. Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year. Just 2 percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing wi.th store staff this festival season.
Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street,humans are "social creatures" who actually like spending time together.
"Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away," said Mr. Boxall. | high3137.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "have diet trouble in the future"
},
"options": [
"have diet trouble in the future",
"cause trouble when they are older",
"have mental problems later in life",
"have difficulty in communication"
],
"question": "T... | Even before they start school, many young girls worry that they are fat. But a new study suggests watching a movie starring astereotypically thin and beautiful princess may not increase children's anxieties.
Nearly half of the 3 to 6 year old girls in a study by Professor Stacey Tantleff-Dunn and doctoral student Sharon Hayes said they worry about being fat. About one-third would change a physical feature, such as their weight or hair color.
The number of girls worried about being fat at such a young age concerns Tantleff-Dunn because of the potential effects later in life. Studies have shown young girls worried about their body image are more likely to suffer from eating disorders when they are older.
The encouraging news for parents is that taking their young daughters to see the new Disney film "The Princess and the Frog" isn't likely to influence how they see their bodies.
"The media have a great effect on how young girls see their bodies. That's why it's important for parents to use movies such as 'The Princess and the Frog,' to start conversations with their children about weight, skin color and their views of beauty. They can explain that princesses' tiny waists are not realistic for girls and that children don't need Cinderella's golden hair or Snow White'sporcelain skin to look good," Tantleff-Dunn said.
"We need to help our children challenge the images of beauty, particularly thinness, that they see and idolize, and encourage them to question how much appearance should be part of their self-worth," said Tantleff-Dunn. "We should help them build a positive self-image with an appreciation for many different types of body features." And as their children's most important role models, parents also should avoid criticizing their own bodies. | high11470.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "disrespectfully"
},
"options": [
"excitedly",
"embarrassingly",
"politely",
"disrespectfully"
],
"question": "In the four Japanese gentlemen's eyes, Geri took their cards _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_que... | A fellow speaker from California named Geri flew to Japan, in her favorite jeans and a casual jacket, to give her first speech. Fourteen hours later, four perfectly dressed Japanese gentlemen greeted her at Narita Airport. Smiling and bowing low, they handed her their business cards. With her bag in one hand, Geri took their cards with the other. She thanked them, glanced briefly at the cards, and put them into her jeans pocket quickly.
When the five of them arrived at the hotel, they invited Geri to tea in the lobby . While sipping tea, the gentlemen presented her with a small gift which she eagerly opened. She was thrilled with the gift and shouted excitedly, "Oh, it's beautiful!"
At this point, the four Japanese gentlemen stood up and, bowing only very slightly, said "Sayonara" and left immediately. Poor Geri was left astonished. What did she do wrong?
Everything! Her jeans were the first gaffe. Even if you're coming off a bicycle in Japan, you do not meet c1ients casually dressed. The second mistake was Geri's handling of their business cards rudely. In Japan, the business card is one of the most important communicative tools. It is always presented and accepted respectfully with both hands. However, Geri put their cards away much too quickly. In Japan, people use business cards as a conversation starter. You chat about each other's cards and work and do not put theirs away until they gently and respectfully place yours in safekeeping. Putting it carelessly into her jeans pocket was the ultimate disrespect.
Then, the fourth horror of horrors was that Geri should not have opened the gift in front of her clients. In a land where saving face is critical, it would be embarrassing to discover the gift they gave was not as nice as the one they received. What is worse, Geri hadn't even given them a gift! | high4880.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Miller's unusual path to fame and fortune."
},
"options": [
"What kind person Michael Scofield is.",
"Miller's unusual path to fame and fortune.",
"Why Fox's Prison Break became a huge hit.",
"How special Miller is in t... | Prison Break is a huge hit thanks to its handsome star,Wentworth Miller. His actor, Michael Scofield, is the engine that drives the show.
Michael Scofield is one of the most interesting personalities on television today. But what about the man behind the character?
Miller,35,is a hard guy to figure out. He does not come from a normal background and has never lived his life in a typical way.
Milier didn't take a direct path to fame and fortune. He graduated from Princeton University in 1995,not with a degree in theatre or film, but in English. He didn't even act when he was in college. His only performance experience was in his university's singing group. Yet, at graduation Miller still decided to make the move to prefix = st1 /Hollywood.
Miller has always been different. Although he is American, he was born in Britainwhen his father was studying there. His family background is also a special mix of cultures. "My father is black and my mother is white. That means I have always been caught in the middle. I could be either one, which can make you feel out of place," Miller says.
Following his unusual path,Miller did not start trying out for films and TV shows when he first got to Hollywood. Instead, he worked as a lowly production assistant. Not what you would expect from a Princeton graduate. However, _ .
In 2002,Miller played a role in the drama Dinotopia. He starred as a thoughtful and shy man. Producers remembered his performance when they were castingPrison Breaktwo years later. With a golden globe nomination and another season of Prison Breakon his resume ,Miller seems ready to take over all of Hollywood. | high17001.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "is often too busy to feed his dog"
},
"options": [
"wants his friends to feed Toby",
"has very strong computing skills",
"is often too busy to feed his dog",
"doesn't like to feed Toby by hand."
],
"question": "... | A British dog-lover has invented a high-tech way of feeding his pet by Twitter( ,). Computer expert Nat Morris ,30, has designed a system to give his pet a "tweet treat" by sending him a Twitter message.
His dog Toby gets some delicious dog biscuits from a computer-controlled food machine whenever Nat sends a message to "@ feedtoby".
Nat often works away from home and isn't always able to feed Toby by hand. But his new invention allows Nat to feed his dog from anywhere in the world.
Nat said, "Toby ly loves it. At first he didn't know what was going on. Now he sits underneath the machine, wagging his tail and waiting for the food to drop."
Nat fills the food machine with small pieces of dog biscuits, but not too many in case four-year-old Toby gets too many messages. And Nat has even equipped his house with an online camera so he can see Toby enjoying the food at his home.
But one problem is that friends and family have been so amazed with the "tweet treat" machine that they have started sending tweets to Toby too. So Nat has had to restrict feeding time to make sure Toby doesn't turn into Tubby.
"People have been sending him tweets at all hours of the day, so I had to limit it to between 9a.m. and 9 p.m. . I'm thinking of doing an updated one which can measure his weight before he is fed, just to make sure he's not putting on too much puppy fat," explained Nat.
How Nat's Twitter Feeder works:
When a message is sent to @ feedtoby, it is received by a mini -computer that is linked to the feed machine.
When the mini-computer receives the message, a bell rings and Toby comes running over and sits in front of the feeding machine. Next, the machine's motor pulls open a trap door which releases a serving of food.
The doggy biscuits then drop into Toby's food bowl. Finally a digital camera takes a photo of him and sends it back to Nat on Twitter -- so he knows Toby has been fed. | high18332.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "make the public aware of the danger of drunk driving"
},
"options": [
"make the public aware of the danger of drunk driving",
"fight against the drunk hit-and-run drivers on the road",
"make new laws against crimes caused by ... | In 1980,Candy Lightner's 13-year-old daughter Cad was killed by a drunk driver as she walked down a suburban street in California. "I promised myself on the day of my daughter's death that I would fight to make this needless accident count for something positive in the years ahead," Candy Lightener later wrote.
The drunk driver received a two-year prison sentence. However, he avoided prison by serving time in a work camp and a halfway house. Ms. Lightner was very angry about that and so organized Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD), which later changed to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The aim of her organization was to raise public awareness of the serious nature of drunk driving and to promote tough legislation against the crime.
Before Ms. Lightner's MADD, intoxication , including drunk driving, was not taken seriously. Intoxication was often used as an excuse for otherwise unacceptable behavior: "I didn't know what I was doing--I was drunk."
Candy Lightner appeared on major television shows, spoke before the US Congress, addressed professional and business, groups, and worked tirelessly for years to change public attitudes, change judicial behaviour, and promote tough new legislation. Ms. Lightner left MADD because the organization that she herself created is changing its focus. "I didn't start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving."
The President of the United States awarded her the President's Volunteer Action Award and she was the subject of the movie "Mothers Against Drunk Drivers: the Candy Lightner Story". | high5546.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Several years."
},
"options": [
"Several days.",
"Several weeks.",
"Several months.",
"Several years."
],
"question": "How long did Ian work as a highway robber?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
... | Ian became a highway robber to support his family. He continued as a robber day after day and year after year.
One day, Ian went to rob a traveler. Unlike those who have been robbed by him before, the traveler showed no fear and asked, "Why do you do this every day?" Ian was surprised and answered without thinking, "Because I have a family. Robbing is the only way I can earn money to support my family." "Are your family members prepared to share your punishment with you?" Ian was puzzled and said he didn't know. The traveler told him to go home and ask them.
Ian asked his wife, "Do you know how I work to support you?" His wife replied, "Yes, I know." Ian asked, "Are you going to share the punishment I'll get for the way I earn my living?" His wife answered, "No. You married me and you should take care of me."
Next, his parents replied, "Son, we raised you with great care. Now we don't have the energy to work. So it's your duty to look after us. We won't share any of the punishments placed upon you for what you've done."
Ian hadn't expected their answers. He became sad and returned to the traveler. Ian told him all the conversations. The traveler said, "You have to take the consequences yourself." Ian thanked him for letting him see the errors in his ways. After this incident, Ian started learning in order to work and support the family in legal ways. | high17767.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Four."
},
"options": [
"One.",
"Two.",
"Three.",
"Four."
],
"question": "How many aspects show that whales are mammals?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2... | Imagine when you are sailing an ocean for the first time, you see a big fish swimming near your ship. You might be scared, and worried about whether it will turn over your ship for a meal. In fact, it is not a fish at all, but a gentle giant whale.
Whales are not fishes but mammals . Their body temperature stays the same, and does not change with the temperature of their environment. They breathe air, so they have to come out of the water to get oxygen. Thus, they cannot afford to fall into a sleeping state for too long, since they need to be awake in order to breathe. It is thought that only half of their brains sleep at a time, so that whales are never completely asleep. Females give birth to the young. They have hair. Although they are not covered in hair or fur like many mammals, whales have some bristles , usually on their heads.
Whales are highly social animals with complex languages and intelligence. They communicate with each other using romantic sounds, called "whale songs". Being so large and powerful, these sounds are also loud.
Whales are endangered as a result of whaling from the eleventh century to the twentieth. It has attracted the attention of environmentalists and some measures have been taken to protect whales. | high3889.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "optimism"
},
"options": [
"firmness",
"humour",
"optimism",
"talent"
],
"question": "Reagan can be best described as a man with _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"ans... | Lifeguard, sportscaster, movie star, governor, president----there wasn't much Ronald Reagan didn't do in life.
"The world was a vast opportunity for him," Lou Cannon wrote in his biography of the former US president, who died on June 5,2004, aged 93.
Reagan's final years saw him fight a losing battle against Alzheimer's disease . But his positive attitude toward life has given hope to many people.
Born in 1911 to a poor family in a small town in Illinois, his father was a failed salesman who drank too much. It was in these difficult times, though, that Reagan developed the powerful optimism that would serve him so well. He always believed better times lying ahead, and this was reflected in his high school yearbook entry. "Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music," he wrote.
As a teenager, Reagan spent summers working as a lifeguard at a local beach, saving 77 lives in seven years. He graduated from college in 1932 with a degree in economics and sociology. But America was still in the middle of the Great Depression, and jobs were hard to find. Reagan finally found work as a radio sports announcer and this road led him to Hollywood in 1937.
During the 20---year film career, he never became a leading star. As in his lifeguard days, Reagan loved to play the hero and only took the role of a bad guy once in more than 50 films.
A talented speaker who was always able to connect with his audience, Reagan became involved in politics in the 1950s. This popular touch led to him being elected the governor of California in 1967.
All the while Reagan was in California, he had his eye on the White House. In 1980, aged 69, he became the oldest man ever elected president.
He held office from 1981 to 1989, the first president to serve two complete terms after World War II. When he left, aged 77, he held the highest popularity rate of any retiring president in US history.
He remained positive even when he discovered he had an illness that would destroy him. "I will leave with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal(optimism for its future,"he wrote. | high5220.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "offer him some reasonable advice"
},
"options": [
"give up our benefit to help him",
"leave him alone and let him calm down",
"listen to him quietly",
"offer him some reasonable advice"
],
"question": "From this... | Finding a good friend can be quite difficult in the contemporary lives of teenagers. I was once baffled by what the definition of a good friend was,until I discovered a single step that,if taken,would make you the greatest friend.
It is willingness. That is all it takes in order to be considered a good friend. Willingness must come from within your heart. Listening to your friends makes them feel important, special and wanted. The will to sacrifice for your friends will also take you a step closer to being a good friend. For instance,as you are about to leave to enjoy your Saturday night,your best friend calls you right when you are stepping out and tells you how terrible he feels,and then you must be willing to give up your Saturday night and go to your friend's house and try to comfort him in any way that you can.
You must always be willing to give advice to your friends. For example, if your friends are in a situation where they do not know what to do,you must be willing to think things through and try to give them the best advice. The willingness to care is also a big must in being a good friend. You must care about how your friends feel and what they're experiencing. Caring about your friends is one of the best things you can do,because when your friends are in their time of need and the whole world seems to turn against them,you must be the one to care.
Nobody ever said being a good friend was easy. If you want to be a good friend,you have to be willing to listen, sacrifice,give advice and care about your friends. | high10008.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To attract more tourists."
},
"options": [
"To introduce the beautiful scene in Oahu.",
"To tell the writer attractions in Hawaii.",
"To attract more tourists.",
"To describe a wonderful tour in Oahu."
],
"quest... | This tour takes you back in history to a moment that "will live in infamy . " Explore the historic artifacts at the Arizona Memorial Visitor Center commemorating the attack on Pearl Harbor, then travel around beautiful Oahu on a Circle Island guided bus tour.
The Arizona Memorial Visitor Center is Hawaii's number one visitor attraction. View the film of the attack on Pearl Harbor and browse the historic artifacts on display. Then ride the Navy launch across Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial. Then, board a tour bus for a scenic trip around the island of Oahu. Get your cameras ready for the beautiful view over Windward Oahu at Nu'uanu Pali Lookout. Visit Byodo-In Temple, which is set against a picturesque mountain backdrop.
You'll also see the famous North Shore surfing beaches of Sunset, Banzai Pipeline, and Waimea Bay and drive through rustic Haleiwa Town. Visit Dole Plantation and discover the history of Hawaii's pineapple industry before enjoying a no host lunch at the Polynesian Cultural Center (lunch is not included in the listed-price).
Inclusions: Scenic bus tour of Oahu island
Film viewing at Arizona Memorial Visitor Center. Pearl Harbor
Visit of Byodo-In Temple and Dole Plantation
Available:
Mon. --Fri.
Hours of operation:
7 AM to 5 PM
Note:
Strict security measures forbid purses, handbags, fanny packs, backpacks, camera bags, diaper bags, luggage and/or other items. Visitors may bring a camera and cam-recorder. A storage facility, operated by a private vendor, is available for visitors coming to the USS Arizona Memorial, USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, the Battleship Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Museum. | high3651.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the chance to get free from the reality"
},
"options": [
"the chance to get free from the reality",
"learning something from the books",
"a shelter from a sudden shower",
"the surrounding of books"
],
"question"... | Time spent in a bookshop can be most enjoyable, whether you are book-lover or only there to buy a book as a present. You may even have entered the shop just to find a shelter from a sudden shower. Whatever the reason is, you can soon be totally unaware of your surroundings. You soon become attracted in some books or others, and usually it is only much later that you realize you have spent too much time there and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointments.
This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is the main attraction of a bookshop.
A music shop is very much like a bookshop. You can wander round such a place to your heart's content. If it is a good shop, no assistant will approach you with the greeting "Can I help you?" You needn't buy anything you don't want. In a bookshop an assistant should remain in the back ground until you have finished reading. Then, and only then, are his services necessary.
Once a medical student had to read a text book which was far too expensive for him to buy. He couldn't obtain it from the library and the only copy he could find was in a certain bookshop. Every afternoon, therefore, he would go along to the shop and read a little of the book at a time. One day, however, he was disappointed to find the book missing from its usual place. He was about to leave, when he noticed the owner of the shop beckoning to him. Expecting to be told off, he went towards him. To his surprise, the owner pointed to the book which was tucked away in a corner. "I put it there in case anyone was tempted to buy it!" he said, and left the delighted student to continue his reading. | high11316.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Da Zhai Men offers performances and popular Chinese foods 9 hours daily."
},
"options": [
"You can enjoy seafood buffet in Kerry Center Hotel on May 13th.",
"Da Zhai Men offers performances and popular Chinese foods 9 hours daily."... | Seafood buffet
Treat your mother to a buffet lunch featuring an array of seafood at Days Hotel & Suites Beijing. There are oysters and sashimi, as well as an on-site grill of various meat and seafood, plus dumplings. Other selections are savory soup and delicate dessert. Your mother will receive a hand-made festival gift. 11:30 am, MAY 13TH. 6773-1234 Ext 3930.
Sunday buffet
Cafe 99 at Regent Beijing offers a sumptuous Sunday buffet with caviar and free flow of champagne and wines on Mother's Day, May 13.11:30 am-3 pm. 8522-1789.
Shaanxi style
Chefs from Shaanxi Province treat customers to authentic local noodles at the Regal Palace Chinese Restaurant, Days & Suites Beijing, including Qishan noodles with spicy and sour pork sauce, oil-sprayed noodles, besides based cakes with pork stuffing, and mutton soup with steamed buns. 8778-9888 Ext 262.
Da Zhai Men
Traditional Chinese architecture, performances and popular Chinese foods. Daily 11 am- 2 pm, 5 pm-11pm. Guoxing Jiayuan, Shouti Nanlu, Xicheng District. 8835-6687.
Da Zhai Men
Traditional Chinese architecture, performances and popular Chinese foods. Daily 11 am-2pm, 5pm-11pm. Guoxing Jiayuam, Shouti Nanlu,, Xicheng District. 8835-6687.
Mughal's Beijing Restaurant
Classic curry dishes and many other famous Pakistani/Xinjiang halal dishes(English menu). Lunch buffet every working day for 38 yuan per person. Live dance performances every day (starting at 7:30 pm). There is a big open-air terrace. Daily 11 am-midnight, Rm 5188, 5th Floor, 3.3 Fashion Plaza, 33 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District. 5136-5575.
Brunch
Pay tribute to Mom with a brunch fest at the Kerry Center Hotel. Complimentary chocolates, flowers and a glass of champagne add to the festive environment, Starting at 11:30 am, Sunday May 13.6561-8833 Ext 40. | high7437.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because people may be misled to stop the battle."
},
"options": [
"Because celebrations may increases infections.",
"Because the pattern of the disease is up and down.",
"Because people may be misled to stop the battle.",
... | The World Health Organization has for the first time expressed "cautious optimism" that the growth in new Ebola cases in West Africa may be slowing down.
Bruce Aylward, who is in charge of the WHO response to Ebola, said in Geneva that he was particularly encouraged by evidence of a downward trend in Liberia, one of the three worst-affected countries.
The WHO's official total number of Ebola cases has reached 13,703 - a big jump from the10,141 cases it reported four days ago. But Dr Aylward said that was mainly the result of the data being updated with old cases, rather than new cases arising.
"Do we feel confident that the response is now getting an upper hand on the virus? Yes, we are seeing a slowing rate of new cases, very definitely," Dr Aylward said.
However, Dr Aylward also urged people not to celebrate pre-maturely over any apparent downturn in the epidemic . "I'm terrified that the information will be misunderstood and people will think Ebola is under control," he said.
Any reduction in the battle against the virus might lead to "an oscillating pattern where the disease moves up and down".
The improvement in Liberia seems to be due to a combination of more treatment facilities, better contact tracing and safer burial practices, together leading to fewer new infections from Ebola patients.
In Sierra Leone the number of cases continues to increase in some areas. "We're still seeing this thing _ in parts of Sierra Leone," Dr Aylward said
Tracing the progress of individual patients, the WHO estimates an overall death rate of 70 percent, though people who receive treatment in a well-equipped clinic are slightly less likely to die. The WHO plans to set up 56 Ebola clinics with 4,700 beds in West Africa. Of these 15 clinics with 1,050 beds are already operational and another 22 clinics are expected to open during November.
Meanwhile, two former NATO secretaries-general and dozens of leading European politicians have urged the alliance to send troops, aircraft and ships to west Africa to help contain the Ebola crisis. | high8704.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "lost his father when he was young"
},
"options": [
"lost his father when he was young",
"worked hard before he read his father's letter",
"asked his father's permission to believe in himself",
"knew exactly what great t... | My father was 44 and knew he wasn't going to make it to 45. He wrote me a letter and hoped that something in it would help me for the rest of my life.
Since the day I was 12 and first read his letter, some of his words have lived in my heart. One part always stands out. "Right now, you are pretending to be a timekiller . But I know that one day, you will do something great that will set you among the very best." Knowing that my dad believed in me gave me permission to believe in myself. "You will do something great." He didn't know what that would be, and neither did I, but at times in my life when I've felt proud of myself, I remember his words and wish he were here so I could ask, "Is this what you were talking about, Dad? Should I keep going?"
A long way from 12 now, I realize he would have been proud when I made any progress. Lately, though, I've come to believe he'd want me to move on to what comes next: to be proud of, and believe in, somebody else. It's time to start writing my own letters to my children. Our children look to us with the same unanswered question we had. Our kids don't hold back because they're afraid to fail. They're only afraid of failing us. They don't worry about being disappointed. Their fear-as mine was until my father's letter-is of being a disappointment.
Give your children permission to succeed. They're waiting for you to believe in them.
I always knew my parents loved me. But trust me: That belief will be more complete, that love will be more real, and their belief in themselves will be greater if you write the words on their hearts:"Don't worry; you'll do something great." Not having that blessing from their parents may be the only thing holding them back. | high13501.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "kids have too many electronic devices to choose from"
},
"options": [
"many teenagers lack friends in their middle school",
"kids have too many electronic devices to choose from",
"Brandon feels annoyed about his late-night m... | It's 10:30 p.m., and 11-year-old Brandon Blanco is sound asleep at home. Suddenly, a loud noise wakes him up. Naturally, Brandon reaches for his cell phone. He blinks twice, and the message on the screen becomes clear: "R U awake?"
But the late-night text does not annoy Brandon. He gets frequent messages and calls, even after bedtime. And he can't imagine life without them. "If I didn't have a cell phone, I wouldn't be able to talk to my friends or family as often," he told the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Brandon's use of technology doesn't stop there. He also has a computer, a TV and three video-game consoles in his room. With so many devices, it is no surprise that when he is not at school, he spends nearly every waking minute using one or more of these devices. Brandon is hardly alone. According to a recent study by TFK, kids aged 8 to 18 are spending more time than ever before using electronic devices. How much time? More than seven and a half hours a day on average, the study found. That's about an hour more than just five years ago.
The jump is the result of a huge explosion in mobile devices, says Victoria Rideout, the lead author of the study. "These devices have opened up many more opportunities for young people to use media, whether it's on the bus, on the way to school or waiting in line at the pizza parlor," says Rideout.
Often, kids multitask, or use more than one device at a time. "If you've got a chance to do something on your computer and take a phone call and have the TV on in the background, why not?" Media expert Cheryl Olson says. Most experts agree technology has much to offer kids. But some worry the kids could be missing out on other activities like playing outside or hanging out with friends. "It's a matter of balance," says Olson.
Multitasking while doing homework is another concern. Some kids listen to music, watch TV or use the phone while doing their homework. "It's important to make sure that you can stop and concentrate on one thing deeply," says Rideout.
With new and exciting devices hitting stores every year, keeping technology use _ is more important than ever. "Kids should try," adds Rideout. "But parents might have to step in sometimes." | high1046.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "errors caused by both drivers and GPS"
},
"options": [
"human errors",
"GPS errors",
"errors caused by both drivers and GPS",
"errors caused by putting in a wrong address"
],
"question": "According to Barry Brow... | Global Positioning Systems are now a part of everyday driving in many countries.These satellitebased systems provide turnbyturn directions to help people get to where they want to go.However,they can also cause a lot of problems,send you to the wrong place or leave you completely lost.Many times,the driver is to blame.Sometimes a GPS error is responsible.Most often,says Barry Brown,it is a combination of the two.
Barry Brown is with the Mobile Life Centre in Stockholm,Sweden.He told us about an incident involving a friend who had flown to an airport in the eastern United States.There he borrowed a GPSequipped car to use during his stay.Mr Brown says,"They just plugged in an address and then set off to their destination.And,then it wasn't until they were driving for thirty minutes that they realized they actually put in a destination back on the West Coast where they lived.They actually put their home address in.So again,the GPS is kind of 'garbage in garbage out'."
Mr Brown says this is a common human error,but what makes the problem worse has to do with some of the shortcomings,or failures,of GPS equipment.He says,"One problem with a lot of the GPS units is they have a very small screen and they just tell you the next turn.Because they just give you the next turn,sometimes that means that it is not really giving you the overview that you would need to know that it's going to the wrong place."
Mr Brown says,"One of the things that struck us,perhaps the most important thing was that you have to know what you're doing when you use a GPS.There are these new skills that people have developed.There are these new competencies that you need to have to be able to use a GPS because they sometimes go wrong.This goes against a common belief that GPS systems are for passive drivers who lack navigational skills."
Barry Brown says to make GPS systems better we need a better understanding of how drivers,passengers and GPS systems work together. | high6729.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Kind-hearted"
},
"options": [
"Talkative",
"Creative",
"Kind-hearted",
"Well-known"
],
"question": "Which of the following words can best describe Shari?",
"question_type": null
}
] | My granddaughter, Shari, owns The Berry Factory in Sacramento, California, and her mother, Joan, and I were helping with the Valentine's Day rush. We'd dipped hundreds of berries, arranged gift baskets and packaged orders to be shipped around the country.
By the end of the day, the two middle-aged women, Joan and I, were exhausted. Shari didn't seem tired. That was typical Shari. Though she was very busy, I'd seen her give away berries to everybody -- parking attendants, mail carriers and hairdressers. "For me?" they would say, bursting into a smile.
As a "thank you", Shari took us out for dinner. But there was a 45-minute wait at her favorite restaurant. "No big deal. There's another place just up the road," she said, driving us there. This time we walked right in.
When the waitress came to take our drink orders, Shari reached into her handbag, pulling something out. "I want you to have these," she said, handing the waitress a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries. "She will love those berries!" I thought. But the waitress seemed _ . She only let out a "thank you" before grabbing the box and rushing into the kitchen.
A few minutes later, the waitress returned with our iced tea. "I apologize," she said. "My best friend and I had promised to send each other something every Valentine's Day. But she passed away last year. I didn't know how I'd get through this day without her. Then you handed me that box.""I'm so sorry to hear that," said Shari. "It's not much, but I hope you can enjoy them.""Oh, I will," the waitress said. "See, every year we always sent each other the same thing; a box of chocolate-dipped strawberries bought from our favourite store, The Berry Factory." | high15164.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The word \"MOOCs\" is short for \" massive open online campuses\"."
},
"options": [
"The word \"MOOCs\" is short for \" massive open online campuses\".",
"Anyone who has a computer and an Internet connection can take MOOCs.",
... | MOOCs, short for "massive open online courses," mark an important, possibly revolutionary, development in education. These courses are on line, free of charge, and open to anyone in the world who has a laptop and an Internet connection. Moreover, they are mainly offered by great universities like Stanford, Berkeley, Harvard and Columbia.
The courses are arranged according to how difficult they are, enabling students to progress from beginners to the advanced. The courses cover not only a broad range of science subjects such as math and computer science, but also courses in social sciences and humanities. Though MOOCs are not offered for credit and degree, many students enroll in the courses for real skills or knowledge which they can put to some practical use.
The format seems better than the traditional school class. The average quality of the lecturers is much higher. Besides, students can learn back and forward-that is, they can go at their own learning speed, which they can't do in a live lecture. And, more importantly, they don't have to travel anywhere to attend an online lecture. There is a problem of asking questions of the lecturer in a class of ten thousand students, but some MOOCs have solved it by allowing students to post questions on line for a vote, and only the most popular questions are put to the lecturer.
In a knowledge age, lifelong learning is not _ to a traditional classroom. Students taking MOOCS are usually very clever, have work experience, and in many cases, have already developed a set of practical skills. Moreover, they also offer unique international perspectives that would be the envy of any school classroom. | high8710.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The idea of smart guns is not realistic."
},
"options": [
"Gun crime has been greatly reduced.",
"The idea of smart guns is not realistic.",
"Gun control will not succeed in America.",
"Guns-related deaths deserve publi... | "If we can set it up so you can't unlock your phone unless you've got the right fingerprint ," Barack Obama asked last Tuesday, "why can't we do the same thing for our guns?" For this reasonable-sounding question, the president was praised throughout the media.
As it happens, though, there is a good answer to this question: there is no market for guns that work just some of the time. Guns are simple things designed to operate as easily and reliably as possible. The introduction of electronics eats away this simplicity, and to a degree that is absolutely unacceptable to the consumer. As President Obama well knows, the fingerprint software on his phone works rather _ : Often it takes a user two or three tries to log in; occasionally, it falls asleep deeply and obeys the password. When this happens on an phone, the user is mildly inconvenienced. If this were to happen on a gun, the user would be dead. There is a reason that modern smartphones put the camera function outside of the authentication process.
How could we possibly think that guns are the same as other commercial products? It is true that, say, cars have become considerably safer over the last few decades; true, too, that "research" has contributed to this improvement. But it matters enormously that a car is not intended to hurt people, and that in a perfect world nobody would ever be injured by one. Can we say the same of guns? Of course not. Guns are killing machines, designed to do damage to living things. In fact, they have no other purpose. As such, the salient question before any free people is not "are guns dangerous?" they are, but "who gets them, and why?"
This is not to say that nothing at all can be done to improve public safety. On an individual level, gun owners should do everything to ensure that their guns are kept away from children, and, where possible, they should train themselves in case they are ever called upon to shoot in anger. At the national level, the combination of better policing and economic growth can help to reduce crime--and, indeed, it has. In 1993, gun crime was more than twice as common as it is now, and there were fewer guns in circulation. Unpleasant as it is in its own right, that we have reached the point at which two-thirds of all guns-related deaths are deliberately self-inflicted is a small victory.
How to deal with those deaths that remain? That is a tricky one. I do not know the answer, and nor, frankly, does anybody else. But selling fantasies to the ignorant is not going to cut it. | high13515.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time"
},
"options": [
"he often wore khaki pants and a sports shirt",
"he couldn't stand a clean appearance",
"he wanted his clothes to look neat all the time",
"he didn't want... | Five years ago, David Smith wore an expensive suit to work every day. "I was a clothes addict," he jokes. "I used to carry a fresh suit to work with me so I could change if my clothes got wrinkled." Today David wears casual clothes--khaki pants and sports shirt--to the office. He hardly ever wears a necktie. "I'm working harder than ever," David says, "and I need to feel comfortable."
More and more companies are allowing their office workers to wear casual clothes to work. In the United States, the change from formal to casual office wear has been gradual. In the early 1990s, many companies allowed their employees to wear casual clothes on Friday, but only on Friday. This became known as "dress-down Friday" or "casual Friday". "What started out as an extra one-day-a-week benefit for employees has really become an everyday thing." said business consultant Maisly Jones.
Why have so many companies started allowing their employees to wear casual clothes? One reason is that it's easier for a company to attract new employees if it has a casual dress code. "A lot of young people don't want to dress up for work," says the owner of a software company, "so it's hard to hire people if you have a conservative dress code." Another reason is that people seem happier and more productive when they are wearing comfortable clothes. In a study conducted by Levi Strauss Company, 85 percent of employers said that they believe that casual dress improves employee morale . Only 4 percent of employers said that casual dress has a negative effect on productivity. Supporters of casual office wear also argue that a casual dress code helps them save money. "Suits are expensive, if you have to wear one every day," one person said. "For the same amount of money, you can buy a lot more casual clothes." | high1052.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "was put on to a computer in 1984"
},
"options": [
"was put on to a computer in 1984",
"was published at the year when Dr. Johnson died",
"was published 200 years after Dr. Johnson died",
"was put on to a computer in 198... | It is an odd coincidence that in the year when the Oxford English Dictionary is being put on to a computer, which will be able to read all of it in 10 minutes, we should also be celebrating the bicentenary of the death of the last man to write an English dictionary only with single-handed-Dr. Samuel Johnson.
Johnson's dictionary took him eight years from 1747 to 1755, working in the attic of his prefix = st1 /Londonhome, now one of the city's tourist sights. Then, it was like a counting house with his copyists on high stools, transcribing the works and their illustrative contexts, which he had underlined in his wide range of reading.
He had six assistants and finished his task in eight years. The editor of the Oxford dictionary had 25 lexicographers to assist him and, although the first volume was published in 1884, the last supplement would not be ready until next year-101 years later. The present editor, Robert Burchfield, had put 28 years into it.
Yet Johnson's dictionary was still being used until the Oxford dictionary replaced it, and it was regularly reprinted long after his death in 1784. It was written, he said, to refine the English language,"to clear it from colloquial barbarisms and licentious idioms."
It certainly bore the stamp of one man's personality. Many of his definitions show his sense of humor. "Novel", for instance, is defined as "a small tale, generally of love", and"dull" is illustrated by the sentence:"To make dictionaries is a dull work." | high22910.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "to have a picnic"
},
"options": [
"to read books",
"to have a picnic",
"to do morning exercises",
"to catch dogs"
],
"question": "The writer went to the park with his teachers _ .",
"question_type": "cloz... | Dae Jon is the city in South Korea, where I was born and grew up. There was a public park there. It was a very popular place, and I have tons of precious memories from times spent there.
Our teachers often took us to that park for a spring or fall picnic. When I learned martial arts --Tae Kwon Do, my master usually took us there to train us. There was a hill there which was not high, so I could reach the peak within forty minutes even though I was very young. From the peak, I could see a lot of places if it was a sunny day.
There was a huge rock on the top called Eagle Rock because the shape of the rock looked like the head of an eagle. We spent lots of fun days there. We played hide-and-seek within the limited area, and we sometimes caught frogs and fish in the pond. When we felt thirsty, we enjoyed drinking cold spring water.
When I was a ten-year-old boy, I usually went to the park with my father to exercise early in the morning. It was quite dark, so I sometimes felt afraid, but after I got used to going there, I enjoyed breathing the fresh air and hearing the birds sing.
Recently, I went back to the park to remember my good times there. When I arrived at the entrance, I was surprised because it didn't seem to be the same as I remembered it. Everything has changed in the thirteen years since I last saw it, but the good memories soon came back. I could almost imagine a boy playing there with a slight smile and shaking hands with me. | high5234.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "laughter makes a person feel good"
},
"options": [
"laughter makes a person feel good",
"laughter depends on different senses",
"rats like to be tickled very much",
"laughter is a social response shared by all creatures... | Why Laughter Matters
Although most people believe that laughter is one of the nature's great treatments for a whole range of mental and physical diseases, it is still a serious scientific subject that researchers are trying to figure out.
"Laughter above all else is a social thing," says Baltimore neuroscientist, Robert Provine, who has studied laughter for decades. "All laughter groups laugh 'ha-ha-ha' basically the same way. Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. There is a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound."
Laughing is our first way of communicating. Babies laugh long before they speak. No one teaches them how to laugh. They just do. People may laugh at a prank on April Fools' day. But surprisingly, only 10 to 15 percent of laughter is the result of someone making a joke. Laughter is mostly about social responses rather to a joke. Deaf people laugh without hearing and people on cell phones laugh without seeing, showing that laughter isn't dependent on single sense but on social interactions.
And laughter is not just a people thing. Chimps tickle each other and even laugh when another chimp pretends to tickle them.
Jaak Panksepp, a Bowling Green University Psychology professor, studies rats that laugh when he tickles them. It turns out rats love to be tickled--they return again and again to the hands of researchers tickling them.
By studying rats, scientists can figure out what's going on in the brain during laughter. Northwestern University biomedical engineering professor, Jeffrey Burgdorf has found that laughter in rats produces a chemical that acts as an antidepressant . He thinks the same thing probably happens in humans, too. This would give doctors a new chemical target to develop drugs that can fight depression.
Even so, laughter itself has not been proved to be the best medicine, experts said. Margaret Stuber, a professor at University of California, studied whether laugher helped patients. She found that distraction and mood improvement helped, but she could not find a benefit of laughter alone.
"No study has shown that laughter produces a direct health benefit," Provine said, largely because it's hard to separate laughter from just feeling good. But he thinks it doesn't really matter: "Isn't the fact that laughter feels good when you do it enough?" | high18440.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the same gestures in deferent cultures may have the deferent meanings"
},
"options": [
"body language in Americais more popular than in other countries",
"the deferent cultures share the same body languages",
"the same gestur... | We convey information through the position and movement of the body. We often use gestures or body movements to stress what we are saying. For example, when I lecture , I often use my hands to emphasize points or point to something on the blackboard. Some people use them more than others. The victory sign, the OK sign, the goodbye wave and the blowing of a kiss are all popular gestures in America. It is important to recognize, however, that most gestures are not universally recognized. For example, although the OK gesture means acceptance in prefix = st1 /America, it has other meanings in other cultures. InFranceit means worthlessness. And in Greece, it is considered obscene .
There are some sex differences in nonverbal behavior. In American culture, men tend to sit or stand with legs apart and hands outward, while women tend to keep legs together and hands at their sides. Women are also better than men at understanding nonverbal gestures.
A nonverbal behaviour is to have the tongue just slightly protruding from the mouth. A study showed that people were less willing to approach others who had their tongues showing. Perhaps this is why people often tend to avoid individuals with bad nonverbal behaviours. When we make decisions about other people, we learn to recognize nonverbal cues and interpret them along with verbal information. | high19986.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "home after work"
},
"options": [
"to a party",
"to his office",
"home after work",
"to work from home"
],
"question": "Mr. Williams was driving _ one evening.",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | As one comes to some crossroads, he or she sees a sign which says that drivers have to stop when they come to the main road ahead. At other crossroads, drivers have to go slow, but they do not actually have to stop unless, of course, there is something coming along the main road; and at still others, they do not have either to stop or to go slow, because they are themselves on the main road.
Mr. Williams, who was always a very careful driver, was driving home from work one evening when he came to a crossroad. It had a "SLOW" sign. He slowed down when he came to the main road, looked both ways to see that nothing was coming, and then drove across without stopping completely.
At once he heard a police whistle , so he pulled into the side of the road and stopped. A policeman walked over to him with a notebook and a pen in his hand and said, "You didn't stop at that crossing."
"But the sign there doesn't say 'STOP'." answered Mr. Williams, "It just says 'SLOW', and I did go slow."
The policeman looked around him, and a look of surprise came over his face. Then he put his notebook and pen away, scratched his head and said, "Well,I'm in the wrong street!" | high11302.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "In the Les Glycines hotel."
},
"options": [
"At the Rouffignac cave.",
"At the Cougnac cave.",
"In the Les Glycines hotel.",
"At the Combarelles cave."
],
"question": "Where will tourists have a welcome dinner?"... | Ice Age Cave Art of Southwest France
May 2 1,2013--May 27,2013
Day 1 U.S.--Bordeaux,France
Leave the U.S. for Bordeaux to start our prehistoric exploration .
Day 2 Bordeaux--Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil
On arriving in Bordeaux,join the group to Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil,France's prehistory capital. Check into Les Glycines hotel. Enjoy a welcome dinner here.
Day 3 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil
Begin at the Combarelles cave,believed to have been used by Cro-Magnon man between 14,000 and 12,000 years ago. After lunch in a restaurant in the rock,enjoy a guided tour of the National Prehistory Museum,containing one of the largest prehistoric collections. Our day ends at the cave of Font-de-Gaume. Discovered in 1901,it remains one of the most exciting places in the world,with many drawings of horses,deer and so on.
Day 4 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil
Journey through Black Perigord,starting with a tour of Sarlat. After lunch in town,visit Bernifal. Discovered in 1898,it offers its visitors various paintings.
Day 5 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil
At the Rouffignac cave,get on an electric train to explore the nearly 10 kilometers of cave--a real underground maze of prehistoric drawings and several surprising handprints. Pause for lunch in a local farm house,then continue to Abril Castanet.
Day 6 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil
After checking out of Les Glycines,travel to Cougnac cave,containing the oldest paintings in a site open to the public. Enjoy lunch in this beautiful town on the Dordogne river. As you leave Rocamadour,visit the Abrides Merveilles,then continue to the popular Chateau de Mercues.
Day 7 Toulouse--U.S
Check out of the Chateau de Mercues,and travel to the Toulouse airport for your return flight to the U.S. | high19038.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "The teacher ratings were decided by the test scores of the students."
},
"options": [
"The teacher ratings were decided by the test scores of the students.",
"Ms. Sane evaluated a teacher's performance only by the rating.",
"... | As students and teachers returned to school on Monday after the publication of performance ratings for 18,000 teachers, many parents said they were giving the reports serious thought. Yet there was an equal measure of skepticism among parents that test scores have any relationship with teachers' competence.
Some said they already knew how good a teacher was by walking into the classroom or by monitoring their children's progress. "I'm the kind of person who likes to see for themselves," a father in Queens said.
Others worried about how their fellow parents, perhaps ones _ , might respond. Will they demand a new teacher? Move their children to a new school?
Elizabeth Sane, the mother of a fourth grader at the Ella Baker School, a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school on the Upper East Side, said that her daughter was switched to a different teacher's class over the summer, and that it was "like adding salt to the wound" when she saw the high ratings for her daughter's previous teacher. Her daughter's teacher this year did not receive a rating because he previously taught high school.
Ms. Sane said that the rating was not the only factor that influenced how she assessed a teacher's performance, but that the data used for teacher evaluations mattered.
But other parents dropping their children off at the Ella Baker School said they did not trust teacher ratings based on test scores any more than they wanted their children's learning measured only by the state exams.
"Some people take it as the final word, but it doesn't change who they are as teachers. The ratings aren't accurate, and the whole student testing thing needs to be thrown out," said Lydia Delgado, whose child is in the second grade. | high20861.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "A lot of care and the right soil."
},
"options": [
"A lot of care and the right soil.",
"Frequent pruning and fertilizing.",
"Tomato plants grown alongside.",
"Cages placed around the roots."
],
"question": "Wha... | "Soon, you're going to have to move out!" cried my neighbor upon seeing the largest tomato plant known to mankind, or at least known in my neighborhood.
One tiny 9-inch plant, bought for $1.25 in the spring, has already taken over much of my rose bed, covering much of other plants, and is well on its way to the front door.
Roses require a good deal of care, and if it weren't for the pleasure they give, it wouldn't be worth the work. As it is, I have a garden full of sweet-smelling roses for most of the year. Bushes must be pruned in early spring, leaving ugly woody branches until the new growth appears a few weeks later. It was the space available in the garden that led me into planting just one little tomato plant. A big mistake.
Soil conditions made just perfect for roses turn out be even more perfect for tomatoes. The daily watering coupled with full sun and regular fertilizing have turned the little plant into a tall bush. The cage I placed around it as the plant grew has long since disappeared under the thick leaves.
Now the task I face in harvesting the fruit is twofold; First, I have to find the red ones among the leaves, which means I almost have to stand on my head, and once found I have to reach down and under, pick the tomatoes and withdraw my full fist without dropping the prize so dearly won. I found two full-blown white roses completely hidden as I picked tomatoes in June. But they were weak and the leaves already yellow for lack of light.
Here I am faced with a painful small decision: To tear up a wonderful and productive tomato plant that offers up between ten and twenty ripe sweet tomatoes each day or say goodbye to several expensive and treasured roses. Like Scarlett in Gone With the Wind, I'll think about that tomorrow. | high3123.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "22:00 on CCTV--2 Channel 8"
},
"options": [
"19:00 on CCTV--1 Channel 2",
"20:05 on CCTV--1 Channel 2",
"22:00 on CCTV--2 Channel 8",
"21:30 on CCTV--2 Channel 8"
],
"question": "If an Englishman wants to know a... | CCTV--1 Channel 2
18:00 TV Classroom: Computer
18:30 China Music TV
19:00 News
19:30 Weather Report
19:40 Today's Focus
20:05 40-part Serial The Gate of Reign(39)
21:25 Stories on the Map
22:30 China Sports Report
23:00 On the Screen Next We
CCTV--2 Channel 8
17:30 Foreign Light Music
18:10 Children's Programme:
Cartoon City
19:05 World-famous Cities: Toronto
20:55 The Story of Earth
21:30 Economy 30 Minutes
22:00 News in English
22:30 Special Sports: Football Match (China-Indonesia)
( TV programmes in Beijing Sunday, May 26, 2010 CCTV ) | high11464.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "help run the games"
},
"options": [
"help run the games",
"travel in coaches",
"give the teams money",
"play in the World Series"
],
"question": "The mothers and fathers of Little League players _ .",
"qu... | In the United States and several other countries, 2.5 million children play baseball in an organization called Little League. They play on teams in their hometowns. Their parents and other adults in the community coach or instruct them and serve as umpires to make sure that everyone follows the rules. Local businesses give money for the ball fields and the uniforms. Local teams compete against each other and the winners get to play teams that are more distant. Eventually, the top teams go to the Little League World Series.
One hundred years after Abner Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839, Little League got started in Pennsylvania. Three men started the game for neighborhood boys with a smaller playing field and fewer innings than adult baseball. Little League became popular after World War II when the game spread across the United States. By 1955 it was played throughout North America and within five years it had spread to Europe. Children's baseball really caught on in Japan and Taiwan of China and teams from those areas won the World Series seven out of eight years. After this, the organization tried banning foreign teams from the World Series, but the ban came to an end after one year.
At first, Little League was only for boys aged nine to twelve. However, in 1974, the parents of girl baseball players brought a law suit. The courts ruled that Little League had to include both boys and girls. Later Little League added on softball and other games for teenagers up to age eighteen. Occasionally a Little Leaguer becomes a professional player. For example, Gary Carter went from Little League to play nineteen seasons in the Major Leagues, ten of them as an All-Star player. But, by and large, youngsters play baseball for fun and because their parents are proud of them. | high4894.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "recognizing and getting away from them"
},
"options": [
"attracting more public attention",
"shutting down the website \"myspace . com\"",
"showing the kids ways to try other sites",
"recognizing and getting away from t... | Of all the websites,one that has attracted attention recently is _ .Most of this attention has come from the media and tells every reason why the website should be shut down.The threat of internet predators is indeed a tough reality,but shutting down the site is not the answer.If _ were shut down,another site would quickly take its place.Therefore,the right way is to teach teens how to use the site safely and educate them about who may be predators and how to avoid them.
The key to staying safe on the Internet is to make sure that your profile is secure.The simplest way is to change the privacy setting on your profile to "private", which protects your information so that only the people on your friend list can view it.Although this is effective,it is not perfect.Predators can find ways to view your profile if they really want to,whether through hacking in or figuring out their way onto your friend list.Thus,you should never post too much personal information.Some people actually post their home and school addresses,date of birth,and other personal information, often letting predators know exactly where they will be and when.The most information that is safe is your first name and province.Anything more is basically inviting a predator into your life.
Another big issue is photos. I suggest completely skipping photos and never posting a photo of a friend online without asking permission.
Most importantly, never,under any circumstances,agree to a real-life meeting with anyone you meet online.No matter how well you think you know this person, there are no guarantees that they have told the truth.But you could feel free to chat with people you meet on the site, but just remember that not everyone is who they say they are.Hopefully,the next time you edit your profile,you'll be more informed about the dangers of internet predators and take the steps to defend yourself. | high17015.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "when only a part of the Moon passes through the Earth's umbra shadow"
},
"options": [
"when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth",
"when all of the Moon passes through the Earth's umbra shadow",
"when only a part of ... | Many people are aware of the beauty of a solar eclipse , but are surprised to learn that lunar eclipses are often just as impressive. While total solar eclipse lasts only for a few minutes and can be seen only in a small area of a few kilometers, total lunar eclipse can last for several hours and can be seen over much of the planet. In fact, the beauty and _ of lunar eclipses make them a favorite of both amateur and professional photographers.
Lunar eclipses generally occur two or three times a year, and are possible only when the Moon is full. When we see the Moon, we are actually seeing sunlight reflected off the surface of the Moon When the Earth is positioned in between the Moon and the Sun, however, the Earth's shadow falls on the Moon, and a lunar eclipse occurs.
The type of lunar eclipse - total, partial, or penumbral - that occurs depends both on how much of the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow and through which part of the shadow it passes. A penumbral eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's outer shadow. This type of eclipse is brief and frequently goes unobserved by all but astronomers. By contrast, total and partial eclipses occur when all or part, respectively, of the Moon passes through the umbra shadow of the Earth. These eclipses are quite easy to see and are widely observed.
Unlike solar eclipses, lunar eclipses are safe to watch. Solar radiation that occurs during an eclipse of the Sun can cause a form of burns of one's eyes known as eclipse blindness. In fact, the only way to safely view a solar eclipse is by using specially designed equipment. However, since the Moon's light is reflected sunlight, it is completely safe to watch a lunar eclipse without any special equipment, although a pair of binoculars can certainly help the viewer appreciate the beauty of this phenomenon | high5552.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The return of a college degree is less than often quoted."
},
"options": [
"The payoff of a college degree is still big enough to match the advertised.",
"It's more and more difficult to get a college degree.",
"The return of... | As the price of a college degree continues to rise, there's growing evidence that the monetary payoff isn't quite as big as often advertised. The best estimate now is that a college degree is worth about $300,000 in today's dollars--nowhere near the million figure that is often quoted.
"That million number has driven me crazy!" says Sandy Baum, a Skidmore economist who studied the value of a college degree for the College Board last year.
Baum's research showed that college graduates earn, on average, about $20,000 a year more than those who finished their educations at high school. Add that up over a 40-year working life and the total differential is about $800,000, she figures. But since much of that bonus is earned many years from now, taking away the impact of inflation means that$800,000 in future dollars is worth only about $450,000 in today's dollars.
Then, if you remove the cost of a college degree--about ,$30,000 in tuition and books for students who get no aid and attend public in-state universities--and the money a student could have earned at a job instead of attending school, the real net value in today's dollars is somewhere in the $300,000 range, a number confirmed by other studies.
But, especially these days, that still makes a college degree one of the most _ investments a person can make, Baum notes.
Better yet, college graduates can go on to earn advanced degrees, which return even bigger payoffs. The average holder of a bachelor's degree earns about$51,000 a year, Baum calculates. But those who've gone on to earn MBAs, law degrees, or other professional degrees earn about $100,000 a year.
In addition, Baum found that there are plenty of other rewards for a degree. The quality of the jobs college graduates get is far better, for example. College graduates are more likely to get jobs with health insurance. And it is easier for them to find and hold jobs. The unemployment rate for college graduates was just 2.2 percent last year, half the unemployment level of those with only high school diplomas.
There are lots of other nonmonetary benefits as well. College graduates are healthier, contribute more to their communities, and raise kids who are better prepared academically, studies show.
Other researchers have found that the payoff of a degree is especially lucrative for students from low-income families, since the education and degrees give them a chance to break out of low-paying careers. | high1734.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the Mona Lisa has been catching people's wide attention in the past 500 years"
},
"options": [
"the Mona Lisa is proved to be able to last another 500 years",
"Mona Lisa's beauty is fading gradually with 500 years passing by",
... | She is widely seen as proof that good looks can last for ever. But, at nearly 500 years of age, time is catching up with the Mona Lisa.
The health of the famous picture, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1505, is getting worse by the year, according to the Louver Museum where it is housed.
"The thin, wooden panel on which the Mona Lisa is painted in oil has changed shape since experts checked it two years ago," the museum said. Visitors have noticed changes but repairing the world's most famous painting is not easy. Experts are not sure about the materials the Italian artist used and their current chemical state.
Nearly 6 million people go to see the Mona Lisa every year, many attracted by the mystery of her smile. "It is very interesting that when you're not looking at her, she seems to be smiling, and then you look at her and she stops," said Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University. "It's because direct vision is excellent at picking up details, but less suited to looking at shadows. Da Vinci painted the smile in shadows."
However, the actual history of the Mona Lisa is just as mysterious as the smile. Da Vinci himself loved it so much that he always carried it with him, until it was eventually sold to France's King Francis I in 1519.
In 1911, the painting was stolen from the Louver by a former employee, who took it out of the museum, hidden under his coat. He said he planned to return it to Italy. The painting was sent back to France two years later. During World War II, French hid the painting in small towns to keep it out of the hands of German forces. | high7345.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "great masters are often not acknowledged while they were alive"
},
"options": [
"these masters' works have some shortcomings",
"these masters wouldn't have been so successful without the critics",
"truly beautiful works of ar... | What is great art? On the one hand, we can all see that great art is old art which is called great. But how do we know which art of our own times is great, and which will be forgotten? And who decides?
These are important questions, for the great art of the past often was not considered great during its own time. When Shakespeare and Charles Dickens were writing, for example, most critics considered them as hack writers with little or no literary ability.
Similarly, Van Gogh and many of the other Impressionist painters of the late nineteenth century were not allowed to participate in events involving what were thought to be the "real" painters of the time, and often they were very poor. Yet today their paintings often sell for millions of dollars, while those so-called "real" painters are now barely remembered.
So what makes great art? Can, for example, rock music be great art? Music videos? Cartoons and comics? Those who call themselves critics of the fine arts often have been the last to recognize great art in the past, and we can probably expect this to be the situation today.
Critics often don't recognize great art because they tend to be prejudiced against what is popular. Popular works, whether they are novels, movies, or comics, are usually considered to be produced for the sake of money only, and not for the sake of art.
But popularity, it seems to me, is one of the three signs that a present-day work of art may come to be thought of as great. The other two are that it is groundbreaking, and that it is inherently beautiful.
Many works have one or even two of these qualities of being popular, unusual, and beautiful. But having all the three often will mean that a work of art will someday be seen to be great, though it may take a good spoonful of time, such as a century or two, to know for sure. | high15602.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Making logical decision."
},
"options": [
"Giving natural response.",
"Making logical decision.",
"Acting before thorough thinking.",
"Choosing brain-training strategies."
],
"question": "What challenges teenage... | "Oh, my God! Did I really just send that text?" Most people have said something that they wish they could take back. And if they had paused to think about it first, they probably would have acted differently. Pausing doesn't pay off just when you speak. Scientific studies have shown that making a habit of pausing before you do something can actually have a big impact on how your life turns out.
In making decisions we rely on two areas of the brain. One area creates and processes emotions; the other governs logical thought. The type of decision, how we feel about it, and how prepared we are to handle it help determine which brain area has the most influence.
But our age also plays an important role. Thinking through the consequences of one's actions is actually harder for teens because the area controlling logical thought is not fully developed until around age 25. This is why teens often feel an intense emotional drive to act impulsively--it's how their brains are structured! Though this tendency to act without considering the outcomes can lead to problematic situations, impulsivity during the developmental years evolves because it makes teens more open to new experiences and ideas. This openness helps teens become independent adults.
The key to making impulsivity work for you--instead of against you--is to train your brain by practicing pausing. This doesn't mean you stop taking risks or being open to new experiences. But you won't know if the risk is worth it until you think it through. Deciding to take a risk based on logic shows self-control, not impulsivity.
What are different ways to pause? You might take a deep breath, count to 10, or ask, "Is this worth it?" Different strategies work for different people. Whatever works for you, keep doing it! By practicing pausing, you can actually change your brain. This means that over time, pausing, instead of immediately reacting, becomes your "natural" response. And with this change, people are on their way to enjoying the life rewards that come with high levels of self-control--even if they weren't natural--born pausers! | high9418.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Peter Rabbit"
},
"options": [
"Jemima Puddle-Duck",
"Squirrel Nutkin",
"Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail",
"Peter Rabbit"
],
"question": "Which character from children's literature can be found on the UK coin?",
... | The Royal Mint has chosen Beatrix Potter's thieving Peter Rabbit as the first character from children's literature ever to appear on a UK coin.
Peter, pictured in the blue jacket that he is forced to abandon in the garden of Mr McGregor when he is caught stealing vegetables, is captured on a special, coloured edition of a 50p coin available from now. The Royal Mint, which described Peter as "the most recognizable of Potter's creations, and one of the most cherished from children's literature", will release uncoloured versions of the coin in change later this year.
Three more of Potter's characters will also be committed to currency later this year, as part of celebrations marking 150 years since the children's author's birth. The images have been created by coin designer Emma Noble, who said it was "amazing to be given the opportunity to work with such famous and treasured literary characters".
Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit, featuring Peter and his better-behaved siblings Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail, was the first of her stories to be published, released in 1902 by Frederick Warne & Co. Potter would go on to follow it with a series of much-loved stories which remain popular today, from The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin to The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck. | high13503.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the corner of Greek Street and Queen Street"
},
"options": [
"Queen Street",
"Elizabeth Street",
"the corner of Greek Street and Queen Street",
"the corner of Queen Street and Elizabeth Street"
],
"question": "Y... | If you go to Brisbane, Australia, you can easily get a small book called Discover Brisbane free.Here is something about banks on page 49:
ANZ Banking Group
Cnr.Greek & Queen Sts ......................................................238 3228
Bank of New Zealand
410 Queen Street ............................................................ 221 0411
Bank of Queensland
229 Elizabeth Street ......................................................... 229 3122
Commonwealth Banking Group
240 Queen Street ............................................................ 237 3111
National Australia Bank Ltd
225 Adelaide Street ......................................................... 221 6422
Westpac Banking Corp
260 Queen Street ............................................................ 227 2666
Banking hours are Mon.-Thu.9:30 am to 4 pm.Fri.9:30 am to 5 pm.All banks close Sat.Sun.& Public Holidays. | high1044.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a degree of cruelty"
},
"options": [
"equal qualifications",
"specific traits",
"much education",
"a degree of cruelty"
],
"question": "Some people claim that besides hard work, the success also requires_.",
... | What are the specific traits that will assist executives to climb the ladder of success? Opinions vary widely. Given almost equal qualifications and circumstances, some claim the success factor is largely a matter of luck--being in the right place at the right time. Others speak of an almost crazy devotion to work, combined with a degree of ruthlessness. One"expert" believes that it's undoubtedly a matter of how much education your mother had.
To make it big, executives must possess four basic skills:
First, drive . Business success takes an unusual amount of energy. A successful executive -- almost by definition--is a striver. He will get tense when he is not striving.
Second, people sense. Some say being able to judge people is more important than a high IQ. The skill can be instinctual , but in most cases it is painstakingly learned.
Third, communications ability. Different executives make themselves understood in different ways, Some transmit ideas best face to face; others are masters of the telephone call; still others are persuasive writers. One way or another, they all communicate clearly.
Fourth, calm under pressure. No businessman will get very far if he chokes up. | high22906.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "have more stimuli for life"
},
"options": [
"are given less pressure",
"allocate their attention better",
"have more stimuli for life",
"practice them more frequently"
],
"question": "Meditations manage their da... | In meditation ,people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath .As they breathe in and out ,they attend to their feelings .As thoughts go through their minds. They let _ go. Breathe .Let go .Breathe .Let go .
According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre,Massachusetts. Three months of training in this kind of meditation causes a market change in how the brain allocates attention. It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly changing things and events in the outside world. Expert mediators are better than other people at catching such fast-changing stimuli( ),like facial expressions.
The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice, everything from driving to playing the piano. The study has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to reduce pressure and promote a sense of well-being.
In an experiment, 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day .A control group also with no meditation experience meditated for 20 minutes a day over the same period .Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers , their brain activity was recorded.
Everyone could catch the first number .But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number .Those with more experience gave less attention to the first number .as if letting it go ,which led to an increased ability to grasp the second number ,This shows that attention can change with practice.
Just ask Daniel Levision , who meditated for three months as part of the study ."I am a much better listener," he said . " I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying." | high7435.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the killing of game beasts was strictly limited"
},
"options": [
"people were permitted to hunt for fun",
"only few kinds of animals could be killed",
"the killing of game beasts was strictly limited",
"no killing of be... | In many countries today, laws protect wildlife. In India, the need for such protection was realized centuries ago.
About 300 B.C. an Indian writer described forest that were somewhat like national parks today. The killing of game beasts was carefully supervised . Some animals were fully protected.Within the forest, nobody was allowed to cut timber(wood for building), burn wood for charcoal , or catch animals for their furs. Animals that became dangerous to human visitors were caught or killed outside the park so that other animals would not become uneasy.
The need for wildlife protection is greater now than ever before. About a thousand species of animals are in danger of _ , and the rate of extinction was about one species every fifty years from A.D. 1 to 1800, but now it is about one species every year. Everywhere, men are trying to solve the problem of protecting wildlife caring for the rapid growth of the world's population. | high15172.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "gained a lot from her career as an editor"
},
"options": [
"became fond of reading after working as an editor",
"was in charge of publishing 100 books",
"promoted her books through social relations",
"gained a lot from ... | Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of the most private women in the world, yet when she went to work as an editor in the last two decades of her life, she revealed herself as she did nowhere else.
After the death of her second husband, Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, Jacqueline's close friend and former White House social secretary Letitia Baldrige made a suggestion that she consider a career in publishing. After consideration, Jacqueline accepted it. Perhaps she hoped to find there some idea about how to live her own life. She became not less but more interested in reading. For the last 20 years of her life, Jacqueline worked as a publisher's editor, first at Viking, then at Doubleday, pursuing a late-life career longer than her two marriages combined. During her time in publishing, she was responsible for managing and editing more than 100 successfully marketed books. Among the first books were In the Russian Style and Inventive Paris Clothes. She also succeeded in persuading TV hosts Bill Moyer's and Jose Campbell to transform their popular television conversations into a book, The Power of Myth. The book went on to become an international best-seller. She dealt, too, with Michael Jackson as he prepared his autobiography , Moonwalk.
Jacqueline may have been hired for name and for her social relations, but she soon proved her worth. Her choices, suggestions and widespread social relations were of benefit both to the publishing firms and to Jacqueline herself. In the books she selected for publication, she built on a lifetime of spending time by herself as a reader and left a record of the growth of her mind. Her books are the autobiography she never wrote. _ the end, was overshadowed by her performance as an editor. However, few knew that she had achieved so much. | high8706.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes."
},
"options": [
"Cell phone users smoke less than they used to.",
"More people use cell phones than smoke cigarettes.",
"Cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes.... | Cell Phones Are the New Cigarettes
When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.
Cigarettes? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modern life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their wishes to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.
With its shiny surface, its smooth and satisfying touch, the cell phone connects us to the world even as it disconnects us from people three feet away. It affects us in ways its inventors in the late 1940s never imagined.
Dr. Chris Knippers, an expert at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality.
Sounds extreme, but we've all witnessed the evidence: the person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Is it just rude, or is it a kind of unhealthiness? And pardon me, but how is this improving the quality of life?
Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, he points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e-mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents. "Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances through the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends," he says.
If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. In 1987, there were only 1 million cell phones in use. Today, almost 300 million Americans carry them. The number of cell phones is far more than that of wired phones in the United States. | high19748.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "a girl pointed out many of her shortcomings."
},
"options": [
"she found she talked too much.",
"she found she was too proud.",
"her classmates were not friendly to her.",
"a girl pointed out many of her shortcomings."
... | When I was 15, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my short-comings . Week by week her list grew. I was skinny , I talked too loud, I was too proud, and so on. I put up with her as long as I could. At last, I ran to my father in tears and anger. He listened to my outburst quietly. They he asked, "Are the things she says the true or not?"True? I wanted to know how to strike back. What did truth have to do with it?
"Mary, didn't you ever wonder what you are really like? Well, you now have that girl's opinion. "Go and make a list of every thing she said and mark the points that are true. You needn't pay attention to the other things she said.
I did as he told me and discovered to my surprise that about half the things are true. Some of them I couldn't change(like being skinny), but a good number I could and suddenly wanted to change. For the time in my life I began to get a quiet clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy, but he wouldn't take it."That's just for you,"he said."You know better than any else the truth about yourself, once you hear it. But you've got to learn to listen, not close your ears in anger or hurt. When someone says something about you, you'll know if it's true or not. If it is ,you'll find it will echo inside you."
"I still don't think it very nice of her to talk about me in front of everybody."
"Mary, there is one way you could stop others talking about you ever again, and criticizing you--just say nothing and do nothing. But then, if you do that, you'd find you were nothing. You wouldn't like that now, would you?""No, I admitted " | high3653.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "begin by receiving on-the-job training"
},
"options": [
"begin by receiving on-the-job training",
"must learn several jobs",
"begin as ticket takers",
"have already attendedDisneyUniversity"
],
"question": "The ... | Millions of people pass through the gates of Disney's entertainment parks in California, Florida and prefix = st1 /Japaneach year. What makes these place an almost universal attraction? What makes foreign kings and queens and other important people want to visit these Disney parks? Well, one reason is the way they're treated once they get there. The people at Disney go out of their way to serve their "guests", as they prefer to call them, and to see that they enjoy themselves.
All new employees, from vice presidents to part-time workers, begin their employment by attending Disney University and taking "Traditions I". Here, they learn about the company's history, how it is managed, and why it is successful. They are shown how each department relates to the whole. All employees are shown how their part is important in making the park a success.
After passing "Traditions I", the employees go on to do more specialized training for their specific jobs. No detail is missed. A simple job like taking tickets requires four eight-hour days of training. When one ticket taker was asked why it took so much training for such a simple, ordinary job, he replied, "What happens if someone wants to know where the restrooms are, when the parade starts or what bus to take back to the campgrounds?...We need to know the answers or where to get them quickly. Our constant aim is to help our guests enjoy the party."
Even Disney's managers get involved in the daily management of the park. Every year, the mangers leave their desks and business suits and put on special service clothes. For a full week, the bosses sell hot dogs or ice cream, take tickets or drive the monorail , and take up any of the 100 jobs that make the entertainment park come alive. The managers agree that this week help them to see the company's goals more clearly.
All these efforts to serve the public well have made Walt Disney Productions famous. Disney is considered by many as the best mass service provider in Americaor the world. As one longtime business observer once said, "How Disney treats people, communicates with them, rewards them , is in my view the very reason for his fifty years of success... I have watched, very carefully and with great respect and admiration, the theory and practice of selling satisfaction and serving millions of people on a daily basis, successfully. It is what Disney does best." | high19990.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because she found math interesting and wanted to study it."
},
"options": [
"Because she found math interesting and wanted to study it.",
"Because she was one of the world's first famous female mathematicians.",
"Because it w... | Mary Somerville was born in 1780 in Burntisland, Scotland. Her contribution to mathematics was in both algebra and differential and integral calculus .
Mary was one of the world's first famous female mathematicians. She became interested in mathematics and decided to study it at the time when it was considered unacceptable for a woman to do so. She bought books on algebra and geometry and read them at night. In spite of disapproval from people around her, she firmly went on with her struggle to learn. She won a prize for her solution to an algebra problem. She went on to write several books on mathematics. Later in her life, she thought deeply about the years in which she had persevered almost without hope and said, "It taught me never to lose heart."
Mary's way of learning remains useful today. If she worked for a while on a problem without coming up with an idea, she stopped working and turned her attention to the piano, her needlework, or a walk outdoors. She then returned to the problem with a fresh mind and a solution turned up. If she could not understand a passage while reading, she would forget about it and read on; several pages later, the meaning of the puzzling passage would become clear to her. | high17765.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Shape."
},
"options": [
"Size.",
"Colour.",
"Weight.",
"Shape."
],
"question": "In what aspect are Samsung phones preferable, compared with Apple phones?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"... | Mobile phones are the latest craze of many people from different parts of the world. Whenever there is a latest phone model being produced by companies such as Apple, Samsung, LG, Sony, etc., the public is all eyes and all ears on what consist of the latest product that is in the market. The public wants to check every detail to find reasons why to buy them.
How to choose the best Phone Comparison? There are some categories to consider. Specifications are very important, but if you are not the techie type of person, you can just check on some categories. One of them is the design. Most mobile phones have a set of colours available for different types of customers to choose from. The most popular colours are black and white, and these colours show elegance and sophistication to the users. The shapes of the phones also contribute a lot to the design, and a lot of people prefer the shapes of Samsung and LG phones nowadays.
Another important feature to consider is the value of the phone. If its price in the market is quite high compared to other phones, then you have to expect better specifications on them. If the specifications don't have much difference with those of the others, then you can weigh the value of the item.
Furthermore, customers need to check the battery life of the mobile phone they intend to buy. For people who always travel or out of their house most of the time, they need to select a phone that has a longer battery life. This information can be found as well on the specifications of the phone. You need to check on how long you can use your phone for a day so that you won't need to charge it every now and then and so that you can save electricity as well. | high18456.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "We sometimes don't have to mind too much the way we are."
},
"options": [
"No perfect man exists in this world.",
"We should learn to be kind to ourselves.",
"We sometimes don't have to mind too much the way we are.",
"... | A water bearer in India had two large pots,each hung on each end of a pole which he neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full load of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For two years this went on daily. The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishment. Of course,the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection. After two years of this sense of bitter failure, it spoke one day to the water bearer by the stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you. "
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able for these last two years to deliver only half my load, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back. And you do no get full value for your efforts" the pot explained.
The water bearer, hearing this, said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path. "
As they wnet up the hill, the cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it a little.
The bearer said, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side ?" That is because I have known about you, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you have watered them. For two years I have been able to pick those beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty in his house. " | high17003.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "walking is better than doing sports in a gym because it saves time and money."
},
"options": [
"bus conductors are more likely to die of heart disease than bus drivers.",
"doctors in the 1950s knew why heart diseases kept happening... | Jerry Morris died on 28 October 2009. He was 99 years old. You have probably never heard of him. He was a professor of public health. More than 50 years ago he produced one of the most famous epidemiological papers of the 20th century.
His study showed that bus conductors were much less likely to die of heart disease than bus drivers. Why? Because the conductors spent their working day walking. It seems obvious now but in the middle of the last century doctors were puzzled by the rising numbers of people who got heart diseases. Jerry Morris found one of the main causes: a sedentary lifestyle. He started exercising for a few minutes each day and lived until his 100th year.
If you wish to protect your heart, you have to do more than wander in the garden. The exercise needs to be reasonable. Jogging is not for everyone and a round trip to the gym takes a couple of hours, plus the monthly membership fee is only good value if you visit regularly. The answer is simple: walk.
A half-hour purposeful walk five times a week will lower your risk of heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Older people sometimes feel they have left it too late. But it is never too late to start and there are no upper age limits. Start gently. Take your time: a 15-minute flat walk in the nearest park, four or five times a week. Within a month or so, you are already beginning to protect your heart. Build the walks up. When you can comfortably walk for half an hour in the park, go further: try following rivers and canals.
Regular walkers have their own natural gymnasium. There is no membership fee, just some of the finest scenery in the world. Great Britain is the walker's gym. When you have followed the rivers and canals, and are enjoying walking for a couple of hours, head for the coast. Once again, build it up slowly. When you are comfortable with long coastal walks, you can think of our national parks. | high5544.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The American dream of owning a house."
},
"options": [
"The cost of having a house built.",
"A comparison between young couples and their parents.",
"The life of owner-builders in America.",
"The American dream of ownin... | For millions of people,the American dream of owning a home seems to be slipping out of
reach.
"Maybe young couples can no longer afford to buy a ready-made house as their parents did,' says 40-year-old building instructor Pat Hennin."But they can still have a home.Like their pioneer ancestors,they can build it themselves,and at less than half the cost of a ready-made house."
The owner-builders came from every occupational group,although surprisingly few are professional building workers.Many take the plunge with little or no experience."l learned how to build my house from reading books,"says John Brown,who built a six-room home for$25,000 in High Falls,New Jersey."If you have patience and the carpentry skill to make a bookcase,you can build a house."An astonishing 50 percent of these owner builders hammer every nail.1ay every pipe,and wire every switch with their own hands.The rest contract for some parts of the task.But even those who just act as contractors and finish the insides of their homes can save from 30 percent to 45 percent of what a ready-made home would cost.
One survey revealed that 60 percent of owner-builders also design their homes.Many others buy commercial house plans for less than $100 or use plans available from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. | high18330.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "By offering them different courses."
},
"options": [
"By training them to be guides",
"By offering them different courses.",
"By keeping in contact with them.",
"By asking more students to help them."
],
"questi... | Do you know the open-air art gallery in London's Blackall Street? Probably -not. Not many Londoners know it either, but Henri does and he is willing to show it to you.
Henri used to sleep in parks until he met a charity that helps homeless people get back on their feet by becoming tour guides.
Rather than show traditional London sights, "Unseen Tours" t _ Henri has been teaching tourists about the history and architecture of Shoreditch, where he slept on public benches for three years.
When he felt separated from the society, contact with the volunteer network "The Sock Mob" gave Henri hope. "Not everyone just looked down on me," he said. The tours aren't the only actions trying to help those who have suffered a misfortune to stand tall again.
An innovative college for homeless people in London, the first of its kind in the country, is attracting hundreds of students. The Recovery College, set up by St Mungo's charity, is providing courses designed to improve technical skills and life skills.
According to Andy Williams, who helps to organize the college, the most popular courses have proved to be about raising self-confidence and developing self-pride.
Steve, now in his 50s, told a reporter how much of a difference it makes to "have a bit of confidence". He had difficulty learning to read and had to leave school when he was 12. Because Steve's problem was not recognized at the time, he was "seen to be unable to read or write", and suffered with depression and alcohol addiction. He says the status of "student" is itself important for people who are used to being treated as outcasts
Some charities aim not only to help the homeless become independent but also to make them popular. The Homeless World Cup started ten years ago. Today the tournament draws teams from 48 countries made up of players-men and women-who are, or have been, living in the streets. It gives them a chance to become football heroes. | high4882.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "part of the gardens of Burlington House"
},
"options": [
"part of the Burlington Estate",
"part of the gardens of Burlington House",
"nicknamed Savile Street",
"inside a large garden"
],
"question": "Savile Row ... | Savile Row was first developed in 1695 as part of the Burlington Estate. It had been part of the gardens of Burlington House previous to this. Originally it was named Savile Street. Houses were built on one side of the street, with gardens on the other side and was therefore nicknamed Savile Row, with a row of houses on one side. The name was officially changed in 1810.
The first tailors appear on the street in 1785, and over the next fifty years the trend continued. This is what made the area famous. Many Savile Row Tailors have gone out of business or moved elsewhere within London,bottes ugg, but plenty still remain and it is still the place many men go for their tailoring.
Fleet Street is synonymous with the British Press. The street runs from the east end of the Strand through to Farringdon Street.
In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century the trend for printers and publishers moving into the area began. Later, and more famously, newspapers started to move their offices to Fleet Street. The first daily newspaper to do this was the Daily Courant in the early 1700's. By the 20th century a large majority of London and National newspapers had their headquarters in the area. This is no longer the case though, as many of the papers moved out of Fleet Street from the 1980's. All of the main newspapers have now left and it is now more associated with law practices .
Harley Street is world famous for its medical practices. Prior to the 18th century it only consisted of a few houses and was part of the village of Marylebone; not yet part of the City of London. As London grew in the 1700's century Marylebone became part of London. It was developed into a larger residential area between 1715 and 1720. Around a century later doctors started setting up home in the area, with a number of them setting up practices from then homes. As this trend continued the area became well known in this aspect. | high20877.txt |
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