questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Being Yourself."
},
"options": [
"Follow the Lead.",
"Top Crowd.",
"Being Yourself.",
"Bright Red."
],
"question": "Which is the best title for this passage?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | In every school there is a "top" crowd that sets the pace, while the others follow their lead. Let's say the top crowd decides that it is smart to wear bright red sweaters. Pretty soon everybody is wearing a bright red sweater.
There is nothing wrong with that, except the fact that on some people bright red sweater is extremely unbecoming. The situation can even become dangerous, if the top crowd decides that it is smart to drink or to drive cars at seventy miles an hour. Then the people who follow the lead are endangering their lives. They are like the sheep being led to the butcher.
Now, chances are that you have come across situations like these more than once in your life; chances are that one time or another you probably did something you knew to be wrong. You may have excused yourself by saying, "Gee, the crowd does it." Well, let the crowd do it, but don't do it yourself. Learn to say, "No."
Develop your own standards and your own judgment. If you know the crowd is planning something you disagree to, have the courage to bow out mannerly. You'll have the satisfaction of standing on your own two feet. | high4538.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "To buy a birthday cake for her friend."
},
"options": [
"To get some bread for her journey.",
"To experience the local taste in Samarkand.",
"To buy a birthday cake for her friend.",
"To eat some iced cakes to cool hers... | My husband can plan wonderful surprise celebrations for me.Recently,however,I told him I didn't want him to plan one for my upcoming birthday.
"Why?" he asked.
"I am embarrassed being the center of attention," I quickly explained.
Later,I began to think more deeply about this reason. Then I remembered the surprise celebration I had planned for my friend Nancy on her 60th birthday. We were roommates on a threeweek tour following the Silk Road on those famous steppes --and through the mountains--of central Asia.
That afternoon we had arrived at our hotel in Samarkand,Uzbekistan. The young man at the hotel desk told me about a bakery about 10 minutes away. After giving me detailed directions,he added,"Your nose will let you know when you arrive there."
The temperature was 40 degC.Soon,
_
proved to be an unfailing guide. Outside the bakery,a delicious smell greeted me.
There were several kinds of breads,cookies,and cakes on display. There were also beautiful iced cakes. I chose a cake topped with powdered sugar.
Later at the Karim Bek Restaurant,Nancy didn't see the young waiter walk up the steps with the cake.When I began singing"Happy Birthday,"everyone at our table--except Nancy--joined in.
It took her a moment to realize what was happening. Then the grinning guest of honor thanked me,blew out the candles on the cake,and ate three pieces of it.
Today,after reliving this experience in my mind,I told my husband to ignore my request.I now understand what a surprise party is about:It is not about having a surprise party but rather the delight in giving it. That is what brings the satisfying joy. | high15576.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The writer's experience in an earthquake"
},
"options": [
"Ways to survive an earthquake.",
"Reasons why earthquakes happen.",
"The love of parents in an earthquake.",
"The writer's experience in an earthquake"
],
... | I was sleeping in my room when my bed started shaking and a loud noise was heard. I woke up and my mom was screaming my name. Next moment I was running along with my younger sister, mom and dad. Before I ran out of the door, I realized my elder sister hadn't come out yet. So I screamed her name at the top of my voice. My mom said she had gone to her class. Then the four of us, along with many others, were running on the staircase. We lived on the seventh floor, so I thought we would not be able to make it and the building would fall before we managed to reach even the fourth floor. My dad's head was injured by something falling down. I did try to put my hand over his head. When we reached the sixth floor, the building split into two. We had no way to get down.
The next thing I remember is silence. There were around 30 people on the staircase and none could react. Five minutes later, someone opened the door of the sixth-floor flat. We all went in. we were wondering how we would get down. From the balcony of the sixth-floor flat, I saw people standing on the ground floor. All eyes were stuck on us. I could see my elder sister crying.
Our first hope of surviving came when a worker climbed a rope to where we were. That was ,the first time we thought maybe we could get down. Half an hour passed and we were still trapped. Finally RSS people arrived with ropes. They got people down one by one. My biggest worry was how my dad would get down. Finally after two and a half hours, we all got down.
That day we saw the power of nature. It has taken more than two years to build the flats and it took just one and a half minutes to destroy the structure. | high8302.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he had an illness that stole his strength."
},
"options": [
"he is becoming older and older.",
"he insisted on using a small racket.",
"he is facing a maturing crop of young talents.",
"he had an illness that stole his ... | After ruling the tennis world for almost five years, Roger Federer is adjusting to life at NO.2. But, like any king whose throne has been taken away, the Swiss star is already planning secretly his return to power, beginning at this week's US Open.
The problem is, many experts think he will never do it. They blame everything from age and tough competition to his racket and psychology.
For years Federer, 27, had enjoyed the view from the top. Competitors saw him as undefeated, and for the most part he was. However, before the 2008 season began, Federer had an illness that stole his strength and clearly affected his play on the court. Ever since, he has struggled to return to form, winning just two of his last 14 tournaments.
"Twenty-seven is an age when _ ." tennis great John McEnroe told the New York Times.
Pancho Sefura, another tennis great, noted that Federer is also facing a maturing crop of young talents. "There are too many great players now," he said, naming Britain's Andy Murray, 21, and Latvia's Ernests Gulbis, 20.
US magazine Sports Illustrated tennis columnist Jon Wertheim suggested that part of Federer's problem could be his insistence on using a small racket. He says that the smaller head demands ball control. But we see time and again that racket makers try to get players to use a certain stick -- one they would like to market to consumers and it has a negative effect the professional game.
Sports psychologist Jim Loehr told the Times that Federer is probably feeling "a sense of doubt" after being considered as undefeated for so long. If Federer is to recover his state of being undefeated, Loehr said he must overcome his doubt. "Federer doesn't need fame and money. But he has to get better. He has to go to a whole new level. That's the only way he stays in the game," he said.
As for beginning his first Grand Slam in ages as the NO.2 seed, Federer said it might be for the best. "Five years almost, I was expected to win every tournament I entered," he said, "so maybe Rafael Nadal now feels what I had to feel for a very long time. It will be interesting to see how he handles it." | high7031.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "between two passengers"
},
"options": [
"on a farm",
"in a shop",
"before a long plane journey",
"between two passengers"
],
"question": "The story happened _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | Two men were sitting together in a plane. They were on a long journey. One of the men was a businessman. The other was a farmer. They sat without talking for a while, then the farmer said,"Let's do something to pass the time."
"What do you want to do?" the businessman asked. "We can ask each other riddles." The farmer said,"You start.""Let's make the rules first," the businessman said. "That's not fair. You are a businessman with much knowledge. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer."
"That's true." The businessman said. "What do you want we should do?" "If you don't know the answer to a riddle, you pay me $100. And if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $50." The farmer said. The businessman thought about this, then he said, "OK. That's fair. Who will go first?"
"I will," The farmer said. "Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?" The business man repeated the riddle, "What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that's a good one. I'm afraid I don't know the answer." He gave the farmer $100, then said, "Tell me the answer. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?""I don't know." The farmer said and gave him $50. | high12219.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "attitudes toward life"
},
"options": [
"body size",
"attitudes toward life",
"culture difference",
"different beauty standards"
],
"question": "The passage tries to highlight the importance of _ .",
"ques... | For many years, I had a belief that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts, and rejections with it.
Many weight-conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix _ . Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved,being special, and being cherished. We fantasize about what it will be like when we reach the long-awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there.
But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self-worth, and, of course, love.
It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it's happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us strive hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes. | high1440.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "people tend to trust their virtual friends more than their real ones"
},
"options": [
"sick people can recover more quickly by surfing the Net",
"students get important information online",
"students who surf the net always p... | After having more than a few acquaintances online, _ might come a blow to keen social networkers like Barack Obama, or even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg himself.[:Zxxk.Com]
According to a research, the average person has in fact twice as many online friends as physical ones. Users of social-networking sites have on average 121 online friends as compared with physical ones. The study also claims that people tend to be more open, confident and honest with their virtual friends than their "real" ones.
"For most people , the Internet is a way of keeping in touch with loved ones and friends, but for people who are isolated due to illness, it plays a more vital role, and can often act as a lifeline." says Helen Oxley, a psychologist at Wythenshawe hospital.
"People with illnesses often rely on the Internet to facilitate friendships, since they blog and use networking sites as a way of dealing with their illness. It can foster a sense of social connection for those who frequently feel isolated, which is important to psychological well-being."
In wider society, the ways in which friendships are formed are changing, with people recognizing that they can develop deep and meaningful connections with others that they've never met, and may never meet. About one in 10 people has either met their best friends online, or believes they can make lifelong friends on the Web.
The findings highlight how social introductions are also changing. Only five percent would ask for someone's phone number, while 23 percent are now likely to ask for an email address or a full name with the intention of adding the person to their social network.
At the same time, however, a questionnaire completed by 4,427 suggests that 20 percent of parents believe their children's education is affected by surfing the Net. They think their children are doing poorly at the school due to the amount of time they spend on non-educational websites. | high13107.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "By nature."
},
"options": [
"By accident.",
"By nature.",
"By acquiring.",
"By imitating."
],
"question": "How does \"need for closure\" probably come into being?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
... | Need for closure is a psychological term that describes a person's desire for a firm answer to a question. Our need for closure is our natural preference for definite answers over confusion and uncertainty. Every person has their own baseline level of need for closure. It likely evolved via natural selection.
What I find really fascinating is how our need for closure is affected by the situation we're in. Our need for closure rises when we have to act rather than just observe, and it matters much more when we're rushed, or bored, or tired. Any stress can make our discomfort with uncertainty increase, and a high need for closure negatively influences some of our most important decisions: who we decide to trust, whether we admit we're wrong and even how creative we are.
In hiring, for instance, a high need for closure leads people to put far too much weight on their first impression. It's called the Urgency Effect. In one experiment, psychologists tried to lower people's need for closure by telling them, right before participants are about to make various judgments of a job candidate, that they'll be responsible in some way for them, or that their judgments have serious consequences.
In making any big decision, it's not enough just to know that we should take our time. We all know that important decisions shouldn't be rushed. The problem is that we don't keep that advice in mind when it matters. So, one of the best solutions is to formalize the reminders. Before making important decisions, write down not just advantages and disadvantages but what the consequences could be. Also, think about how much pressure you're under. If your need for closure is particularly high that day, it's even more important to think twice. | high14668.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "UK"
},
"options": [
"Rome",
"Australia",
"Athens",
"UK"
],
"question": "The first ever Paralympics were held in _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
... | Athens 2004 Paralympics: Biggest and Best Ever
The Paralympics are the games for sports men and women with a disability. They were the idea of Doctor Ludwig Guttman, a doctor working at Stoke Mandeville hospital in the UK. This famous hospital looks after people who can no longer walk, or cannot move at all. After the Second World War, in 1945, the hospital was full of badly injured soldiers. To give them hope, Dr Guttman started the Paralympics in 1948. They were held at the same time as the London Olympics; doctors gave out the prizes and nurses were employed as referees .
The first official Paralympics took place in Rome in 1960, with 400 athletes from 23 countries competing. By 2004 they had become ten times bigger: nearly 4,000 athletes from 140 countries competed in 19 different sports. The youngest competitor was the 11-year-old swimmer Xu Qingqing from China, the oldest, 66-year-old David Williams, a sailor from Canada. The games were a great success for China, the oldest, 66-year-old David Williams, a sailor from Canada. The games were a great success for China, which won 141 medals, 63 of them gold. Britain came second with 94 medals, 35 of them gold. China's disabled dance team closed the games with a wonderful dance performance.
The games were also a success for the organizers. Ever since the failure of the Paralympics in Atlanta, USA, in 1996, the organizers have been nervous of empty seats. But in Australia in 2000, the Paralympics were shown every day on TV and a million tickets were sold. Fifty thousand Australian schoolchildren were in the stadiums for the Sydney Paralympics, shouting and cheering. However pleased they were by the crowds, some of the competitors found this quite difficult. One blind runner said that for the first 800 meters of the 10,000 meter race he could not hear where the other runners were because of the noise. Whatever his feelings about it, he still won a gold; and in Athens 2004 the crowds were even bigger and noisier. When the British team got back to London after the games of 2004, more crowds came to welcome them home. Slowly, the Paralympic athletes are becoming as popular and as famous as the Olympic stars. | high17349.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "As long as two people each have a phone, they can communicate each other."
},
"options": [
"They make it easy to buy things.",
"Telemarketers will call your phone so you don't have to go shopping",
"As long as two people each... | Phones make our lives easier. Usually they are a convenient type of technology to have around because they can help us communicate with all types of people for any reason whatsoever. As long as somebody else has a phone, you can contact them. This means you can keep in touch with friends and family, contact businesses, and generally communicate with people no matter where they are.
Sometimes, however, phones can cause problems or be an annoyance. One phenomenon that is dreaded in the United States is telemarketing. Telemarketers call your phone in order to try and convince you to buy their products. They often start the conversation with a friendly voice or tone to try and convince you they can be trusted. Once most people realize they are talking to a telemarketer, they will end the conversation as quickly as possible. Some will be polite and make up an excuse to end the conversation. Others are less tactful and criticize the telemarketer, yell at them, or simply hang up the phone. Although most people don't buy things from telemarketers, a few people do, so telemarketers keep on calling. If you have a phone in America you most likely have received a call from a telemarketer.
To avoid telemarketers some people buy new technology. "Caller ID" allows you to see the number that is calling your phone before you answer. If you do not recognize the name and number of a caller you can simply ignore the call. Unfortunately there usually is no way to tell if an unknown number is somebody important, but unknown, or a telemarketer. Even though technology can help some people eschew annoying telemarketers, they can't be avoided altogether. | high21823.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "It is a language training company."
},
"options": [
"It is a language test organization",
"It is an English teaching school.",
"It is a language training company.",
"It is an organization studying human."
],
"qu... | The English proficiency of Chinese women is much better than that of men, according to a study released in Shanghai yesterday, Chinese women scored three points higher than men in the English Proficiency Index released by EF Education, a language training company, mainly English. Worldside, women scored one point higher than men on average.
"This shows that Chinese women are more used to the Chinese education mode, the report said. Chinese women use their gift of language to gain success."
However, Chinese mainlanders English proficiency ranked second to last in Asia, despite the great time and effort that many people invest in learning the language, the report said, China's mainland is ranked the 36th in the index of 54 countries and regions where English is not the native language. That's down by seven places comparing with that last year. The Chinese mainland belongs to the low-proficiency tier and is ranked just above Thailand in Asia. This year's index has increased the weight of listening tests, while decreasing the importance of grammar and vocabulary exams, which partly caused the ranking change, researchers said. Moreover, test-oriented and rote-based learning methods often used in China hurt the language skills of Chinese students, education experts said.
The study compared test scores of more than 1.7 million adults in the 54 countries and regions. Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands have the best command of English, while Libya has the lowest English proficiency level. European countries generally performed well. But Italy, Spain and Portugal, some of the countries at the heart of the euro zone crisis, are being dragged down by poor English, according to the report. Singapore is 12th, the best in Asia, followed by Malaysia and India, South Korea; at 21st, and Japan, at 22nd, performed disappointingly low despite their focus on education; the report said.
One in every four people frequently uses English at work on China's mainland, nevertheless nearly 15 percent said they never use English, lower than the world average level, according to the study.[:Z,xx,k.Com] | high10426.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "more adult Internet users should have looked for information about themselves"
},
"options": [
"fewer and fewer adult Internet users are looking for information about themselves",
"the number of adult Internet users looking for inf... | NEW YORK (AP) -- In a report, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of U.S. adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine.
That is more than twice the 22 percent of users who did in 2002, but Pew senior research specialist Mary Madden was surprised that the growth wasn't higher than it had been expected.
"Yes it's doubled, but it's still the case that there's a big chunk of Internet users who have never done this simple act of connecting their names with search engines," she said. "Certainly more and more people have become aware of this, but I don't know it's necessarily kept pace with the amount of content we post about ourselves or what others post about us."
About 60 percent of Internet users said they aren't worried about the extent of information about themselves online, although they are increasingly concerned over how that data can be used.
Americans under 50 and those with more education and income were more likely to self-Google---in some cases because their jobs demand a certain online persona .
Meanwhile, Pew found that 53 percent of adult Internet users admit to looking up information about someone else, famous people not included.
Often, it's to find someone they've lost touch with. But looking up information about friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbors also was common.
Although men and women equally searched for online information about themselves, women were slightly more likely to look up information about someone they are dating.
In many cases, the search is not harmful, done to find someone's contact information. But a third of those who have conducted searches on others have looked for public records, such as bankruptcies and divorce proceedings. A similar number have searched for someone else's photo.
Pew also found that teens were more likely than adults to limit the range of people who can see their information at an online hangout like Facebook or News Corp.'s MySpace, contrary to conventional wisdom.
"Teens are more comfortable with the applications in some ways, (but) I also think they have their parents and teachers telling them to be very careful about what they post and who they share it with," Madden said. | high11738.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "that there are differences in people's abilities"
},
"options": [
"why certain people are poor readers",
"that there are differences in people's abilities",
"why some people are good basketball players",
"that good bask... | Some people have the feeling that nothing can be done about their poor reading ability. They feel hopeless about it. Can you learn to read better, or must you agree that nothing can be done about it?
To be sure, people are different. You cannot expect to do everything as well as certain other people do. If all the students in a class tried out for basketball, some would be very good players; others would be very poor;
. But even the very poor players can become much better players if they are guided in the right way, and with plenty of practice. It is the same with reading. Some seem to enjoy reading and to read well without any special help. Others find reading a slow and tiring job. In between, there are all degrees of reading ability.
Many experiments have shown that just about every poor reader can improve his reading ability. In these experiments, the poor readers were given tests of reading ability. After some of the causes of their reading were discovered, they were given special instruction and practice in reading. After a few months, another test of the same kind was given. In nearly all cases, these people had raised their reading scores. | high16057.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "she can write several books at the same time"
},
"options": [
"she can write several books at the same time",
"she often does some research before writing a book",
"she is one of the most popular American women writers",
... | Danielle Steel,America's sweetheart,is one of the hardest working women in the book business.Unlike other productive authors who write one book at a time,she can work on up to five.Her research alone before writing takes at least three years.Once she has fully studied her subjects,ready to dive into a book,she can spend twenty hours nonstop at her desk.
Danielle Steel comes from New York and was sent to France for her education.After graduation,she worked in the public relations and advertising industries.Later she started a job as a writer which she was best fit for.Her achievements are unbelievable:390 million copies of books in print,nearly fifty New York Times best-selling novels, and a series of "Max and Martha" picture books for children to help them deal with the real-life problems of death,new hobbies and new schools. Her 1998 book about the death of her son shot to the top of the New York Times best-selling list as soon as it came out.Twenty-eight of her books have been made into films.She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for one of her books being the Times best-seller for 381 weeks straight.
Not content with a big house,a loving family,and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Danielle Steel considers her readers to be the most important resource and has kept in touch with them by e-mail.While she is often compared to the heroines of her own invention,her life is undoubtedly much quieter.But,if she does have anything in common with them,it is her strength of will and her _ style.There is only one Danielle Steel. | high4510.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Treasure's coming helped the author's family to get along better."
},
"options": [
"Treasure was worth a lot of money.",
"When the author got Treasure, she was a perfect horse.",
"Before the author got Treasure, she didn't lo... | My horse,Treasure,is my hero because she helped me discover how to relate to her.In the process,she " fixed " my relationship with my husband and my children.
When I got her,she was 2 years old, _ . She was not going to accept any kind of instructions from me. In the interest of not getting myself killed,I started to read and educate myself on ways to manage a high-spirited horse.
I discovered natural horsemanship ,a method of training that focuses on communication.In order to communicate with another person,you must be understood.The very definition of understanding is two or more persons share the same idea. This simple definition had a big influence on me.I realized that communication is a two-way street!
When I started to adopt horsemanship in my life,I noticed a change in the way other people related to me.My husband,when I stopped ordering him around,became happier and more helpful.My children,when I practiced being fair,firm and most of all,considerate,were motivated to act sooner,at a polite request instead of the orders from me.
I think the most valuable life skill I learned from my horse is that pressure motivates. As soon as I applied these basic skills to my daily activities, I started to notice positive changes. My children were more considerate of each other.and started to ask first,without telling.I became aware of my position as a role model.
Today,five years later,I have the perfect horse.I also have very polite kids and a very happy husband.There's nothing in the world that can compare to being loved by ones you love most---even if it all started with the attitude of a very special horse. | high7019.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "How to deal with problems."
},
"options": [
"How to find problems.",
"How to change problems.",
"How to live without problems.",
"How to deal with problems."
],
"question": "What is the text mainly about?",
... | Though problems are a part of our lives, it certainly doesn't mean that we let them rule our lives forever. One day or the other, you'll have to stand up and say -- problem, I don't want you in my life.
Of course, we've been fighting troubles ever since we were born. Problems with friends, parents, girlfriends, husbands, and children -- the list goes on. Apart from these, the inner conflicts within ourselves work, too. These keep adding to our problems. Problems come in different shapes and colors and feelings.
But good news is that all problems can be dealt with. Now read on to know how to solve your problems.
Talk, it really helps. What most of us think is that our problem can be understood only by us and that no talking is going to help. But the truth is that when you talk about, you're setting free the negative energies that have been gathering within you. Talking helps you move on and let go.
Write your problems. Having a personal diary can also be of huge help if you don't want a real person to talk with. When you write down your problems, you're setting free all the tension from your system. You can try throwing away the paper on which you wrote your problems. By doing this, imagine yourself throwing away the problems from your life.
Don't lose faith and hope. No matter what you lose in life, don't lose faith and hope. Even if you lose all your money, family ..., you should still have faith. With faith and hope, you can rebuild everything that you lose.
Your problems aren't the worst. No matter what problem you get in life, there're another one million people whose problems are huger than yours. Tell yourself: when they can deal with them, why can't I? Your problems might just seem big and worse, but in reality they can be removed.
Go about and solve your problems because every problem, however big or small, always has a way out. | high12231.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To introduce a research on the link between activity and depression."
},
"options": [
"To tell us a fun story about how to protect us against depression.",
"To introduce a research on the link between activity and depression.",
... | Being physically active three times a week reduces the odds of being depressed by about 16%, according to new UCL research carried out as part of the Public Health Research Center.
The study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, found a two-way relationship between depression and physical activity. People who increased their weekly activity reported fewer depressive symptoms but those with more depressive symptoms were less active, particularly at younger ages.
Researchers followed 11,135 people born in 1958 up until the age of 50, recording depressive symptoms and levels of physical activity at regular intervals in adulthood. They found that each additional activity period per week reduced odds of depression by 6%. In England 19% of men and 26% of women are currently classed as "inactive", and this study suggests that activity could significantly improve their mental as well as physical health.
"Assuming the association is causal, physical activity has a protective effect against depression. If an adult between their twenties and forties who isn't physically active became active 3 times per week, they would reduce their risks of depression by about 16%." says Dr Snehal of the UCL Institute of Child Health, lead author of the study.
Professor Mark, Director of the Public Health Research Center, said, "Many people are already aware of the benefits of physical activity on their general health, but now we are seeing more evidence that suggest it also has a positive effect on a person's mental well-being. The latest research highlights just how important it is to ensure that people are working and living in environments that allow them to be both physically active and mentally healthy." | high14898.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "was a competent doctor"
},
"options": [
"had a lawful lover",
"was an illegal writer",
"used to be a lawyer",
"was a competent doctor"
],
"question": "Anton Pavlovich Chekhov _ .",
"question_type": "cloze... | A qualified doctor who rarely practiced but instead devoted his life to writing. He once said: "Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my lover." Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, was a great playwright and one of the masters of the modern short story.
When Chekhov entered the Moscow University Medical School in 1879, he started to publish hundreds of comic short stories to support his family. After he graduated, he wrote regularly for a local daily newspaper.
As a writer he was extremely fast, often producing a short story in an hour or less. Chekhov's medical and science experience can be seen through the indifference many of his characters show to tragic events. In 1892, he became a full time writer and published some of his most memorable stories.
Chekhov often wrote about the sufferings of life in small town Russia. Tragic events control his characters who are filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair.
It is often said that nothing happens in Chekhov's stories and plays. He made up for this with his exciting technique for developing drama within his characters. Chekhov's works combined the calm attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity of an artist.
Some of Chekhov's works were translated into Chinese as early as the 1940s. One of his famous stories, The Man in a Shell, about a school teacher's extraordinarily orderly life, was selected as a text for Chinese senior students. | high1468.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "prevent elephants from being poached."
},
"options": [
"make new laws to punish poachers.",
"prevent elephants from being poached.",
"collect money for elephants' protection",
"call for African countries to save elephan... | The illegal ivory trade has been a major problem in Africa for decades. Poachers have killed hundreds of thousands of elephants to obtain ivory. Now, affected areas are taking action. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) announced on Wednesday key African states where poaching takes place have promised to stop the ivory trade to protect elephants.
Over the past few days, top officials and experts from 30 states met at the African Elephant Summit. The conference, organized by the IUCN and the government of Botswana, was held in Gaborone, Botswana.
Conservation efforts will include China and Thailand, where much of the ivory is sent. "Now is the time for Africa and Asia to join forces to protect this universally valued species," said Botswana President Ian Khama.
In the 1980s, as many as 1 million elephants across Africa were killed for their ivory. The ivory was used to make jewelry and other items. This continued until 1989, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) voted to ban all the trade in ivory. As a result, demand for ivory fell. Governments cracked down on poachers. Elephant populations slowly began to increase. However , this progress was short-lived.
According to the IUCN, 2011 saw the highest levels of poaching and illegal ivory trading in at least 16 years. Around 25,000 elephants were killed in Africa that year. Data from the IUCN show even higher levels of illegal trade may have been reached in 2013. "With an estimated 22,000 elephants illegally killed in 2012, we continue to face a critical situation," said John E. Scanlon, CITES Secretary-General. "Current elephant poaching in Africa remains far too high, and could soon lead to local extinction if the present killing rate continues.
At the African Elephant Summit , key African states where elephants make their home agreed to develop a "zerotolerance approach" to poaching. The deal calls for maximum sentences for poachers and hunters, and increased cooperation between affected states. Officials are committed to classifying wildlife trafficking as a serious crime --- and to making sure that the people who commit it are punished. All participants at the conference agreed to sign the deal. With these states working together, there may yet be hope for elephants. | high6307.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Its petrol-powered engine and folding wings."
},
"options": [
"Its steel framework and folding wings.",
"Its petrol-powered engine and folding wings.",
"Its 99mph top speed and petrol-powered engine.",
"Its ordinary car... | Finally, the long-awaited flying car is almost here.
AeroMobil, a Slovakian company, plans to start selling its creation, the AeroMobil3. 0, in 2017. The company claims on its site that the vehicle "transforms in seconds from an automobile to an airplane" by using "existing infrastructure created for automobiles and planes."The vehicle is petrol-powered and has wings that fold, which allows it to be parked like a car, though it is nearly 20 feet long.
The company's website features a video where the AeroMobil 3. 0 drives out of a hangar ( )and goes down a highway, sharing the road with ordinary cars until it arrives at an airstrip. The car then unfolds its wings and takes off from a stretch of grass, rather than a paved tarmac , and flies through the air like any other small airplane.
AeroMobil spokesman Stefan Vadocz said his company hasn't decided on an exact price because it's not ready yet."The prototype is a work in progress," he said in an email. But he said the price would be several hundreds of thousands of euros---somewhere in between a sports car and a light sports aircraft.
The vehicle seats two people---the pilot and a passenger---and its single propeller is located at the rear of the plane. The company said the car's top speed on the road is at least 99 mph and while flying it is at least 124 mph. It can fly for 435 miles before running out of fuel. It has a steel framework and carbon coating and is powered by a Rotax 912, a four-cylinder aircraft engine from BRP of Austria.
Flying cars aren't exactly new. The concept has been around since long before The Jetsons popularized the idea in the 1960s. It has been a regular topic in Popular Science ever since World War I ace, Eddie Rickenbacker, wrote about it in 1924.
But getting a practical, reliable flying car off the ground has been a serious challenge.
Glenn Curtiss discovered this in 1918 when he developed the Curtiss Autoplane. It turned out to be more of a hopper than a flyer, so it failed to become popular with the public. | high14640.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "You may call people as soon as you get on the plane, but not after the doors are closed."
},
"options": [
"You may call people anytime you like.",
"You may talk loudly on the phone at dinner in the restaurant.",
"You may keep... | When the musical sound rings you, you immediately reach for your pocket ready to have a chat. But although you probably use it all the time, have you ever thought about the manners related to talking on the phone? If you haven't, here are some tips to guide you.
*Always give the person you are calling plenty of time to get to the phone before you hang up. If the person who answers is not the one you want, give your name and ask if you may speak to the person you want.
*Think about the time you call people. Try not to call too early in the morning (before about 9:00) or too late at night (after about 9:30). Also try not to call at mealtimes.
*If you go by plane to visit your relatives at Christmas, remember to follow airline instructions. Cell phone must be turned off as soon as the plane doors are closed and remain so until the doors open again on arrival.
*When you're face to face with someone, do not talk on the phone. It is rude to be on the phone when a waiter is trying to take your order in a restaurant, or when you are returning the shoes you have just been trying on in a shop. Finish any face-to-face business before taking a call. Continuing to use the phone while nodding to the person in front of you is quite impolite.
*When in a restaurant with your friends, keep phone conversations short. Make a call only if it is important. Practice speaking in a low voice. If no one turns to your way, _ .
*If you go to a theatre, a concert or a cinema, consider the other people around you. Check that your phone is "off" before you enter. If you are expecting a very important call, put your phone on "vibrate" and run for the exit as soon as you feel it. If you forget both "off" and "vibrate" and your phone rings, don't answer it, turn it off straight away. | high9034.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because the first diner was not what it is now"
},
"options": [
"Because it is spelled differently from \" dinner\"",
"Because the first diner was not what it is now",
"Because diner was a new word",
"Because it is a sp... | Do you like to eat out? Do you like to eat quickly? Do you like inexpensive food? Some people go to fast-food restaurants for these reasons. In the past, people usually went to diners for these reasons. In fact, many people in the States still go to diners today for the same reasons.
A man named Walter Scott had the first "diner" in 1872. It wasn't a real diner. It was only a food cart. People on the street walked up to the cart to buy food. These carts served late-night workers who wanted a cup of coffee and a late-night meal. The meal was a sandwich or boiled eggs. In 1887, Samuel Jones built the first diner big enough to allow the customers to come inside. However, they did not sit down. Later, people built diners with counters and stools, and people sat down while they ate.
Before long, many diners stayed open around the clock. In other words, people were able to eat in diner at any time. Diners changed in other ways, too. The original menu of sandwiches and coffee became bigger. It included soup, favorite dishes, and a breakfast menu. In addition, diners soon became permanent buildings. They were no longer carts on wheels.
Diners today look similar to the diners of the early 1900s. They are usually buildings with large windows. Inside, the diners have shining counters with stools, booths, and tables and chairs. People can eat all three meals in a modern diner.
Today, many people eat in fast-food restaurants such as McDonald's and Burger King. However, the diner remains an American tradition, and thousands of people still enjoy eating there. It was popular a century ago, and it is still popular today. | high6461.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "desperate and fearful"
},
"options": [
"desperate and fearful",
"special and different",
"bitter and lonely",
"disturbed and annoyed"
],
"question": "Having heard what the nurse said to him, the writer must have... | "Your son is one of the sickest kids we've ever had in intensive care," was what the nurse said to me after we had arrived in an ambulance, 20 minutes from Kingston Hospital to the Evelina in Westminster. The journey was the longest of my life. I had been told that my six-month-old son, my friend, my whole heart, was going to die. And I spent the whole time in the blue-lit vehicle wondering how on earth I would lift my wife from the black hole she was about to be plunged into.
The nurse who gave me that bad news was to become a great friend. She told me that the noise my son was making in the back of the ambulance was the sound that babies made before they died. There were many more horrible words and terms. But my son survived.
It wasn't just George who endured. In the three weeks of his hospital stay, I slept 20 hours in total. My wife hardly slept. I lost over two stone in weight in the five days he was in intensive care. And we've been treating him for three years now. I have collapsed 20 times--the fear, the anxiety and exhaustion. Even now, we wake at least five times a night, often staying awake to treat him for as long as an hour.
My son has Type 1 diabetes . It's a little known condition. George had a simple, everyday virus. It caused his immune system to attack his pancreas. Now he needs constant insulin to stay alive. I wanted to raise awareness for George's condition. I wondered how I could do it. I've run a couple of marathons. But a marathon was never really going to get people's attention the way I hoped. Two marathons, back to back? Maybe three? Could I do it? How much could I endure?
I started running at the age of 19 when I thought my heart was broken. I couldn't cope with the pain and I went for a run. I kept on going for a run. Each time I came back, it would hurt a bit less. It wasn't so long before I had completely forgotten about my broken heart. But I couldn't stop running. I found that any stress, frustration, anxiety would reduce when I went out on the road.
When we finally brought my son home from hospital, my wife told me I had to go for a run. She knew that I had not allowed myself to show the emotions I'd been feeling. I fought very hard not to break. It was my worst nightmare playing out, but it was also my wife's. I did not want them to see the fear that I was feeling. When I got back from that first run, my wife simply said "Better?" and it was.
I'm often asked how I motivate myself for running such distances. They assume I think about my son. But I can't really. If I did, I would weep the whole way round. The hard part of endurance running is mental. It's strange to choose an event that you will never win. The race will always be larger than the individual. And if you don't respect the distance, you will pay for it. The biggest mistake any long distance runner makes is to think about the finish line. Each time you do, the body falls apart. Actually, the brain falls apart.
I know I can run two marathons. I also know that the third marathon will break me. And I will be staring at another sort of black hole. It will be then that I think of my son, and all that he endured and continues to endure every day. I know that I will start to think of giving up, the pain will be so great. My brain will fall to bits and my body will too. So I will picture my son. And I'll remember that he didn't give up. He never gives up. Why should I? | high14126.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Optimistic"
},
"options": [
"Optimistic",
"Uncertain",
"Negative",
"Indifferent"
],
"question": "What's Mahdjoubi's attitude towards the new product?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"a... | Showering typically sends water down the drain, but a new space-age shower could change that. The design, inspired by NASA, saves water and money.
Astronauts have no choice but to recycle the water they use in space. _ This futuristic shower comes from Orbital Systems, a Swedish advanced technology company. Its CEO, Mehrdad Mahdjoubi, invented the product.
"The shower of the future is a water-recycling shower, thus enabling water savings up to 90 percent, energy savings up to 80 percent, at the same time increasing comfort and hygiene. The water is being collected in the drain, it's being analyzed, purified and then pumped back up to the shower head. So what is so special about the purification technology? Well, it's based on a patented purification capsule system that makes sure that the water is always crystal clear," he explained.
Mahdjoubi was inspired by a project between NASA and Sweden's Lund University to come up with designs for a mission to Mars. He adapted the closed-loop system that allows astronauts to re-use shower water again and again.
The product already has been tested in Sweden, where it saved up to 100,000 liters of water over four months. Based on those results, Mahdjoubi is confident his company can distribute the shower system worldwide.
"Our market is anyone who takes a shower, actually, and the biggest benefit it gives is to the market segment where the water consumption is the highest, such as bathing establishments, gyms, sports centers. Also, private households where the water consumption and the prices are high," said Mahdjoubi.
The "out of this world" design has won several business and innovation | high9752.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "deal with what we hope to do first"
},
"options": [
"see becoming perfect as our responsibility",
"deal with what we hope to do first",
"set a goal of perfection in our life",
"worry about our future dreams"
],
... | We have a strange and strong belief in the idea of perfection. Driven by our culture, we struggle for an unattainable ideal: If I have the perfect parents, perfect grades, perfect..., then I would be happy. We seek what we can't have without remembering that we don't actually need to be perfect. Imperfection allows us to be human.
Parents, teachers and other high-achieving peers will have us believe that we must be perfect if we wish to remain competitive. However, what job or school requires you to develop a cure for some form of cancer by the age of 18? Although these grades would be admirable achievements, are they worth losing sleep over? We feel like we need the perfect grades to get into the perfect college that will provide us with the perfect education necessary to obtain the perfect job. Making use of our thirst for perfection, the whole college and career industries have emerged claiming to help us reach our goals.
Truth is, you only need to be good enough to get into the conversation. It is what you do afterwards that sets you apart. Focus more on your passions. Don't worry about anything secondary to your passions. You don't become an expert at anything if you spent your time trying to succeed in everything you do. You only become an expert when you devote your time to that one project that truly brings you joy.
As members of this society, we have a responsibility to be excellent in what we do, not perfect. Although perfection can be a goal, it should not be the only goal. We only have 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week. Thus, we need to plan what we want to do and cut out the activities we cannot do.
With everything, though, make sure you're doing enough. Pursuing your passions is not enough of a reason to completely give up on everything else. Try as hard as you can and let your future worry about itself. Worry about your task at hand and you will be successful in achieving your dreams. Most of all, remember that you're going to be okay. | high13649.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The severe competition in life."
},
"options": [
"The low abilities.",
"The lack of security.",
"The loss of self-confidence.",
"The severe competition in life."
],
"question": "According to the text, what cause... | The most common problem that worries all of us today is the fear of insecurity. _ With every new turn of events our self-confidence takes a blow. _
There are several reasons that affect a person's self-confidence. The most important reason is lack of success. Not being able to succeed affects one's self-confidence greatly. This is when one begins to doubt his own ability. In many cases one's self-confidence is low when he feels rejected by society. For example, a person who loses his job _ other people for fear of being questioned about his work. However, this isn't right at all. One needs to think along positive lines in spite of failures. After all it is your life and you have every right to live your life as you wish.
The challenge lies in not allowing your self-confidence to decrease. _ When success doesn't come to you, you should not allow your self-belief to be affected. Always keep in mind that success is sure to come in time. So, there is nothing wrong with your ability. Whenever lack of success causes you to doubt your ability, don't forget to remind yourself that quick success does not last long. Also remember not to compare yourself to others. These tips will do a world of good to your confidence.
In order to be self-confident, you need to have a lifestyle that is right for you. Create one and live a life as you want to. Leave others to themselves. | high12557.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the way they move"
},
"options": [
"the places they live",
"the way they move",
"the life habits they have",
"the long bodies they have"
],
"question": "The new study shows that these snakes can fly because of_.... | For many years, scientists have wondered how Chrysopelea paradisi, known as the "flying" snakes, can stay afloat as they leap from one tree to another, sometimes covering a distance of as long as 79 feet. Now a new study has explained that it may be all to do with the way they move.
The report was published by Virginia Tech scientist, Jake Soeha who has been studying the flying snakes for a number of years. He began his research by first focusing on its launch technique. He discovered that the snakes first make themselves completely flat and then move side to side; they glide rapidly at a speed of between 26-33 feet per second, before leaping off.
Once they take off, their bodies actually tilt at about a 25-degree angle to the airflow created by their flight. When they first leap, the snakes start to drop altitude to pick up speed. With the front of their bodies held stiff, they start a strange air-gliding dance, by moving from side to side. This turns their entire body into one big wing, allowing them to glide across long distances.
The findings are not only exciting because they solve the puzzle of how the snakes are able to fly, but also because the same principles could be used to build small flying instruments.
The flying snakes that are native to South and South East Asia spend most of their lives in trees in the lowland tropical forests. They grow between 2-3 feet long and are about as wide as a human finger. As would be expected, the smaller and lighter ones are more able to "glide" for longer distances than the bigger and heavier ones. They are not the only wingless animals that can fly -- there are flying frogs that use similar gliding techniques to make their way across forests. | high23952.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "She was trying to help her cousin survive."
},
"options": [
"She was crying out for help on a raft.",
"She was trying her best to catch a raft.",
"She was trying to help her cousin survive.",
"She was struggling above t... | Picture this scene, a 6-year-old girl is alone on a raft, with no lifejacket, 200 yards from the shore with the winds whipping up the water. She is pointing at her cousins, and yelling out, "They are drowning!" Your eyes scan left only to see a three-year-old above the surface of the water and you realize two hands are holding her up, the hands of 14-year-old Mallory, who is struggling below the surface of the water.
Three seventeen-year-olds from Salt Lake City, Tiana Skeen, Caitlin Caldwell and Jessica Osterloh, were on the lake for fun in the sun at Bear Lake when they heard the cry for help and saw this terrifying scene. The teens witnessed the three young girls in this very dangerous situation. The teens reacted quickly and swam out to save the girls while crying out toward jet skiers and people on the beach for help. Fourteen-year-old Mallory was struggling to hold her little cousin Rylee above water. The teens rescued Rylee just in time but couldn't find Mallory. Meanwhile, 6-year-old Sydney was floating away on the raft with no lifejacket. The girls flagged down a jet ski to get her and bring her back to the beach.
The three teen heroines saved the 3-year-old and the 6-year-old, but they feel Mallory is the real heroine, as she held her 3-year-old cousin above the water until the teens were able to rescue Rylee. Mallory was finally found, but she died on the way to the hospital.
Now, the teen heroines strongly remind everyone to wear a life jacket when on the water. | high13891.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Books for Dummies"
},
"options": [
"Books for Dummies",
"The Easiest,the Best",
"Books for Stupid People",
"New Ideas Behind the Books"
],
"question": "Which of the following can be the best title of the passage... | Do you know about a series of books that say they are for dummies? These American selfhelp books have been translated into more than thirtynine languages including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish.
"Dummy" is a word for a stupid person. The dummy books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before, like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies, such as WorldHistoryforDummies, RabbitsforDummies, ChineseCookingforDummies, andWeddingPlanningforDummies. The first such book,DOS forDummies, was published in 1991.It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred and fifty million dummy books have been sold.
The dummies.comwebsite explains the idea behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. he publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. They say that the dummy books give the best and easiest way to do something. And the books use simple and easy language.
There are more than one thousand different dummy books. A report in NewYorkTimessays that the topselling dummy books are those that explain technology and personal finance.
The publishers say that the bestselling dummy books are those providing information many people need--like information about diseases,education and cooking. People interested in opera,car repair and wine can also find dummy books to help them. And there are even more dummy books to come. The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummy books every year. | high22494.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "is attended badly by the stepmother"
},
"options": [
"is brave in expressing her love",
"is attended badly by the stepmother",
"has a dream of meeting a prince",
"is embarrassed by the pop singer"
],
"question":... | Few of us haven't read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams. Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone's heart--we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity .
Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too. Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school.
Mary is shy but loves to dance. Compared with other girls, she is invisible. However, her world changes completely when a famous teenager pop singer, Joey Parker, appears.
Joey is everything the rest of the boys in her class are not--kind, handsome and desirable. Mary and Joey's paths cross at a ball. They meet and fall in love with each other. But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams. Of course, there is a wicked stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies. Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn't get into the top dance school. Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her.
The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale. Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful. There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies.
"The movie takes the Cinderella fairytale as its jumping off point," writes movie critic Amber Wilkinson. "The focus is firmly on following your dream." | high15238.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "your blood group could affect your work"
},
"options": [
"your blood group could affect your work",
"blood types can never change your life",
"the idea about blood groups has little scientific basis",
"one's personality... | When might you need to give blood for a personality test? The answer is that you need to do so when you ask for a job.
Some people believe that your blood group hides no secrets.It shows the "real you".And the owners of certain blood groups might be particularly good or bad at a certain task.This is the very reason why you could be asked to offer your blood group before being given a job.
The new idea was carried out first in Japan and now it has been brought over to other parts of the world.One important business company in Japan is quite special about these needs: "For our office members, we must have 30 percent of those with group A and 15 percent with AB, 25 percent with B."
Do you happen to know that if your own blood group is O, you can get things done and sell the goods well? People with blood group A are thinkers, while those with blood group B are highly creative.And if you have problems, ask the ABs to solve them.So if you visit the Japanese company, you would find the O types out selling goods and A types keeping order in the office. | high16731.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "did not go to high school"
},
"options": [
"went to classical schools",
"went to \"finishing\" schools",
"did not go to high school",
"went to technical schools"
],
"question": "In those days, most Italian girls... | When she was twelve, Maria made her first important decision about the course of her life. She decided that she wanted to continue her education. Most girls from middle-class families chose to stay home after primary school, though some attended private Catholic "'finishing" schools. There they learned a little about music, art, needlework, and how to make polite conversation. This was not the sort of education that interested Maria or her mother. By this time, she had begun to take her studies more seriously. She read constantly and brought her books everywhere. One time she even brought her math book to the theater and tried to study in the dark.
Maria knew that she wanted to go on learning in a serious way. That meant attending the public high school, something that very few girls did. In Italy at the time, there were two types of high schools: the "classical" schools and the "technical" schools. In the classical schools, the students followed a very traditional program of studies, with courses in Latin and Greek language and literature, and Italian literature and history. The few girls who continued studying after primary school usually chose these schools.
Maria, however, wanted to attend a technical school. The technical schools were more modern than the classical schools and they offered courses in modern languages, mathematics, science, and accounting. Most people including Maria's father believed that girls would never be able to understand these subjects. Furthermore, they did not think it was proper for girls to study them.
Maria did not care if it was proper or not. Math and science were the subjects that interested her most. But before she could sign up for the technical school, she had to win her father's approval. She finally did, with her mother's help, though for many years after, there was tension in the family. Maria's father continued to oppose her plans, while her mother helped her.
In 1883, at age thirteen, Maria entered the "Regia Scuola Tecnica Michelangelo Buonarroti" in Rome. Her experience at this school is difficult for us to imagine. Though the courses included modern subjects, the teaching methods were very traditional. Learning consisted of memorizing long lists of facts and repeating them back to the teacher. Students were not supposed to ask questions or think for themselves in any way. Teachers were very demanding, discipline in the classroom was strict, and punishment was severe for those who failed to achieve or were disobedient. | high4276.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He loved what he did and would stick to it."
},
"options": [
"He majored in mechanical engineering and automation.",
"He had a good coach and wonderful teammates.",
"He loved what he did and would stick to it.",
"He was... | With eight bloodshot eyes fixed on a flying object, the pains of a two-year project were about to bear fruit.
It was Wang Hongyi's first test flight of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) designed and assembled with his teammates from the Aero-Sport Club at Shanghai Jiaotong University.
Wang is a senior mechanical engineering and automation major. He has been a plane model fan since childhood. As a freshman, he spent two nights building a model aircraft and took it to the sports field just for fun. Wu Junqi, the coach of Shanghai Jiaotong University's Aero-Sport Club, spotted Wang and told him his model was outdated.
"I was a little angry, so he took me to the lab," says Wang. He was immediately drawn to the modern equipment and decided to join the club. As a technology fan, Wang spends most of his spare time in the lab. "He loves what he's doing, so he can stand the loneliness of doing research that others seldom have the persistence to carry out." says coach Wu.
When Wang and his teammates were building UAV, they lived together in the lab. "We tried to spend as much time together as possible because there were thousands of problems that needed to be solved." Wang says. They didn't even have time to celebrate when the first test flight of the UAV went well. "We needed to list the problems that occurred during the flight and analyze them to find solutions." he says.
"Our UAV isn't finished yet, but there are many design projects and people with similar interests waiting for me." Wang says. "The UAV is just the beginning, not the end of my aircraft journey." | high19402.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "see if the farm had improved"
},
"options": [
"get his gold pieces back",
"see if the farm had improved",
"get shelter for the night",
"give the farmer more money"
],
"question": "One year later, the stranger vi... | There was once a farmer. His land was hilly and the soil was not the best. He had a cow that wasn't giving much milk and he had chickens who were laying few eggs. The place looked run-down and the barn and fences needed repair. The farmer and his wife felt _ .
One stormy evening, a poorly-dressed man knocked on their door, asking if he could get shelter for the night. They shared the food that had been prepared, while they talked a great deal about the farm.
When the stranger left the following morning, he thanked the farmer and his wife and pulled a little bag of gold pieces out of his pocket. He said that maybe this would help them. He added that he'd come by next year with hopes of finding a revived farm.
After this, the farmer and his wife often talked about whether they should buy a more promising cow. Other times they considered whether they should buy chickens who laid more eggs. However, every conversation ended with the farmer trusting the farm would improve as he found himself fixing the barn and the fences, caring for the animals, preparing food for themselves and their animals.
The farmer beamed when the stranger did come by again a year later. Everything looked so much better. The stranger asked, "What did you use the gold for?"
The farmer said, "We hid the gold under a kitchen tile and, while we often thought of it, we never did think of anything we needed the gold for."
Then the farmer added thoughtfully, "I do thank you, though, ever so much. You gave us what we really needed to keep going -- you lifted our spirits."
Saying that, the farmer removed the tile and cheerfully returned the gold to the stranger. | high3519.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Walter Disney."
},
"options": [
"Mickey Mouse.",
"Clarence Nash.",
"Walter Disney.",
"Pluto."
],
"question": "Who made Donald Duck cartoons?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | In 1933 an unknown American called Clarence Nash went to see the film-maker Walter Disney. He had an unusual voice and he wanted to work in Disney's cartoon film for children. When Walter Disney heard Nash's voice, he said, "Stop! That's our duck!"
The duck was the now-famous Donald Duck, who first appeared in 1934 in the film, The Wise Little Hen. Donald lived in an old houseboat and worn his sailor jacket and hat. Later that year he became a star after an eight minute Mickey Mouse film. The cinema audiences liked him because he was lazy and greedy, and because he lost his temper very easily. And they loved his voice when he became angry with Mickey's eight nephews. Soon Donald was more popular than Mickey Mouse himself, probably because he wasn't a goody-goody, like Mickey.
In the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, Donald and his friends Mickey, Goofy and Pluto made hundreds of Disney cartoons. He also made educational film about the place of the USA in the world, and safety in the home. Then in 1966 Donald Duck and his voice disappeared--there were no more new cartoons.
Clarence Nash died in February, 1985. But today's Children can still see the old cartoons on the television and hear that famous voice. | high2607.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "reducing carbon dioxide emission at home"
},
"options": [
"saving electricity and cost in Japan",
"reducing carbon dioxide emission at home",
"improving Japanese citizens' lifestyle",
"making full use of morning sunligh... | The Japanese government has launched a campaign encouraging people to go to bed and get up extra early in order to reduce household carbon dioxide emissions .
The Morning Challenge campaign, launched by the Environment Ministry, is based on the belief that changing late night electricity for an extra hour of morning sunlight could greatly cut the nation's _ .
A typical family can reduce its carbon dioxide footprint by 85kg a year if everyone goes to bed and gets up one hour earlier, according to the campaign.
The amount of carbon dioxide emissions that might be saved from going to bed an hour earlier equals 20% of annual emissions from household lights. "Many Japanese people waste electrical power at night-time, for example, by watching TV until very late," a ministry spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph.
"But going to bed early and getting up early can avoid wasting electrical power which causes carbon dioxide emissions. If people change their lifestyle, we can save energy and reduce emissions." The campaign also suggests that people take advantage of an extra hour of morning sunlight by improving their lifestyle in general by running, doing yoga and eating a nutritious breakfast.
It is the latest initiative fighting climate change by the Japanese Environment Ministry, which is faced with the challenge of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25% from the level of 1990 within the next decade.
It was the same government department that launched the Cool Biz campaign five years ago, which encourages workers to wear short-sleeved shirts and offices not to turn air conditioner lower than 28 degrees Celsius during summer. | high10340.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Silly but cute"
},
"options": [
"Exciting",
"Silly but cute",
"Funny",
"Happy"
],
"question": "What do you think of Mcdull?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"an... | Rush Hour 15:00 23:00 My Life as Mcdull 9:00 13:00
1Action Movie
Do you like Jackie Chan? Rush Hour is another movie of his. It's so exciting. Come and have fun!
2Cartoon
Mcdull is a little pig. He's kind of silly but he's very cute. Do you want to enjoy happiness with him? Be sure to watch it!
Mr. Bean 11:00 19:00 Harry Potter III 17:00 21:00
3Comedy
Rowan is a great actor. His movie Mr. Bean is coming. It's very funny. Don't miss it!
4Science Fiction
Harry Potter has been in the wizardry school for three years. He begins a new life. How is everything going? | high20283.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "A majority winner in voting"
},
"options": [
"A city that submits a proposal",
"A majority winner in voting",
"A city that has perfect time zone",
"One that hasn't hosted the Games"
],
"question": "_ will be de... | If a city wishes to host the Olympics, it must submit a proposal to the IOC. After all proposals have been submitted, the IOC votes. If no city with the fewest votes is eliminated, the voting continues, until a majority winner is determined. Typically the Games are awarded several years in advance, allowing the winning city time to prepare for the Games.
In selecting the site of the Olympic Games, the IOC considers a number of factors, and chiefly among them is which organizing committee seems most likely to stage the Games effectively. The IOC also considers which parts of the world have not yet hosted the Games. For instance, Tokyo, the host of the 1964 Summer Games, and Beijing, that of the 2008 Games, were chosen in part to popularize the Olympic movement in Asia. Because of growing importance television worldwide, the IOC in recent years has also taken into account the host city's time zone. Whenever the Games take place in the USA or Canada, for example, American television networks are willing to pay specially higher amounts for television rights because they can broadcast popular events live in the best viewing hours.
Once the Games have been awarded, it is the duty of the local organizing committee----not the IOC or the NOC of the host city's country to provide them with money. This is often done with a part of the Olympic television revenues , and corporate sponsorships , tickets sales, and other smaller revenue sources. In many cases there is also direct government support. Although many cities have achieved amounts of money by hosting the Games, the Olympics can be financially risky. When the financial gains from the Games were less than expected, the city was left with large debts. | high5168.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "urge Cosmo Books Ltd. to take away the books he had not ordered."
},
"options": [
"complain about sending him books he had not ordered.",
"urge Cosmo Books Ltd. to take away the books he had not ordered.",
"laugh at Cosmo Boo... | Cosmo Books Ltd., 14, Woodman Road,
Hertford Estate, Two Bridges,
Rickmansworth, West Sussex.
Middx.
25thFebruary
Dear sir,
Just over six months ago, I saw an advertisement in the Morning Mail for a set of the complete works of William Shakespeare. Your company, Cosmo books Ltd., offered this set ( eight books of plays and two books of poetry) at what was claimed to be a 'remarkable' price: fifteen pounds and fifty pence, including postage and packing. I had wanted a set of Shakespeare's plays and poems for some time, and these books, in red imitation leather, looked particularly attractive; so I sent for them.
Two weeks later, the books arrived, together with a set of the complete works of Charles Dickens which I had not ordered. So I returned the Dickens books to you, with a cheque for fifteen pounds and fifty pence for the works of Shakespeare. Two more weeks passed. Then there arrived on my door step a second set of the works of Shakespeare, the same set of novels by Dickens and a six book set of the plays of Moliere, in French. Since I do not read French, these were of no use to me at all. However, I could not afford to post all these books back to you, so I wrote to you at the end of August of last year, instructing you to come and collect all the books that I did not want, and asking you not to send any other books until further notice.
You did not reply to that letter. Instead you sent me a bill for forty two pounds , and a set of the plays of Schiller, in German. Since then, a new set of books has arrived every two weeks, the works of Goethe, the poems of Milton, the plays of Strindberg; I hardly know what I have. The books are still all in their boxes, in the garage, and my car has to stand in the rain outside.
I have no room for any more books, and even if I read from now until the Last Judgement, I should not finish reading all the books that you have sent me.
Please send no more books, send no more bills, send no more angry letters demanding payment. Just send one large lorry and take all the books away, leaving me only with the one set of the complete works of Shakespeare for which I have paid.
Yours faithfully,
SIMON WALKER | high21189.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "ask for advice seriously"
},
"options": [
"express dissatisfaction with his parents",
"ask for advice seriously",
"make his father punished",
"just make a joke"
],
"question": "The Hopeless Ant wrote the letter ... | Dear Michelle,
My Dad hates my Mom. He tells me that she is a liar and that I should not trust her. Of course, they are divorced but they have "joint custody" . What a joke! I am 15, my brother is nine, and we have a life of hell, frankly.
We live one week on and one week off. This was the brilliant idea of both of my parents, which was fair to them but ruining my life. I cannot get away from his voice and his putting my mom down. Sometimes I think about running away.
A Hopeless Ant
Dear Hopeless Ant,
First, thank you for trusting me with your problem. If all you said is correct, then there are several things that you can and should do to help yourself, your brother, and oddly enough, your parents.
You need a family counselor. Such a person could listen to each family member alone and then meet together to talk about the situation.
If refused, you need to talk to a counselor in your school. You need to be heard, and you need an adult who will listen. A school counselor can organize a meeting with your parents.
Perhaps you need to write to your mother. Writing things down allows people to go over it more than one time.
I cannot imagine that she will stand passively by and do nothing at all to help once she reads how you feel. Your father needs a letter as well. He may not realize the destructive effect that it has on his children.
Lastly, have a plan in mind when all else fails that is not self-destructive. Life passes very quickly, sweetheart, and you will grow up and have your own life.
Until then, you need to keep yourself safe. Never doubt that it will get better. Write back and let me know how everything is going.
Michelle | high16725.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "She had an experiment done to lift a large stone by using pulleys and a kite."
},
"options": [
"She built a pyramid by using kites",
"She had an argument with Professor Redmount.",
"She persuaded a team of aeronautic engineer... | No one really knows how the ancient Egyptians build the pyramids. But Maureen Clemmons has a theory . She thinks the Egyptians may have used kites.
"If you look at ht top center of every monument , you see wings," Clemons said. "I think the Egyptians have been trying to tell us in pictures for 3,000 years that this is how they built the pyramids."
She thinks that earliest Egyptian workers might make use of kites to lift the stones with the help of the desert wind. She got a team of aeronautic engineers to help her test the theory.
Yesterday, in the Mojave Desert, they put their theory to the test using a nylon kite, three pulleys and an obelisk that weighs nearly four tons. The wind speed had to be just right. And amazingly, it worked.
"There's ly no evidence for kites in ancient Egypt," said Professor Carol Redmount of the University of California. "There's no evidence of pulleys as we know them today."
Redmount says the historical evidence points to the "Charlton Heston method," which basically relies on the theory of the muscle of slaves pushing and pulling huge stone blocks to create the pyramids.
But the kite-lifting group will have none that.
"All I can remember from history is that Egyptians drank beer for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and as someone who has done field research on drinking beer, I know after I've had two beers and it's really hot. I'm not pushing or pulling anything," Clemmons said. "So, I figured I'd try to think another way." | high19416.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Careers in teenagers' mind."
},
"options": [
"Careers in teenagers' mind.",
"Choosing a good job is very important.",
"Teenagers in the UK like doctors.",
"The choice of career needs challenge."
],
"question": "... | "When I grow up, I want to be..."
Almost all of us have thought about, or been asked to think about, our future careers. Our answers may differ greatly. Even now your aspirations may have changed from when you were in primary school.
However, it seems career options aren't only based on personal taste. In a survey carried out by Teens, doctors, lawyers, and bankers were some of most popular careers that people said they hoped to follow. This is in line with a similar survey carried out in the UK in May 2011 by job website monster. Co.uk, in which medicine was the top choice among UK teenagers aged between 13 and 17.
Medicine and law are two of the oldest and best known professions. Their prestige may come from the fact that doctors and lawyers are some of the most esteemed members of society, and they make good money. Joining these high-profile professions is often seen as a sign of upward social mobility.
It is equally unsurprising that banking is now one of the most common career choices. Youngsters worldwide think of banking and see the money rolling in. Wealth is increasingly becoming one of the most important indicators of a successful career. British young men list the UK tycoon Alan Sugar, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg as their top role models "for their wealth". Just as Chinese teenagers see being a banker as a good and fun pathway to "wealth".
However, not every child has the makings of doctor, lawyer, or banker. They are those who see fulfillment and happiness in other areas, and many teenagers dare to ink more individuality into their career options. As the Teens' survey discovered, a variety of unconventional jobs---coffee shop owner, gourmet ,waiter at a fast food restaurant---are among teenagers' career choices. They can be equally interesting and rewarding jobs.
With every choice comes responsibility and challenge, and all career paths require specific education and training, you have to learn to balance optimism and confidence with being realistic about your particular talents and skills. | high4262.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "to realize her own dream"
},
"options": [
"to finish the writing course",
"to realize her own dream",
"to satisfy readers' wish",
"to earn more money"
],
"question": "The author decided to write a novel _ .",
... | I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, _ , just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn't think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.
I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
It takes confidence to make a new start--there's a dark period in-between where you're neither one thing nor the other. You're out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you're too ashamed to say, "Well, I'm writing a novel, but I'm not quite sure if I'm going to get there." My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
Then I met an agent who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.
The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal--that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck--of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract of the publisher--to be a published writer--is unbelievably rewarding . | high2613.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because the United Nations wanted to reduce road accidents and economic costs."
},
"options": [
"Because the United Nations wanted to reduce road accidents and economic costs.",
"Because two million people were killed in the accide... | Each year, road accidents kill a million people and injure millions more. The economic costs are greatest for developing countries. Earlier this year, the United Nations called for a campaign to improve road safety.
One way to avoid accidents is better driving. Another is better roads and bridges. Engineers in the Unites States have designed ten new concrete mixtures that they think could make bridges last longer.
Professor Paul Tikalsky leads the experiments by a team at Pennsylvania State University. He says bridges made of concrete now last about twenty-five to thirty-five years. But he says the new mixtures might extend that to seventy-five or even one-hundred years.
Concrete is made of stone, sand, water and cement . The materials in the cement hold the concrete together. Ancient Romans built with concrete. Yet strengthened concrete bridges did not appear until the late 1800s. People keep looking for new ways to improve concrete. Professor Tikalsky says it is one of the most complex of all chemical systems.
The new mixtures designed by his team contain industrial waste products. He says these make the concrete better able to resist damage from water and salt over time. One of the products is fly ash. This is released into the air as pollution when coal is burned.
Professor Tikalsky says particles of fly ash are almost exactly the same size and chemical structure as Portland cement. _ is the most costly material in concrete. So using fly ash to replace some of it would save money.
The federal government is paying for part of the research. Engineers anywhere can use the technology. Professor Tikalsky says some of the ideas have already been put to use in China, the Philippines and other countries. | high10354.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "When they stop breathing eventually."
},
"options": [
"When they are not allowed to.",
"When they feel tired and sleepy.",
"When they stop breathing eventually.",
"When they are seriously ill in bed."
],
"questi... | Americans: Restless? Illiterate ?
Americans are _ people; they can't rest. They have more time, more leisure, shorter work hours, more holidays, and more vacations than any other people in the world. But they can't rest. They rush up and down across their continent as tourists; they move about in great herds to conventions ; they search the wilderness; they flood the mountains; they keep the hotels full. But they can't rest. The scenery rushes past them. They learn it, but they don't see it. Battles and monuments are announced to them on a tour bus. They hear them, but they don't get them. They never stop moving; they rush up and down as Shriners, Masons, Old Graduates, Bankers--they are a new thing each day, always rushing to a reunion or something. So they go on rushing about till eventually the undertaker gather them to a last convention.
Americans are queer people; they can't read. They have more schools, and better schools and spend more money on schools and colleges than all Europe. But they can't read. They print more books in a year than the French print in ten. But they can't read. They cover their country with one hundred thousand tons of Sunday newspapers every week. But they don't read them. They're too busy. They use them for fires and to make more paper with. They buy eagerly thousands of new novels at two dollars each. But they read only page one. Their streets are full of huge signs. They won't look at them. Their streetcars are filled with advertising;they turn their eyes away. Transparent color1s, cart wheels, and mechanical flares whirl and flicker in the crowded streets at night. No one sees them. Tons of letters pour into the mail boxes, through the houses, and down the garbage cans. No one reads them. | high20297.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "his smile made me feel very happy"
},
"options": [
"his smile made me feel very happy",
"I always remembered his smile all day",
"he always smiled as I made my way to work",
"he would smile to wish me a good day"
],... | This happened several years ago.But it has stuck with me so I wanted to share it.
Every day on my way to work I would buy a newspaper from an elderly gentleman on the corner of the street.He would always smile and say,"Good morning."His smile always made my day.
Most of the people who sell these papers are homeless or poor and they do it to make a few bucks.
One day Charlie wasn't there!Someone else was in his place! This other guy told me Charlie was in the veterans' hospital.
It troubled me all day long.All I could think about was Charlie being alone in the hospital.I never knew he was a veteran who had served our country.I just knew his smile always made my day.
I asked my girlfriend if she would go with me to visit him and she agreed.When I showed up in Charlie's room he began to cry.He told us he had been feeling very lonely and was convinced no one would ever visit him.He said that we were his only visitors.
We told him we were glad to do it and thanked him for all that he had done for others.
I never saw Charlie after that,although I heard he moved to California.That was thirty years ago but I haven't forgotten my smiling friend.A big thankyou to those who serve our country and protect us and thank you Charlie,wherever you are! | high18708.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "excited"
},
"options": [
"uninterested",
"excited",
"bored",
"upset"
],
"question": "When the author came for a visit, the children were _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | " Yeah! Auntie is here! " screamed my husband's niece and nephew together. " Let me get the door!" " No, let me !" Each one's goal was to get there first and open the door for their Auntie, Me!
I couldn't get enough of them, of their youthful love of life, and their excitement every time I visited! To be honest, it was partially because of the Surprise Travel Bag that I carried in. It was a tradition that I started when they were young. Each time I went to see them, I would take a large bag filled with toys, coloring books, candy, magic markers and "games".
The contents were different but the rules were not. They included: one may get a turn to choose what activity we would do; another may take a turn to go first when we played a game; ..... We shared the treats after the games and cleaned up after we played . Then, sadly, they watched the Surprise Travel Bag go away with their Auntie.
Now my niece and nephew have grown into young adults. They spend most of their visits listening to their iPods, messaging on their phones.... I completely forgot that I had put my two Surprise Travel Bags in the basement until my husband found them this weekend.
I held the bags tightly in my arms, remembering our laughter and fun-filled get-togethers. My big decision now is to whom I will pass the Surprise Travel Bags so that the fun that the bags help to create can continue. | high6475.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he tried to take it out but failed"
},
"options": [
"he took it out",
"his mother took it out",
"he did nothing but cry",
"he tried to take it out but failed"
],
"question": "After the boy pushed a paper ball in... | This is a true story from Guyana. One day, a boy took a piece of paper from a box. He made a paper ball and pushed it into his nose. He couldn't get it out. He ran crying to his mother. His mother couldn't get the paper out, either. A week later, the paper was still in the boy's nose. His nose began to have a bad smell.
So his mother took the boy to a hospital. The doctor looked up at the child's nose, but she couldn't get the paper out. She said she had to cut the boy's nose to get the paper out.
The boy's mother came home looking sad. She didn't want her child to have his nose cut. The next day she took the boy to her friend Sidney who lived in a house with an old lady called May. May wanted to see the child, so the child let her look up his nose.
"Yes, I can see it," May said. "It will be out soon."
As she spoke, she shook some black pepper on the child's nose. The child gave a mighty sneeze and the paper flew out. His mother was surprised. May told his mother to take the boy to the seaside for a swim, for the salt water would go up his nose and stop the bad smell.
So the lucky boy didn't have to go to the hospital to have his nose cut. | high16.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They are not easy to wear out."
},
"options": [
"They cost less than paper bills .",
"They are convenient to carry.",
"They are not easy to wear out.",
"They are produced from new materials."
],
"question": "Whi... | With America's national debt continuing to climb, Congress is constantly debating ways to save money. The Dollar Coin Alliance, a lobbying group, says billions could be saved if dollar coins were used instead of paper bills.
But many people won't use them. The U.S. government tried to push dollar coins again in recent years, but then suspended almost all production in 2011.
American likes paper dollars, but Jim Kolbe, co-chairman of the Dollar Coin Alliance, thinks switching to the coin is worth it.
"The coin does cost more to produce, roughly on the neighborhood of 17 cents versus the 5 or 6 cents that a paper dollar costs to produce," he said. "However, the coin lasts 35 years, and it's made of mostly recycled metals, and the paper has to be produced from new materials, and we shred 3 billion of those every year because they wear out."
For years, the former Arizona congressman has been pushing legislation that would prop up the dollar coin by phasing out the greenback -- a move that has met resistance from both politicians and the public. But today, he said, _ and a recent poll indicates 61 percent of Americans like the idea.
"When they learn of the savings that can be involved with this, they will support the idea of substituting the coin for the paper dollar," he said.
Major savings
Kolbe points to a study by the Government Accountability Office, which investigates how the government spends taxpayer dollars. The GAO estimates taxpayers would save more than $4 billion over 30 years, and that figure could be much higher. That appeals to taxpayer Christy Thompson, who said, "I'd probably say, yes, we need to do it."
But plenty of people aren't convinced, including Kim Doering of Alexandria, Virginia. "It's easier to carry the paper bill than a bunch of coins. They're louder; they're heavier in your pocket," she said.
Washington, D.C. restaurant owner Sue Fouladi doesn't like the idea of having more dollar coins in her cash register.
"It's very inconvenient," she said. "If I don't have a choice, then I'll do it, but I'll be a very unhappy person."
Adding to the problem is that the gold- and silver-colored metal coins are about the same size as the 25-cent quarter. Robert Blecker, an economics professor at American University in Washington, says the dollar coins should be a different size and thickness.
"And if we can design a dollar coin that's not so big and bulky, probably Americans would like it better," he added.
But that doesn't bother college student Emily Sturgill.
"Sometimes they fit into your pocket easily and you don't have to worry about them slipping out, like a dollar bill would if you brought your keys or your phone out," she said. | high9746.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Because they didn't have extra money."
},
"options": [
"Because they didn't love him.",
"Because they didn't have extra money.",
"Because they lived far away from him.",
"Because they didn't need a bike."
],
"qu... | JAMES shook his money box again. Nothing! He carefully counted the coins that lay on the bed. All that he had was $24.52 . The bicycle he wanted was at least $90! How on earth was he going to get the rest of the money?
He knew that his friends all had bicycles. It was hard to hang out with people when you were the only one without a bicycle. He thought about what he could do. There was no point asking his parents, for he knew they had no extra money.
There was only one way to get money, and that was to earn it. He would have to find a job. He decided to ask Mr Clay for advice.
"Well, you can start right here," said Mr Clay. "You see, my windows need cleaning and my car needs washing."
That was the beginning of James' part-time job. For the next three months he worked every day after finishing his homework. He took dogs for walks, cleared out cupboards and mended books.
The day finally came when James counted his money and found $94.32. He wasted no time and went down to the shop to pick up the bicycle he wanted. He rode home proudly, looking forward to showing his new bicycle to his friends. It had been hard working for the money, but James knew that he valued his bicycle far more because he had bought it with his own money. He had achieved what he thought was impossible, and that was worth even more than the bicycle. | high14132.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "3-and 4-year-olds shouldn't be expected too much in school readiness skills."
},
"options": [
"Younger children can fully understand the instructional things in classrooms.",
"3-and 4-year-olds shouldn't be expected too much in sch... | Step into an American preschool classroom today and you are likely to fall into a so-called print-rich environment,every surface colorfully decorated with instructional posters,classroom rules,chedules,and mottos,few of which a 4-year-old can understand in fact.
Besides the confusing things on classroom walls,teaching methods and curriculums have changed recently,by which more time is spent on what's called "seat work"workbooks and worksheets--but less time devoted to music and art.School--readiness skills are essential for the youngest learners to move on to a subsequent stage. As a result, expectations that may arguably have been reasonable for 5-and 6-year-olds, such as bemg able to sit at a desk and using pencil and paper,are now directed at even younger children, who lack the motor skills and attention span to be successful.
However,parents of preschoolers tend to _ these changes,because they fear that the old--fashioned pleasures of unhurried learning have no place in today's highly competitive world.The stress is obvious:Pick the "wrong" preschool and your child might not go to college.She might not be employable. She might not even be allowed to start first grade!
As preschoolers are learning so much academic knowledge at earlier ages,they seem somehow less curious and less engaged.Some teachers say that more children today seem to lack the language skills.The real focus in the preschool years should not be just on vocabularv and reading,but on talking and listening.By talking with adults, and one another,they pick up information,learn how things work and solve puzzles that trouble them.For our littlest learners,what could be more important than that? | high12543.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The writer is getting on well with the life in Fudan University."
},
"options": [
"It is nearly a year now since the writer entered Fudan University.",
"The writer doesn't have a good understanding of freedom.",
"Three intere... | How time flies! One month has passed before I could take any notice of it. This is the start of my freshman year in Fudan University. At the very beginning, everything and everyone was strange to me. But now, I'm getting used to it. I'd like to tell you two important and interesting things in my university life.
Freedom is what I am looking forward to since my primary school. Many people said to me, "Study hard, and you will get freedom when in university." But when I really entered university, I find the real situation is different. Freedom costs me a lot. If I refuse to wash my clothes, for example, they will just lie there, unclean. So I have to do everything and take care of myself. Well, I like this life style very much though it is hard at the beginning. It is really a challenge for me.
I appreciate a famous saying from Albert Camus, "Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better." That's right. Real freedom comes with responsibility. Some teenagers believe that freedom means doing whatever you like. But I think that is not real freedom at all. One can have his or her own freedom, while at the same time respect others'. It's not easy to think on behalf of others. And now I have the precious chance to practice it.
Another thing I want to mention is love. Now, something interesting in Fudan is that love exists everywhere. For instance, the first lesson of my English class is about love. A small play at the Freshmen Welcome Party called "Turn Left and Turn Right" is about students' love in Fudan. Some of my roommates have boyfriends. At night, while lying in bed, we always share their love stories. What's more, even our instructor once said, "In our department, girls are more than boys. So we'll have a party with the Chemistry Department, in which the situation is just the opposite." I was surprised about the attitude towards love here. Is she encouraging us to find someone to fall in love with? I cannot understand it quite well.
The above are the two things that impressed me most at the very beginning of my freshmen year, and surely I'll get more out of my university life in the future. | high23946.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Her writing techniques"
},
"options": [
"Her writing techniques",
"The complicated plots",
"The humorous language",
"Her rich imagination"
],
"question": "What makes Alice Munro's stories fascinating according t... | It's hard to find Alice Munro in the media. Even after she won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Canadian writer just appeared for a quick interview and then dropped out of sight. On Dec 29, she still didn't seek the spotlight when she was named one of the five Women of the Year by the Financial Times.
In Munro's eyes, ordinary lives always hide larger dramas. So she records what we casually think of as the everyday actions of normal people. She often focuses on life in her hometown, a small village in Ontario which she is most familiar with. She writes about the ordinary things in the village-fox forming, trees filled in the Ontario wilderness, poor country alcohol and long last illnesses. Above all, she talks about girls and women who have seemingly ordinary lives but struggle against daily misfortune.
She has a special talent for uncovering the extraordinary in the ordinary. These are ordinary people, ordinary stories, but she has the magic. Her precise language, depth of detail and the logic of her storytelling have made her stories inviting.
Runaway, one of Munro's representative works, is a good example of her writing style. One of the stories centers on the life of an ordinary woman Carla, who lives in a small Canadian town with her husband Clark. The story slowly forms a picture of Carla, trapped in a bad marriage, her unhappiness building into desperation until she decided to flee. The story of Carla is a story of the power and betrayals of love. It is about lost children and lots of chances that we can all find in life, There is pain beneath the surface, like a needle in the heart.
Since she published her first collection of short stories in 1968, Munro has won many awards, with the Nobel Prize being her biggest honor. On Oct 10, 2013, the Nobel Prize committee named Munro the "master of the contemporary short story". | high13885.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "his smog pictures spread widely on Sina Weibo"
},
"options": [
"he has taken many pictures of smog",
"he is a micrograph enthusiast",
"he graduated from Beijing Normal University",
"his smog pictures spread widely on Si... | It has been two years since China Daily last interviewed 31-year-old Zhang Chao.The micrograph enthusiast still wears the same hair style, even the same coat.
But one thing is very different: He's become a celebrity in cyberspace almost overnight, after his pictures, which show what the smog in Beijing looks like under his microscope, spread like a virus on China's major micro-blogging site Sina Weibo, since he posted them last Friday.Now the media is always interviewing him.
Zhang's apartment is on the eighth floor, which he says is perfect for capturing the thickest levels of smog.
As a Beijing native, Zhang explains his original purpose is to _ and expose its mystery." People have higher and higher standards for the environment," he says," When I was a child, I was annoyed by the frequent sandstorms, so I feel Beijing's air seems much better now all in all because there are hardly any sandstorms in recent years.Now, we've noticed PM2.5, which has long been neglected."
Although he graduated as a science major from Beijing Normal University, Zhang says it is difficult for him to give an exact definition of what smog is in Beijing. Under his scope, which magnifies the sample 1,000 times, the smog is found to contain minerals, fragments of animal fur and insects, seeds and burnt dust.But many are compounds, he says, which are more difficult to identify.
Zhang realizes that he may have disappointed the public because he can't show the inner construction of PM2.5 , today's most notorious(.) element in smog. It is beyond the capacity of his microscope and camera to explore such tiny grains, " You cannot imagine how splendid the micro world is" ! says Zhang Chao. | high8458.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The Wall Street firms"
},
"options": [
"The government",
"Public education",
"The Detroit automakers.",
"The Wall Street firms"
],
"question": "Which of the following would people first think of as a factor resp... | If you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy in recent years,you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial.From there,you might move on to the automakers in Detroit.
But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee:public education.
At its top level,the American system of higher education may be the best in the world.Yet in terms of its core mission-turning teenagers into educated college graduates--much of the system is failing.
The United States does a good job enrolling teenagers in college,but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelor's degree.
So identifying the causes of the college dropout crisis m the world's largest economy matters enormously, and a new book called Crossing the Finish Line tries to do precisely that.Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael.McPherson,and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chigoes.The first problem they diagnose is something they call tender-matching. It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into.They instead go to a less selective one,perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive.About half of the low--income students with a grade-point average of at least3.5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have. "I was really astonished by the degree to which well--qualified students from poor families under-matched," said Mr.Bowen.
In fact,well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates.Meanwhile,lower-income students-even when they are better qualified--often go to colleges that excel in producing drop-outs."It's really a waste,"Mr.Bowen said,"and a big problem for the country."As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate significantly is to lift it among poor and working--class students. Instead,it appears to have fallen.
What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer. | high22480.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "they have to watch out for possible attacks"
},
"options": [
"they have to watch out for possible attacks",
"their brain hemispheres take turns to rest",
"the two halves of their brain are differently organized",
"they ... | Birds that are half-asleep -- with one brain hemisphere alert and the other sleeping -- control which side of the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping ducks.
Earlier studies have recorded half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemisphere's eye stays open and alert. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Decades of studies of bird groups led researchers to predict extra alertness in the end-of-the-row sleepers which tend to be attacked more easily. Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots showed no preference for gaze direction.
Also, birds napping at the end of the line depend on single-hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did. Turning 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found that compared with 12 percent for birds in inner spots, outer birds half-asleep during some 32 percent of napping time.
"We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness at the same time in different regions of the brain," the researchers say.
The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing assumption that single-hemisphere sleep developed over time as creatures scanned for enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be widespread, he predicts. He's seen it in a pair of birds napping side-by-side in the zoo and in a single pet bird sleeping by a mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open.
Useful as half-sleeping might be, it's only been found in birds and such water animals as dolphins, whales, and seals. Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning.
Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome M. Siegel of the UCLA says he wonders if birds' half-brain sleep "is just the tip of the iceberg." He supposes that more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other species. | high856.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "be optimistic and learn to see the long-term pains"
},
"options": [
"be optimistic and learn to see the long-term pains",
"know that each difficulty is a short-term pain and try to avoid it",
"think of the difficult life othe... | Let's face the facts. On most occasions, some things may seem impossible, but in every impossibility, there is possibility. Impossible situations don't last forever. While it might be impossible for one, it could still be possible for another. In a word, everything is possible.
Someone once said, "Success belongs to those who can look at challenges offered by the world as an inspiration." So your challenges are golden opportunities for success. How can there be wonders if there are no difficulties? You need challenges to show your ability and success comes from the problems you face. Those who refuse to give in come out smiling.
Robert X. Perez once said, "The seeds of success spring from failure's ashes; failure is not defeat and it just directs you in the right direction. To fail is to understand what you should not do. Remember it and don't give up until your goal is achieved."
What should you do when you face difficulties? Jasbeen says, "Yeah, life is difficult, but you shouldn't give up. You should have a positive and calm attitude towards all your difficulties and make the best of them. You may learn something new. You can accept failure and develop mental toughness. Mental toughness is to see the long-term pains rather than be put off by short-term pains. Once you have this toughness, you have an advantage of winning."
The only thing in life you ever really regret is the chances you didn't take. You will only regret when you are faced with the consequences of not taking chances and seizing the moment. Take every chance you can!
Everything you've done in life may be good or bad, but no matter what you may do, you must try your best. You must do something meaningful and do it right now. | high12225.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Different points of view"
},
"options": [
"Different points of view",
"Less emotional people",
"Advanced technology",
"Similar interests"
],
"question": "Which of the following factors tends to promote social ch... | Social change is more likely to occur in societies where there is a mixture of different kinds of people than in societies where people are similar in many ways. The simple reason for this is that there are more different ways of looking at things present in the first kind of society. There are more ideas, more disagreements in interest, and more groups and organizations with different beliefs. In addition, there is usually a greater worldly interest and greater tolerance in mixed societies. All these factors tend to promote social change by opening more areas of life to decision. In a society where people are quite similar in many ways, there are fewer occasions for people to see the need or the opportunity for change because everything seems to be the same. And although conditions may not be satisfactory, they are at least socially accepted customs.
Within a society, social change is also likely to occur more frequently and more readily in the material aspects of the culture than in the non-material, for example, in technology rather than in values; in what has been learned later in life rather than what was learned early; in the less basic and less emotional aspects of society than in their opposites; in the simple elements rather than in the complex ones; in form rather than in substance ; and in elements that are acceptable to the culture rather than in strange elements.
Furthermore, social change is easier if it is gradual. For example, it comes more readily in human relations on a continuous scale rather than on a sharp _ . This is one reason why change has not come more quickly to Black Americans as compared to other American minorities, because of the sharp difference in appearance between them and white counterparts. | high9020.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Huge."
},
"options": [
"Huge.",
"Fierce.",
"Aggressive.",
"Mild."
],
"question": "Which of the following words can be used to describe the Steller's sea cow?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
... | Not so long ago, a sailor sailing across the cold waters of the northern Pacific Ocean might have had every chance of being confronted by a sea cow. This cow would have measured 10 meters long, and weighed between five and ten tones. And it would spend most of its day cruising the seas, eating grass growing underwater. The cow in question was known as Steller's sea cow, which is now extinct.
Today, many people are unaware that such an extraordinary creature once existed, or don't know its incredible story. But scientists have discovered many fundamental facts about this mystical animal.
Surprisingly, the first recorded sighting of a Steller's sea cow didn't happen until 1741, when a sailing expedition was stuck on an uninhabited island, later named Bering Island. The sailor survived by hunting and eating the huge sea cow. Like its modern relatives, the sea cow lived in herds. _ and its slow-moving behaviour made it easy to be caught.
Those sailors that escaped Bering Island spread word of the bounty of meat to be found off its shores. As a result, more and more expeditions came to hunt the animals. One report stated that one sea cow could feed 33 men for a month.
Incredibly, just 27 years after the island and species had been discovered by modern man, the last sea cow was reported killed. That makes the Steller's sea cow one of the few truly large mammals known to have been driven extinct in the modern age. | high14654.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "learning about music"
},
"options": [
"creating music",
"performing music",
"enjoying your favorite music",
"learning about music"
],
"question": "The main topic of this passage is _ .",
"question_type": ... | For the most part, you are probably only exposed to the music that is played on your favorite radio stations and TV shows, music Web sites, or the music that your friends and family members enjoy. While you probably know a lot about your favorite type of music, it can be a rewarding experience to enlarge your horizons , discovering artists and types of music that you're not familiar with. Who knows, you might discover you like certain types of music you never even considered.
Have you ever wondered about the history and influences of your favorite types of music ? For example, did you know that rock 'n' roll originated from the blues, and that the blues began as a form of musical expression for African Americans during slavery ?Did you know that most hip-hop is heavily influenced by early rhythm blues and jazz ?
There are many fun ways to learn about different musical styles and their historical roots. For example, if you like hip-hop, listen to some of your favorite CDs and take note of the samples the performers used to create the songs. There is a possibility that the artist used parts of older songs to create the music. You can go to the library or online to learn more about the artists and listen to more of their music by checking out CDs from the library or downloading songs online for a small fee.
You can learn so much about culture and history just by paying attention to different types of music and what is being expressed in the songs. There are so many different styles of music to learn about, and _ it to yourself to make an effort to listen to and learn about them. | high21837.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "women did much better than men in judging both short and long distances."
},
"options": [
"men were proved to be good at dealing with distant targets",
"women were proved to be poor at dealing with distant targets",
"voluntee... | If a husband accuses his wife of missing the bigger picture or the wife says her husband has no eye for detail,there may be more than an element of truth to it.
Scientists have shown that men are better at dealing with distant targets,while women are good at shortrange focusing.
The finding reflects the way men and women's brains evolved thousands of years ago. Hunters,usually the men,needed the ability to find targets in far places. Women,on the other hand,had to _ searching the area immediately within reach for fruits,nuts,berries and roots.
Researchers asked 48 men and women to mark the midpoint of lines on a piece of paper with a laser pointer. Men were more accurate than women when the target was placed at a distance of 100cm or out of reach. When the paper was only 50cm away--within hands' reach--the women did a much better job.
Psychologist Helen Stancey,from Hammersmith and West London College,said,"Evidence already exists that separate pathways in the brain process visual information from near and far space. Our results suggest that the near pathways is favored in women and the far pathway is favored in men. "The findings are published online in the British Journal of Psychology.
In a second study,volunteers were asked to carry out the same tasks by using a stick. This time women were much better than men at judging both distances. The finding suggests that the stick provides a focal point to help the brain to process distant information as if it is in the near space. | high10432.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it is worthwhile to spend money on advertising"
},
"options": [
"he is fairly familiar with the cost of advertising",
"everybody knows well that advertising is money consuming",
"advertising costs money like everything else",... | Money spent on advertising is money spent as well as any I know of. It serves directly to assist a rapid distribution of goods at reasonable prices, thereby establishing a firm home market and so making it possible to provide for export at competitive prices. By drawing attention to new ideas it helps enormously to raise standards of living. By helping to increase demand it ensures an increased need for labor, and is therefore an effective way to fight unemployment. It lowers the costs of many services: without advertisements your daily newspaper would cost four times as much, the price of your television license would need to be doubled, and travel by bus or tube would cost 20 per cent more.
And perhaps most important of all, advertising provides a guarantee of reasonable value in the products and services you buy. Apart from the fact that twenty-seven Acts of Parliament govern the terms of advertising, no regular advertiser dare promote a product that fails to live up to the promise of his advertisements. He might fool some people for a little while through misleading advertising. He will not do so for long, for mercifully the public has the good sense not to buy the inferior article more than once. If you see an article consistently advertised, it is the surest proof I know that the article does what is claimed for it, and that it represents good value. | high16043.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "more birds can imitate human voices"
},
"options": [
"they are cleverer than parrots",
"they can learn a lot from other birds",
"more birds can imitate human voices",
"birds' talking is meaningless to us at all"
],
... | Squawk! Polly wants a cracker! Pretty bird! Pretty bird! These are just a few of the things you might hear coming out of a parrot's mouth.
Although parrots seem to be able to talk, they're not really talking like humans. They're not choosing and saying words with specific meanings. Instead, they're simply imitating sounds they've heard. Repeating sounds they've heard before-often many times-is called mimicry. The "talking" we hear from parrots can consist of imitations of all sorts of sounds, from spoken words to creaking doors to barking dogs.
They're not really "talking", but it doesn't mean that parrots' mimicry isn't impressive. Did you know that parrots don't have vocal cords like humans? It's true!
Instead, parrots use muscles in their throat to direct airflow through their mouths to mimic the sounds they hear around them.
Parrots, such as African Greys and Amazons, aren't the only birds that can learn to imitate sounds, including human voices. Some other birds known for their ability to "talk" include Indian Ringneck Parakeets, Budgies and Cockatiels.
If you're wondering why some birds imitate sounds they hear, it's because they're social animals. They feel a need to be able to interact with those around them. When kept as pets, these birds see their owners as their family and want to communicate with them.
Since a human owner usually can't learn a bird's "language", the bird instead tries to learn the language of its owner. Although these birds are often quite intelligent, imitation is still the best that they can manage. Mimicry becomes a way for them to get attention and interact with their owners.
If you want to have a bird that talks as a pet, the best thing to do is to find a bird that already knows how to imitate sounds. Even if a bird knows how to imitate a few sounds, though, you'll still need to spend lots of time training it and providing positive interactions to encourage more "talking ". | high19370.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a judge"
},
"options": [
"a writer",
"a teacher",
"a judge",
"a doctor"
],
"question": "When the author went to Howard University, her dream was to be _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | In the fall of 1985, I was a bright-eyed girl heading off to Howard University, aiming at a legal career and dreaming of sitting on a Supreme Court bench somewhere. Twenty-one years later I am still a bright-eyed dreamer and one with quite a different tale to tell.
My grandma, an amazing woman, graduated from college at the age of 65. She was the first in our family to reach that goal. But one year after I started college, she developed cancer. I made the choice to leave college to care for her. It meant that school and my personal dream would have to wait.
Then I got married with another dream: building my family with a combination of adopt and biological children. In 1999, we adopted our first son. To lay eyes on him was fantastic--and very emotional. A year later came our second adopted boy. Then followed Son No. 3. In 2003, I gave birth to another boy.
You can imagine how busy I became, raising four boys under the age of 8! Our home was a complete zoo--a joyous zoo. Not surprising, I never did make it back to college full-time. But I never gave up on the dream either. I had only one choice: to find a way. That meant taking as few as one class each term.
The hardest part was feeling guilty about the time I spent away from the boys. They often wanted me to stay home with them. There certainly were times I wanted to give up, but I knew I should set an example for them to follow through the rest of their lives.
In 2007, I graduated from the University of North Carolina. It took me over 21 years to get my college degree!
I am not special, just single-minded. It always struck me that when you're looking at a big challenge from the outside it looks huge, but when you're in the midst of it, it just seems normal. Everything you want won't arrive in your life on one day. It's a process. Remember: little steps add up to big dreams. | high3280.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Entertainment."
},
"options": [
"Lucky.",
"Entertainment.",
"Parents.",
"People."
],
"question": "Which of the following targets common readers?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer... | People
People is America's No.1 magazine about fascinating people.It's a guide to who and what's hot in the arts,science,business,politics,television,movies,books,music and sports.It is published weekly.
Publisher:The Time Inc.Magazine Company
Cover Price:$211.47
Our Price:$117.00
Issues:53 issues/12 months
Lucky
Lucky is the shopping magazine with the best buys,and the fashion tips you'll need before you hit the stores.What makes Lucky really special is that it gets you the information you need before anyone else has it.
Publisher:Conde Nast Publications Inc.
Cover Price:$35.40
Our Price:$15.00
Issues:12 issues/12 months
Parents
The most trusted magazine for parents who want to raise smart,loving and self-confident children.Each issue has age-specific child-development guidance,advice on your child's health and safety,and the best ways to encourage your child's learning.
Publisher:Meredith Corporation
Cover Price:$42.00
Our Price:$9.97
Issues:12 issues/12 months
Entertainment
This magazine covers movies,television,music,Broadway stage productions,books,and popular culture.Unlike _ like People,its main concentration is on entertainment media and reviews.It's intended for a more general audience.
Publisher:The Time Inc.Magazine Company
Cover Price:$199.50
Our Price:$38.95
Issues:57 issues/12 months | high103.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "to show friendliness"
},
"options": [
"to make a deal",
"to greet each other",
"to show friendliness",
"to reach an agreement"
],
"question": "In the old days in Europe, people put out their unarmed hands to eac... | Handshaking, though a European practise is often seen in big cities of China. Nobody knows exactly when the practice started in Europe. It is said that long long ago in Europe when people met, they showed their unarmed hands to each other as a sign of goodwill. As time went on and trade in cities grew rapidly, people in cities began to clap each other's hands to make a deal or to reach an agreement. This practice was later changed into shaking hands among friends on meeting or leaving each other. "Let's shake (hands) on it" sometimes means agreement reached.
Do the Europeans shake hands wherever they go and with whomever they meet? No. Sometimes the Chinese abroad reach out their hands too often to be polite. It is really very impolite to give your hand when the other party, especially when it is a woman, shows little interest in shaking hands with you and when the meeting does not mean anything to him or-her. Even if, for politeness, he holds out his unwilling hand in answer to your uninvited hand, just touch it slightly- There is generally a misunderstanding among the Chinese that westerners are usually open
and straighforward, while the Chinese are rather reserved in manner. But in fact some people in western countries more reserved than some Chinese today. So it is a good idea to shake hands with a westerner only when he shows interest in further relations with you. | high1497.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They must overcome equipment limitations."
},
"options": [
"Their efforts have gotten little attention.",
"Their biggest challenge is finding actors.",
"They've influenced famous movie studios",
"They must overcome equi... | Lighter and cheaper than high-quality video cameras, today's best smartphones can shoot and edit high-definition (HD) videos. With lower-quality lenses and image sensors, smartphones probably won't replace professional video cameras anytime soon. Still, some creative filmmakers are extending the borders of smartphone moviemaking by shooting professional-quality films using only smartphones.
Soon after Apple's iPhone 4 was released, two filmmakers decided to make a short film using only their iPhone 4s. Michael Koerbel and Anna Elizabeth James shot and edited the one-and-a-half-minute film Apple of My Eye in only 48 hours. Audiences were fascinated with the film, in which a man and his grandfather connect emotionally while admiring a model train set in a store window. The filmmakers followed up their success with Goldilocks, an extraordinary spy novel told over nine, three-minute films.
Many filmmakers are convinced that smartphone films are here to stay. One sign is their inclusion in major film festivals. In February 2012, organizers of the Berkshire International Film Festival staged the 10 X 10 On North Festival. Entries included Oliver by Hooman Khalili, an award-winning film about a girl whose special powers enable her to brighten the lives of three lonely people. Another entry was Yearlapse'11, a 365-second film by Zsolt Haraszti that describes an actual journey he made from New York to London.
During the festival, which ran from February 16 to 26, these and many other smartphone films were shown at the Beacon Cinema in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Similar festivals in Canada and South Korea have given smartphone filmmakers opportunities to show off their creative work. | high23013.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The mother cat moved all of her five babies to a safer place despite the fire."
},
"options": [
"The author went to rescue the cats as soon as he heard them crying.",
"The firefighters put out the big fire quickly and no one was hu... | A mother's love
I'M a New York City firefighter. Every day, I see terror -- sometimes even death. But the day I found Scarlett was different. That day I saw life. And love.
We were responding to a call about a burning garage. Outside, I heard the sound of cats crying. I couldn't stop -- I would have to look for the cats after the fire was put out.
It took a long time to finally bring the big fire under control, but we did it. No one inside was hurt.
At that point I was free to investigate the cat noises. There was still a lot of smoke and heat coming from the building. I followed the meowing to a spot on the sidewalk near the front of the garage. There, crying and huddled together, were five terrified kittens. They must have been inside the building, as their fur was badly singed .
I left the five kittens in a box on a neighbor's porch .
I wanted to find the mother. It was obvious that she had gone into the burning garage and carried out all of her babies, one by one -- unbelievable.
We finally found her. She was badly burnt: her eyes were blistered , her paws were blackened, and her fur was singed all over. You could even see her reddened skin beneath the burned fur. She could barely move. I picked her up, and she relaxed in my arms as much as her pain would allow. Sensing her trust, I shed a tear. I was determined to save this brave little cat and her family.
The vet told me they would observe the kittens and their mother overnight, but they weren't optimistic about the mother's changes.
About a week later, I found out she was going to live. One of the technicians suggested we name her Scarlett, because of her reddened skin.
Knowing what Scarlett endured for her kittens, it melted my heart to see her reunited with them. She touched each of them again, nose to nose, to make sure they were all safe. She had risked her life five separate times -- and it had paid off. All of her babies had survived.
As a firefighter, I see heroism every day. But what Scarlett showed me that day was the kind of bravery that can only come from a mother's love. | high14867.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Hot Potato!"
},
"options": [
"French fries.",
"Mashed Potato dance.",
"Hot Potato!",
"Mr. Potato Head."
],
"question": "Which is the newest to the American pop culture?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"... | In US, the potato is one of the most widely consumed crops. French fries are commonly found in typical American fast-food burger joints and cafeterias. French fries were introduced to the US when Thomas Jefferson served them in the White House during his presidency from 1801 t0 1809. Potato chips are popular with consumers as well.
The humble potato is more than just a kind of food. In many ways it's part of the American pop culture. Let's take a look at some pop culture potatoes.
Mashed Potato dance
The Mashed Potato dance is a craze that began in 1962. The name of the dance came from the song it accompanies, Mashed Potato Time, performed by American R&B singer Dee Dee Sharp. The move vaguely resembles that of the Twist dance style, by Sharp's fellow Philadelphian,
Chubby Checker.
Hot Potato!
Hot Potato! is an action puzzle video game released in 2001. In the game the player must drive a bus and clear the road of alien potato beings. The potato beings are either red or blue; when two like-colored potatoes touch each other, they disappear. .Over the years, Hot Potato! has received mostly positive reception from critics.
Mr. Potato Head
Mr. Potato Head is an American toy invented by George Lerner in 1949. The toy consists of a plastic potato model and a variety of plastic parts like hands, feet, ears and mouths. In 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy advertised on television. This commercial revolutionized marketing and caused a boom that solidified this toy's place in American pop culture. | high9975.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "His family was poor and he had to support his family."
},
"options": [
"He was unwilling to go to school any longer.",
"His family was poor and he had to support his family.",
"He wanted to earn money to buy a second-hand car... | Twenty years ago, when I was only fifteen, I had to leave school to work in a second-hand car shop to support my family. My work was to fix holes in leather, cigarette burns in seats, and repair windshields .
Every day I worked hard. And I was always optimistic, positive and kind, and tried my best to be angry with anybody.
One day while I was repairing the windshield of an old car, Cindy, the shop owner, who was always very rude to me and other workers, came and said it was broken by me. She asked me to pay for it. I have always been an honest person and I felt very embarrassed. And what is worse she blamed me in front of all the other workers. Just at that time, one of my colleagues came and said the windshield was broken because of a falling branch of a tree standing in the yard.
However, instead of being angry at being looked upon as someone that was not honest or had no integrity , I went to a flower shop and bought some red roses and had them put in a nice basket that afternoon. I picked out a card and stated that I was sorry for the misunderstanding and that I did not ever have the intention of making her angry. And then I sent them to Cindy.
The next morning, I walked into Cindy's office like I did every day with my list of used cars that needed some attention before they were sold and said hello to her with my usual happy and sincere attitude. She gave me a big smile and said, "Thank you for your flowers."
Cindy began to change from that day, perhaps because of this small act of kindness. She was always very kind, and would always have a big smile when we walked into her office. I guess people can change with a little bit of kindness! | high23775.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "limit advertising to children under the age of 12"
},
"options": [
"promote sales across the country",
"limit advertising to children under the age of 12",
"meet increasing demands from kids",
"adapt to the new federal ... | Do you know soon eleven biggest food and drink companies of the nations will adopt new rules to limit advertising to children under the age of 12, a move that restricts ads for products such as McDonald's Happy Meals and the use of popular cartoon characters.
The companies announced their new rules ahead of a Federal Trade Commission hearing on Wednesday that steps up pressure on the companies to help solve the growing child obesity problem through more responsible marketing. The self-given rules include promises by seven companies who will no longer use licensed characters, such as those made popular through movies or TV shows, to advertise online or in print media unless they're promoting their healthier products. Four other companies said they do not advertise at all to children under 12.
"I think this is a very good step forward. It's not the end of the journey but it's a good way down the road," said Margo Wootan, Nutrition Policy Director at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Since the FTC first publicly raised the issue in 2005, many of the companies have started selling products with better nutrition in mind. The companies hope their self-regulation efforts -- organized through the Council of Better Business Bureaus -- will _ any new and more strict federal regulation.
Parents are happy to see new rules that restrict the use of cartoon characters such as Shrek, Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants. "It catches their eyes when you're shopping," said Josephine Thomas, a mother of three boys who lives in Manhattan. "As soon as they see a Shrek or Mickey Mouse, they automatically look at that and they don't see what they really need. That's one of the biggest problems when you go shopping." That's one reason the food companies have said they will now only use licensed characters to advertise their "better for you" products. | high665.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "it introduced many beautiful sights and cultures"
},
"options": [
"many famous stars and their children took part in it",
"it fully showed us how to be a good father",
"it introduced many beautiful sights and cultures",
... | The Hunan Satellite TV(HNTV) show "Where are we going, Dad?" is a big hit. Many famous stars brought their children to a strange village alone, and they had to spend 72 hours with their children there. The program fully showed us a modern version of the "how to be a good father". As the young parents today are too busy to take care of their children, this new form of "Lost on the way" played by nanny Daddy and cute kids triggered a lot of people's emotional resonance . Both the kids and their parents will find that their hearts are being drawn closer. But this kind of feeling has just proved that there is a big spiritual barrier between the modern parents and children.
The TV shows like "Children are hard to support!", "Where are we going, Dad?", "hot mom" and "cute kids" are becoming more and more popular. All of these show the new parents' confusion in children's education and the appeal for the balance between career and family.
In real life, on the one hand the young parents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their children under the pressures of work and life; on the other hand they continue to do so. The data collected by HNTV shows that nearly two-thirds of their audience are female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34. We can imagine such a scene that one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children, while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is just playing computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the company of father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In a modern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility of raising a child. The participation of mother in the children's education is also very low.
It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parents will guide their children to go that "Where are we going,Dad?" shows us. If a child wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen with independent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her to follow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the real reason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that children will go where their parents go; and society will go where the children go. | high7958.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To attract more students to work in England"
},
"options": [
"To introduce a new programme in England",
"To attract more students to work in England",
"To describe the working conditions in England",
"To make clear the ... | European Work Experience Programme
European Work Experience Programme (E.W.E.P.) is an independent British organization which began in 1991 in the city of London. E.W.E.P. provides the opportunity for students from the 25 countries of the European Union and nationals from Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to live in England, to gain work experience, to practise their English and to get a better insight into the British social and cultural life.
To apply you must fulfil the following requirements:
* Preferred age: 18 to 28 years' old
* Be able to work in the UK for a period of at least two months.
* Must have a good knowledge of English.
* Due to work permit restrictions , European Work Experience Programme Ltd (E.W.E.P) will only select you if you are a European Union Member or national from Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
European Work Experience Programme Ltd will find you a suitable job and an accommodation. A representative of E.W.E.P. will be available during your stay to help you and you will get a 24 hours help line service during your stay. The TOTAL fee for our services is PS 264.63 (394.35 Euros).
Should you require any further information, please contact us:
European Work Experience Programme Ltd
Unit 1, Red Lion Court, Alexandra Road
Hounslow, Middlesex, TW3 1JS
United Kingdom
Tel: 44 208 572 2993
Fax: 44 208 572 1114
E-mail: sales@ewep.com | high16916.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A shelter."
},
"options": [
"Some rich owners.",
"Animal Q.",
"A shelter.",
"A zoo."
],
"question": "Who do the three dogs belong to?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"an... | It is often said that you cannot "teach an old dog new tricks", but three New Zealand dogs have decided to prove otherwise by learning a skill --- driving a car!
What's even more impressive is that the three who have become skilled in just eight weeks are not special dogs that belong to some rich owners, but abandoned ones at New Zealand's SPCA.
To get their training started, 10-month old Porter, 18-month-old Monty and one-year-old Ginny were selected from a pool of seven potential candidates and moved to Animal Q, a talent agency that teaches animals tricks for movies and television shows.
The driving classes began with teaching the dogs some basic driving techniques like turning the steering wheels and applying the brakes. After that the dogs practiced everything they had learnt behind the wheels of a motorized car. Then finally, it was time for the big test--- driving a real car!
Human cars are not really built for four-legged animals, so the car they drove was adjusted so that the dogs could sit comfortably and easily reach the steering wheel with their paws.
Though they all seemed to do very well, the real test came on Monday night when Monty, the best driver of the three, showed his great driving skill on live television.
Why would the SPCA go through so much trouble to highlight the skills of homeless dogs? The reason is to show that adopting a dog from a shelter does not mean owners are getting a pet that is worse than one purchased from a keeper. The CEO of the SPCA is hoping that this unusual event will be enough to convince the residents of New Zealand to consider them, when searching for a pet.
We surely hope so, meanwhile we are almost certain that these three pioneers have at least landed their names in the Guinness World Records, creating a category that probably does not even exist today! | high5183.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "a sailboard called windsurfer"
},
"options": [
"a sailboard called windsurfer",
"a kite--shaped free sail",
"the first universal joint",
"a one--person sailboat"
],
"question": "Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer re... | Windsurfing is a sport that combines sailing and surfing.In 1948,twenty-year-old Newman Darby first thought of using a handheld sail to contro1 a small boat.Darby did not apply for a patent for his design at first.However,he is recognized as the inventor of the first sailboard.
Californians Jim Drake,a sailor and engineer,and Hoyle Schweitzer,a surfer and skier received the patent for a sailboard.They called their design a windsurfer.The early windsurfer boards measured 3.5 meters long and weighed 60 pounds.Later in the l980s,Newman Darby did apply for and receive a design patent for a one--person sailboat.
In the late l940s,Newman Darby found he could control a 3-meter-long sailboat and make turns even without a rudder .In l964 he designed the first universal joint to go along with a flat bottom sailing boat.This sailboard was equipped with a universal joint,a board and a kite--shaped free sail and thus windsurfing was born.
Naomi Darby,Newman's wife,was the first woman windsurfer and helped her husband build and design the first sailboard.She sailed while standing up,controlling the boat without the use of a rudder.She tilted the sail to change directions.This was something that had never been done before.
Hoyle Schweitzer began producing sailboards in the early 1970s.The sport became very popular in Europe.By the late 1970s,windsurfing fever had Europe firmly in its grasp with one in every three families having a sailboard.
The first windsurfing world championship was held in 1973.Windsurfing first became an Olympic sport for men in l984 and for women in l992. | high20268.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the behavior of the drivers"
},
"options": [
"road conditions",
"the speed of modern life",
"the large number of cars",
"the behavior of the drivers"
],
"question": "According to the passage, troubles on the roa... | It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible.Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel.It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver's seat is another matter altogether.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too.It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving.On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting.A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm so necessary in modern traffic condition.But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough.Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous.Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time.The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.It always amazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies .
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings.Unfortunately, modern drivers can't even learn to drive.Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more _ from all road users.It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart. | high2834.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "What to eat after exercising."
},
"options": [
"The healthy eating habits of athletes",
"The best time for exercising.",
"How to warm up before exercising.",
"What to eat after exercising."
],
"question": "What ... | The meal you eat after exercising matters! No matter what time of day you exercise, the key is to follow the exercise up with meals that supply enough nutrition . For the best results, eat within 30 to 60 minutes after exercising, when the muscles are at the best time to take in nutrients.
Here are some ideas for meals after exercising.
Home-made sports-recovery drink
Mix banana, milk, and yogurt to make a fresh and satisfying sports-recovery drink. Dairy products like milk and yogurt work double duty, providing both protein and carbohydrates . A cup of coffee, on the other hand, is a poor choice.
Protein-packed sandwich
You can't go wrong with a sandwich after exercising --it's got everything in a hand-held package. Sandwiches provide the salt you need to replace what you lost by sweating , while the tomatoes in them supply plenty of Vitamin C. Try using whole-wheat bread to give yourself more fiber. The cheese and fresh vegetables in sandwiches are also great for helping tired muscles recover.
Power breakfast
An egg sandwich is a perfect post-exercise breakfast. There's protein in both the yolk and the white of the egg. This recipe increases your protein intake while keeping calories and fat under control. Eggs also contain zinc , which helps protect against disease.
Plant-based protein
Beans are an amazing source of plant-based protein and carbohydrates. Make a large bowl of bean salad in the beginning of a week, and you'll have a great post-exercise meal that's ready whenever you need it. | high9961.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "will bring them a feeling of success"
},
"options": [
"will satisfy their surprise",
"will meet their physical needs",
"are directly connected to pleasure",
"will bring them a feeling of success"
],
"question": ... | For some time past,it has been widely accepted that babies--and other creatures--learn to do things because certain acts lead to "rewards ",and there is no reason to doubt that this is true. But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early time, had to be directly connected to such basic physiological "drives" as thirst or hunger. In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise.
It is now clear that this is not so. Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no reward except success in sight.
Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to "reward" the babies and to teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other.Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response with clear signs of pleasure. So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided. He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement "turned on" some lights--and indeed that they were able to learn some more turns to bring about this result,for example,two left or two right,or even to make as many as three turns to one side.
Papousek's light experiment was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the light closely although they would "smile and speak" when the light was on.Papousek concluded that it was not the sight of the lights which pleased them.It was the success they were achieving in solving the problem,in mastering the skill,and then there is a basic human nature to make sense of the world and bring it under control. | high7794.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Subotai doesn't have body piercing"
},
"options": [
"Tiara might have body piercing",
"Subotai doesn't have body piercing",
"Lee thinks tattoos are art",
"Jackson likes tattoos and piercing"
],
"question": "We c... | Tattoos and body piercings have moved up on the trend list in recent years.
Around Western schools lots of teens are sporting new holes and "flesh ink" . As with all other subjects, the Chinese will surely have to deal with this situation with respect to their children. To get a better view of what has happened in the West, let's sit down and hear what they say.
Tiara from prefix = st1 /Indiana:
I personally think body piercing is sickening. If there were supposed to be holes in your body, you would have been born with them. I do, however, think that ear piercing, is not wrong. There is a difference between ear piercing and belly button piercing. Ear piercing is not nearly as dangerous. I would be sick if someone stuck a needle in my belly button.
Lee fromIllinois:
Hi! I live inIllinois. I am 23. I have 12 tattoos and three piercings. I love my tattoos and consider myself an art collector. You would be surprised at who has given me the thumbs-up on my art work. People on the street stop me to look at the tattoo on my leg. Most of them don't know what it is. They just think the work itself is great.
Subotai fromCalifornia:
I'm not against self-expression, but when I see high school students getting these piercing, I really wonder. In some cases, the drive is deeper and darker than mere fashion. A friend of mine tried piercing her own tongue with a safety pin. It got infected and she had a tongue the size of a cow's.
Jackson fromOhio:
I don't think it's wrong, but when people do it all over the place like their face and everything --I think that's ridiculous. People who get the big dragons that cover your whole body--I don't think that's necessary. When I see naked chicks on guys, I think. "You have no respect for women."
Brittney from New York: | high23761.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "he is afraid that he may idle"
},
"options": [
"he wants to remind himself that he is a hardworking man.",
"he wants to remind himself to rest from time to time",
"he is afraid that he may idle",
"he feels he can do the... | "If I rest, I _ "----would be an excellent motto for those who are troubled by the slightest bit of idleness.Even the most hard-working person might adopt it with advantage to serve as a reminder that, if one allows his abilities to rest, like the iron in the unused key, they will soon show signs of rust and, eventually, cannot do the work required of them.
Those who would attain the heights reached and kept by great men must- keep their ability polished by constant use, so that they may unlock the doors of knowledge, the gate that guard the entrances to the professions, to science, art, literature, agriculture--every department of human endeavor.
Industry keeps the key bright that opens the treasury of achievement.If Hugh Miller, after toiling all day in a quarry, had devoted his evenings to rest and recreation, he would never have become a famous geologist.The celebrated mathematician, Edmund Stone, would never have published a mathematical dictionary, never have found the key to science of mathematics, if he had given his spare moments to idleness, had the little Scotch lad, Ferguson, allowed the busy brain to go to sleep while he tended sheep on the hillside instead of calculating the position of the stars by a string of beads, he would never have become a famous astronomer.
Labor defeats all--not inconstant, or ill-directed labor; but faithful, persistent, daily effort toward a well-directed purpose.So industry is the price of noble and enduring success. | high671.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "their new product will have a good market"
},
"options": [
"football fans are angry with referees",
"their new product can satisfy football fans",
"their new product will have a good market",
"they can sell a lot of foo... | While football fans feel strongly angry about mistakes made by referees because they cannot see clearly what has happened, a small German company is quietly pleased.
For Cairos Technologies, mistakes made by referees are the kind of advertising that money cannot buy. The company has developed a tiny chip that fits inside a football and determines whether the ball has crossed the goal line, by being able to discover its exact location on the field. The world football organization, FIFA, has shown interest in the technology. It is very possible that the new technology will be used in the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
"We've been testing the technology at the main soccer stadium in Nuremberg for some time and more recently in an under-17 FIFA Cup in Peru," said Gunter Rohmer, a director of the company. "The technology has performed well, and we're pretty optimistic that it will be used at the games in Germany next year."
The chip only weighs 12 grams, and is placed in the center of the football. It sends 2,000 signals a second to a receiver network of 12 antennas , placed around the field. The receivers then send information about the ball's location to a central computer, and because it works in real time, it can immediately tell the referee whether a goal has been scored. The chip even can tell when the ball crosses the line in mid-air. Oliver Braun, one of the inventors of the chip, says that _ from German referees was generally positive. Germany sports-wear giant Adidas is also optimistic about using this kind of chip in other ball sports.
FIFA aims to test the technology later this year at another game in Japan before deciding whether or not to introduce it in all 12 stadiums in Germany for next year's World Cup. | high1483.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "serve hot food to the poor"
},
"options": [
"decide whether dinners looked poor",
"learn life experience there",
"serve hot food to the poor",
"help parents order dishes"
],
"question": "The task of the author a... | It's easy to see how to help others, but what about those whose needs aren't so obvious? This story may have happened a while back, but it was a lesson which has stayed with me and helped me ever since.
It was Thanksgiving and I was volunteering with my parents at a shelter for the poor. We stood behind the counter dishing out hot food to whoever came in. most of our dinners looked like they had been having hard times, their clothes old, worn and dry. In short, they looked poor!
Then, a man came in, who looked anything but poor. He was well dressed, wearing an expensive suit. I wondered what he was doing there and my jaw dropped in amazement when he joined the line for food. The closer he came to my service station, the more I muttered. What was this man doing? I wanted to know. Surely he wasn't gong to take food.
Then my mother quietly took me to one side. She said, "You have assumed that the needs of the people who come here must be purely physical: hunger, inadequate shelter and needs are emotional? What if he needs comfort, friends, or just to be among other human beings?" her words hit me like a ton of bricks! I felt like I should apologize to the man, but I didn't.
About a week later the shelter received a large donation from an anonymous source. I can't help but wonder if it came from that man.
Now, whether I meet others, I remember my mother's words and try to send kindness and blessings to them, regardless of how they look.
Needs aren't always visible. But kindness always makes a difference. | high117.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "cryogenic techniques will practically be used for space flight in hundreds of years"
},
"options": [
"scientists already use existing technology to store embryos for space flight",
"cryogenic techniques will practically be used for... | Before we send humans into deep space, we'll have to find out just how long the human body can survive in a weightless environment. One problem is that in space there's no physical sensation to let you know when you're upside down and astronauts have to rely on possible clues from their surroundings. A few hours after reaching orbit , one in three of all astronauts will experience space sickness--a feeling rather like carsickness. There is also the problem of protection from the extreme hazards of space such as constant meteorite bombardment and radiation. It is going to take some clever technology to keep rockets and astronauts from these dangers.
Even with a well-protected spaceship, space travel isn't going to be easy. No matter what you travel in, it is going to be a long flight in space! Science fiction writers often imagine using suspended animation , a kind of forced long-term sleep, as a way for astronauts to escape the boredom of long missions.
An even stronger measure might be to freeze the astronauts. We already use cryogenic techniques to preserve dead bodies and store human embryos . Freezing living adults may not be so far away, but perhaps we don't have to do that. Perhaps we should use our existing technology and send frozen embryos to the far corners of universe.
Hundreds of years from now, billions and billions of miles away, the embryos will be thawed and their hearts will start beating. These astronauts of the future will not grow inside a mother's body but will be produced in a machine. They will be brought up by robot. It may seem strange but one day it might just happen. | high23007.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "introduce a new kind of \"green\" car"
},
"options": [
"teach people how to drive a hybrid car",
"introduce a new kind of \"green\" car",
"show how to save their gasoline when driving a car",
"announce plans to develop ... | _ In order to reduce air pollution and oilshortages, automobile manufacturers have announced their plans to develop hybrid vehicles for the Chinese market. Toyota's hybrid car Prius will be ready to drive in China this week. Let's have a look at the new car.
Any vehicle is a hybrid when it combines two or more sources of power. Hybrid cars run off a rechargeable battery and gasoline. Hybrid cars have special engines, which are smaller than traditional gasoline engines. They run at 99 percent of their power when the car is cruising . A specially designed battery motor provides extra power for running up hills or when extra acceleration is needed.
Step into a Prius, and turn on the engine. The first thing you notice is how much quieter it is than a traditional car. At this point, the car's gasoline engine is dormant . The electric motor will provide power until the car reaches about 24 km/h. If you stay at a low speed, you are effectively driving an electric car, with no gasoline being used, and no waste gas gives off.
The onboard computer makes the decision about when to use a gas engine, when to go electric, and when to use a combination of the two. If you go over 24 km/h, when you step on the gas pedal , you are actually telling the computer how fast you want to go.
The electronic motor recharges automatically using a set of batteries. When driving at high speed, the gasoline engine not only powers the car, but also charges the batteries. Any time you use the brake, the electric motor in the wheels will work like a generator and produce electricity to recharge the batteries. As a consequence, the car's batteries will last for around 200,000 miles. | high3294.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "How the speaker benefited from hi-tech."
},
"options": [
"How the speaker translated a book.",
"How the speaker was injured in an accident.",
"How the speaker benefited from hi-tech.",
"How the speaker got over the inju... | Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen,
It's my honor to attend this conference. I hope to tell you, with my own experience, how I benefit from the rapidly developing information technology.
I injured my neck and became disabled in a diving accident in May 1997. I was desperate then and even thought of killing myself. During that time, however, I met Ms. Yatani, a Japanese specialist, who was carrying out a teaching task there. She encouraged me and gave me an English copy of JONI before she returned to Japan.
The book is the autobiography of Ms. Joni Earckson. Her experience was similar to mine. She injured her neck and became disabled in a diving accident in 1967. With a strong will, she tried very hard. Finally, she became a famous artist. From her story I found enlightenment and felt hopeful.
My doctor, Dr. Guan, saw me reading the book. He suggested that I translate it into Chinese in order to benefit more disabled people in China. I agreed, and in one and a half months the translation was finished. Then I contacted Joni through the Internet for the copyright. It was then that I saw how useful modern information technology can be.
Highly developed information technology brings me hope and makes my dreams come true. I am really lucky to live in the Age of Information. I could not imagine what my life would be like without it. It makes my life color1ful and more meaningful. I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Guan, and thanks to all of my friends who love and care for me. It is their love and efforts that helped to make my dreams come true. I hope to send my love and thanks to everyone in the world through the Internet. Thanks again! | high21610.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "To cheer his wife up."
},
"options": [
"To stay one day more.",
"To cheer his wife up.",
"To visit other attractions.",
"To meet his son there."
],
"question": "Why did Bob say \"Let's enjoy the extra day\"?",
... | The woman at the airline ticket counter in prefix = st1 /Munich,Germany, just shook her head. "I'm sorry, but there's no more availability on this flight," she said. God, I thought. My husband, Bob, and I had enjoyed every moment of our dream vacation, two weeks in Europe, but I was ready to go home toShreveport,Louisiana, and sleep in my own bed. Bob could see how frustrated I was. "We'll just have to try to get on the flight tomorrow," he said. "Let's enjoy the extra day."
My son Joe, a First Lieutenant in the Army 82nd Airborne Division , would be returning to Ft. Bragg in North Carolina for a short rest and recovery from his tour of duty in Baghdad, and we weren't sure we'd be able to see him in the little time he'd be stateside. Plus, the time was so up in the air! Back at our hotel, I checked my e-mail to see if our daughter-in-law Monica had any news on when Joe was due to arrive. Sure enough, there was a message. "Joe's been delayed again," it read.
The next morning we made it onto our flight back to the States. Unfortunately, we had to stop in Atlanta. Our connecting flight there was delayed because of bad weather. The hours passed. I felt the frustration building. "That's it!" I finally said. "I just want to get home!"
That's when I saw a group of soldiers coming down the ramp from one of the gates. I thought of Joe. They're coming back from a war, I reminded myself, while I'm coming back from vacation. What right do I have to be frustrated? Maybe the troops were God's way of reminding me to trust in his time. Bob grabbed my arm. "Look at those soldiers coming down the ramp."
"I see them," I said. Bob persisted, "Do you see who's in front?" Suddenly, all those delays across all those miles made perfect sense. I rushed toward my son Joe's open arms. | high18091.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "it was written in literary style"
},
"options": [
"it was based on Tu's real life",
"it was written in literary style",
"the readers had passions for science",
"the readers knew about the origin of Tu's given name"
... | A funny thing happened between China's first female Nobel Prize winner, Tu Youyou, giving her acceptance speech in Sweden and that speech reaching her home country: Two entirely different versions appeared, and the fake one became a viral hit.
Guess which version is genuine? The one that matter-of-factly tells about the discovery of artemisinin , or the one with extreme literary style, complete with her father explaining the origin of her given name and poetic lines such as, "I like tranquility , tranquil as the leaves of sweet wormwood ."
Most readers were so touched by the literary version that they were left in tears. However, they just forgot that Tu is not a woman of _ , but one of science. It was totally made up by someone who obviously has great literary talent, but could not fathom the inner life of a scientist.
I don't know who made up the Tu speech, or for what purpose. It does not strike me as funny. Fortunately, no mainstream media seemed to have been fooled. Yet the fake one has probably been shared more than the real one because it played to the Chinese stereotype of what such a speech should be.
China's cyberspace is full of educational and uplifting quotes, and quite a lot of them are made up. There is a joke that says the United States' spying network collected and examined all the Internet data in China and found that the Chinese are addicted to such chicken soup, including that from untrustworthy sources. | high14683.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "make your computer run faster"
},
"options": [
"find your way easily",
"learn what's going on in the world",
"make your computer run faster",
"make facetoface video telephone calls"
],
"question": "With 3G, you ... | Thirdgeneration mobile phones, known as 3G, are the next big step for the telecom industry. Data speed in 3G networks is much quicker than present technology. This means users can have highspeed Internet access and enjoy video and CDquality music on their phones.
"Mobile data is not a dream; it's not an option but a requirement." said Len Lauer, head of a US communications company,Sprint PCS,at a 3G conference in Bangkok earlier this month.
With 3G, you can forget about text messages telling you yesterday's news; a 3G phone can receive video news programs, updated four times a day. Internet access will also be much quicker, making it easier to surf the Web on your phone than on your computer at home.
Facetoface video calls
And don't worry about getting lost. 3G phones offer map services so you can find a new restaurant just by pressing a few keys on your handset.
However, the most impressive part of 3G technology is video calling. With live twoday video communication, you can have facetoface talks with friends and family on your mobile phone.
Many European countries have already launched the service. In May 2000 the US Government issued five licenses to run 3G wireless services, while the first 3G phones arrived in Italy in March this year.
International telecom companies can't wait to sell 3G in China, the world's largest mobile telecommunications market. But they will have to be patient. At the moment, China is busy testing its 3Gbased technologies, networks and services. This will be followed by a trial period before the phones can finally hit the shops.
"We need to create a pool of 3G customers before the largescale commercial launch of the service." said Fan Yunjun, marketing manager for Beijing Mobile. "We expect that the 3G licenses will be issued late next year. " | high22331.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "has changed in the development process"
},
"options": [
"is well known for its fast beats",
"is most popular in Atlanta",
"is very similar to Crunk Music",
"has changed in the development process"
],
"question":... | If you are above the age of 40 then there are chances you would not know much about Snap Music. But if that is the case, then ask your daughter or son, and perhaps, they'd even perform it for you. Indeed, Snap Music is one of the cool hip hop rap styles that support hip hop music. In simple words, Snap Music is the music to which you "snap your fingers and move with the rhythm. This may seem ly easy, but sure enough, it has its share of uniqueness which makes it stand apart.
The theoretical and technical characteristics of Snap Music are slow-paced beats, regular and timed snapping of fingers, which created pleasing rhythms. Often as rappers rap, they get the audience clapping or snapping along with them.
Snap Music was from Atlanta. It gradually made its way to the other parts of America. It is generally believed that Snap was inspired by Crunk Music and it is Atlanta's Crunk style. But they are quite different. While Crunk has high energy, Snap has an unhurried feel to it . An occasional whistle or a polyrhythmic combination can he heard; this is done to improve the feeling of the music. It is also said that the music was made for the club-crowd and at first was meant for dance lovers; but as the form developed, it turned out to be rather slow.
There is a wide audience for this type of music. Here , this type of hip hop music is often simple with not much depth or story. But then again, how many rap songs have depths and story these days? So , if you are a teenager or a young adult, you might just enjoy the change that Snap offers. | high21638.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "that humor is very important in communication"
},
"options": [
"that it's not easy to travel abroad",
"that humor is very important in communication",
"about some characteristics in dealing with foreigners",
"about thre... | Scholars and researchers have tried to discover what personality characteristics go along with success in intercultural experiences. Their findings have often been unclear or incomplete. But three characteristics stand out in their reports: patience, a sense of humor, and the awareness of being unclear.
Patience, of course, is the ability to keep calm even when things do not go as one wants them to, or hopes they will, or has even been sure they will. Impatience sometimes brings improvements in relations with other people, but usually it does not.
A person with a sense of humor is less likely to take things too seriously and more ready to see the humor in her own reactions than a humorless person. The value of a sense of humor really needs to be paid more attention to.
"The awareness of being unclear" is a more difficult concept than patience or a sense of humor. Foreigners often find themselves in situations that are unclear to the newcomers. That is, they do not know what is happening in the situation. Perhaps they do not understand the local language well enough, or they do not know how some system or organization works, or they can't be sure of different people's roles in what is going on. "It's like I just got here from the moon," a Chinese graduate student who newly arrived in the United States said, "things are just so different here." | high16094.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "shouldn't hide the tears if they want to cry"
},
"options": [
"should try to keep all the pain inside",
"shouldn't be so strict with their children",
"should do what they can to show they are brave",
"shouldn't hide the... | When I was young, I thought that boys and grown men shouldn't cry. The tears were signs of being weak. A man isn't supposed to be like that. This was even strengthened in my young mind with the popular song, Boys Don't Cry, in the early 1980s.
But just last June, I discovered that courage wasn't all about trying to keep all the pain inside. Courage wasn't all about trying to hide the tears. It was the opposite -- the tears reinforced the heart's courage. And I saw this in my father.
My 18-year-old sister eloped and with it, I saw how vulnerable my father's heart was. We were used to seeing him as a strong figure and an iron-willed father. For three days after my sister eloped, he wouldn't talk. He would just sit quietly outside our house in the dark. On the fourth night, I sat beside him and asked him to tell me what he felt about everything.
It has been years since I have laid my hand on my father's shoulder as we have drifted farther while I am growing up. That night, I sensed my father trying to control his pain and I wanted him to be able to let it out. We all cried over what had happened except him.
The simple touch and my words "Dad, it's not your fault" broke my father's dam. In the darkness, he began to cry. I felt his shoulders shaking as he whispered, "Where did I go wrong? All I ever wanted was for my children to grow up right. Why couldn't your sister wait? How can she go away with such a boy?"
I understood then why he preferred to be in the dark. By being there, he hoped to spare his family's feelings. His tears, though we didn't see them before that night, were there all the same. I saw his courage that night when my father cried with my hand on his shoulder, and understood his pain. | high20526.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Reasoning is higher than reading and writing in school."
},
"options": [
"Children have different abilities.",
"Reading for information needs more skills.",
"Reasoning is higher than reading and writing in school.",
"Ma... | There is nowadays in schools a great movement that places major emphasis on higher order skills, these being those skills that encourage the ability to reason. This group of skills involves recalling information, basic concept formation, critical thinking, and creative idea formation. Formerly viewed as the tools of mathematics, these skills are now recognized as necessary to abilities across the curriculum.
Higher order thinking skills are now recognized as important for those who will enter the twenty-first century work force. Preparing young learners for their future requires that teachers employ a great deal of inventiveness and creativity in designing lessons that meet the dual challenge of providing the basics as in reading, language arts, and mathematics, and developing the ability to reason.
This unit uses detective fiction to address both of these challenges, and the activities that lie here are designed to draw the learner along a path that moves him from the simple skills, such as recalling information, to the more difficult area of creative thinking. Activities may be modified, simplified, lengthened, or deleted to meet the needs of the intellectual diversity found in most classrooms.
For this unit I have chosen three separate series of children's detective fiction. The easiest to read are the Private Eyes club mysteries, written and illustrated by Crosby Bonsall. This series centers on the activities of four neighborhood boys who along with their cat Mildred keep the area they live in free of crime. Each title is centered on one issue and the list of titles is expanding. The reading levels range from about 1.6 to 2.0 and the print is large and well organized on the page. Snitch, Wizard, Skinny, and Tubby are funny and engaging, and are represented in lively color illustrations. The only issue that could be a problem is that the private eyes are all boys. However, girls are well represented among the peripheral peer group. | high11923.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "some kids surveyed may go against their parents' rules"
},
"options": [
"some kids surveyed may go against their parents' rules",
"kids talk less with their parents due to computers",
"special home computers are being made by... | It seems that many parents have a lot to learn about what their children are doing online. According to a recent survey by the Symantec Corporation, which makes many kinds of security software for home and business computers, there's a "significant digital divide between parents and their kids."
Parents of children under the age of 18 were asked to estimate how much time their kids spent online each week. The parents said about three hours a week on average. The kids - ages 8 to 17 - who took the survey said they're spending an average of seven hours online each week.
"I really think that's due to the time they spend on their mobile phones and computers, when their parents don't even know they're online," says Symantec's Bill Rosenkrantz. "Remember, cell phones, PDAs and video game machines all make it possible to access the Internet. You don't have to sit in front of a computer screen."
And what are the kids doing on the Web? "They're doing things like downloading music, they're going to social networking sites, they're actually shopping online when parents don't think they're doing those kinds of activities," says Rosenkrantz. "They're also, we think, doing some things with research papers and other kinds of activities with homework maybe where they're getting content online and they really shouldn't be." Nearly a quarter of the kids (23 percent) admit to doing things their parents would not approve.
So how does a modern parent deal with this type of situation? "The first thing we strongly recommend is that parents spend time with their children online," Rosenkrantz says. "Sit down with them and understand what they're doing. Secondly, have a dialog about it. Have a dialog about what's an acceptable activity, what's an unacceptable activity, and set some ground rules -- time online, things you can and can't do. Really have those conversations. That's the most important." There are a lot of bad people on the Internet. That's why it's so important for parents to know what their kids are doing online. | high10383.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "David"
},
"options": [
"Agnes",
"David",
"Dora",
"Traddles"
],
"question": "The narrator of the passage might be _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2... | As the light died out of the sky, and I watched the colour of the snow on the mountain tops change, I felt I was waking from my unhappy dream, and I began to understand how much I loved Agnes. She had been the one who had always guided and supported me, and now I realized I needed her love for the rest of my life. Had falling in love with Dora been a mistake? We had both been very young, it is true. I had always called Agnes sister, and now perhaps I no longer had the right to ask whether her love for me was more than sisterly.
However, I decided to return, and travelled home to England, after three years of absence. I was delighted to find that Traddles had married his Sophy, and was doing well as a lawyer. My aunt had moved back to her old Dover house, and was living happily there with Mr.Dick and Peggotty. When I visited my aunt, I took the opportunity of asking her about Agnes.
"Has she--has she any young man she'd like to marry?" I asked as lightly as possible.
My aunt looked carefully at me as she replied, "I suspect she has, David. She's never mentioned it to me, but I think--I feel sure she's going to marry soon."
I was firm with myself and did not show my feelings. I borrowed a horse and rode to Canterbury to ask Agnes myself. When I saw that beautiful, gentle face again, I knew I had come home. I knew how dear she was to me, and would always be.
"Agnes," I said, "I am so grateful to you, for making me what I am, for helping me to be good! But I think you have a secret. Let me share it, Agnes, as your brother! Tell me whom you love!"
Agnes turned away from me and burst into tears. Somehow these tears did not sadden me, but gave me hope. "My dear Agnes! Don't cry!"
"David, leave me! I can't talk about it now!" she sobbed.
"Agnes, you're dearer to me than anything in the world. Don't think I'll be jealous of any man you choose to marry. I only want you to be happy!"
She had stopped crying now and was calmer. "If I have a secret, David, it is--not a new one. It has been my secret--for a long time!"
I was wild with hope. "Not a new one!" Did she mean ...? "Dearest Agnes! Dare I hope to call you more than a sister!" She was in my arms and sobbing again, but this time with happiness. "I went away, Agnes, loving you! I returned home, loving you!"
We held each other for some time, sure now of each other's love.
"There is something I must tell you, David," she said gently, looking calmly into my face. "I have loved you all my life!" She added, "And something else--before our sweet Dora died, she asked me--can you guess--to fill the empty place in your heart." And Agnes laid her head on my shoulder, and cried. And I cried with her, although we were both so happy. | high18907.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "34 seats."
},
"options": [
"10 seats.",
"19 seats.",
"34 seats.",
"44 seats."
],
"question": "How many airplane seats did they put in a bus originally?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"an... | The bus is a usable form of transportation all over the world because we can easily take it to go everywhere. Also, we do not need to worry about danger on a long-distance trip. Now, we have comfortable buses in London. I would like to describe how comfortable they are. First, the number of seats on a bus has been reduced from 44 to 19. The reason why the number of seats is now 19 is that the seats have been changed to big and comfortable sofas.
Originally, they changed the normal seats to airplane seats and took out ten seats from the buses. However, every customer wanted to have a more comfortable seat on the bus when they went on long-distance trips, so they changed them to sofas. Also, the owners of the bus companies wanted to make more money, so they tried to meet the passengers' needs. They changed the airplane seats to sofas, so the number of seats is now 19.
As the new buses appear, the prices go up, too. The owners have many ideas, which you have probably never thought about before. Now they have bus attendants who serve water, snacks, newspapers, and towels.
Also, you can change the direction and the height of the sofa to make yourself more comfortable, and there is a service bell on each sofa. Moreover, some companies show movies on the buses. In addition, when you go on a long-distance trip, they have luxurious buses that have an LCD screen on each seat. That is not the only surprising thing on the bus. They also have different TV channels, movie channels, and seventy TV games for killing time while you are on the bus. | high23991.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "contribute some of the earnings to a youth program."
},
"options": [
"are volunteers without being paid",
"work in the morning five days a week.",
"send coffee on the planes for the passengers.",
"contribute some of the... | Every morning, kids from a local high school are working hard. They are making and selling special coffee at a coffee cafe. They are also making a lot of money. These students can make up to twelve hundred dollars a day. They are selling their special coffee to airplane passengers. After the students get paid, the rest of the money goes to helping a local youth project.
These high school students use a space in the Oakland airport. It is usually very crowded. Many people who fly on the planes like to drink the special coffee. One customer thinks that the coffee costs a lot but it is good and worth it. Most customers are pleasant but some are unhappy. They do not like it if the coffee cafe is not open for business.
The students earn $6.10 an hour plus tips. They also get school credit while they learn how to run a business. Many of the students enjoy the work although it took some time to learn how to do it. They have to learn how to steam milk, load the pots, and add flavor. It takes some skill and sometimes mistakes are made. The most common mistake is forgetting to add the coffee. But many students enjoy the job, because they learn a lot experience by serving people. This will benefit them a lot when they enter into society after they finish their school education. | high9949.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Marc's disagreement with his parents about their move"
},
"options": [
"Marc's disagreement with his parents about their move",
"a quarrel between Tommy Lyons and Marc",
"Marc and Rachel's different tempers",
"Mr. and M... | One evening after dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Tisich called a family meeting. --We've had to make a difficult decision, Mr. Tisich announced. --You see, your mother has been offered a post as co-director of a television station in Chicago. Unfortunately, the station is not here. After thinking long and hard about it, we've concluded that the right decision is to move to Chicago.
Marc looked shocked, while his sister Rachel breathlessly started asking when they'd be moving. --It's surprising, but exciting! she said. Marc simply said, --We can't go--I can't leave all my friends. I'd rather stay here and live with Tommy Lyons!
The Tisichs hoped that by the time they moved in August, Marc would grow more used to the idea of leaving. However, he showed no signs of accepting the news, refusing to pack his belongings.
When the morning of the move arrived, Marc was nowhere to be found. His parents called Tommy Lyon's house, but Mrs. Lyons said she hadn't seen Marc. Mrs. Tisich became increasingly concerned, while her husband felt angry with their son for behaving so irresponsibly.
What they didn't know was that Marc had started walking over to Tommy's house, with a faint idea of hiding in Lyons's attic for a few days. But something happened on the way as Marc walked past all the familiar landscape of the neighborhood: the fence that he and his mother painted, the tree that he and his sister used to climb, and the park where he and his father often took evening walks together. How much would these mean without his family? Who make them special in the first place? Marc didn't take the time to answer that question but instead hurried back to his house, wondering if there were any moving cartons the right size to hold his record collection. | high13852.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "The inventor decided to develop new market in the US."
},
"options": [
"Many buyers are satisfied with the body-shaped pillow.",
"The pillows are sold only in Japan at present.",
"The inventor decided to develop new market in... | For those who have lonely nights and have trouble falling asleep, he is proving the ideal partner. This is a man who does not snore in bed. And he is happy to wrap a comforting arm around his dearest until morning arrives.
He does exist. He is the body-shaped pillow, the latest sleeping aid from Japan.
This pillow comes without a head and is filled with foam. It's made by _ and has a "body" and a flexible arm that can be curled around its owner.
About 1,000 of the pillows have been sold since they went on sale in Japan last year and many buyers say they are pleased with their sleeping companion.
"This pillow makes me feel relaxed because I can hold the arm and feel something warm at my side," said 34-year-old radio DJ Junko Suzuki.
But according to _ , the pillow is more than just an emotional help for those tired of spending the night alone. And it is shaped, the firm says, to support its partner on both sides to ensure a night of good sleep.
The idea is to curl up in between the body and the flexible arm. The head just rests on the pillow's "arm muscles".
"My grandmother used to say that there is no more comfortable pillow than another person," said the firm president, Tomoki Kakehashi. "So I thought that maybe people would want to sleep on a pillow shaped like an arm."
The pillows, on sale only in Japan for the moment, cost 8,500 yen(around US$80) each and come with shirt-or shirt-shaped pillow covers in blue, pink or green. | high22457.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He loves ballet."
},
"options": [
"He always loses in boxing matches.",
"He isn't strong.",
"He looks like a girl.",
"He loves ballet."
],
"question": "Why is Billy laughed at by other children?",
"question_... | Today, traditional opinions about men still exist. A man has to be strong, brave, sports loving and manly. Anything less would not be considered manly. Sports such as football, basketball and boxing all tend to be men's sports. However, the dance of ballet is considered _ because it requires nice movements. This tradition is shown in the movie, Billy Elliot.
Billy Elliot is a movie that protests against this traditional view of men. Billy Elliot is an eleven-year-old boy that has a natural talent for ballet dancing, but his father will not allow it. Billy's father wants him to take up boxing and become stronger, but Billy goes against his father's wishes and takes up ballet dancing. This difference of opinion makes Billy sad. What's more, his friends also laugh at him.
After saving enough money, his father sends Billy to a weekly boxing course; however, Billy doesn't enjoy boxing because he always loses in matches and is often hurt. His ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson thinks that men or women should not be judged by the activities they like to do, so she tells Billy's father that although he wants his son to make a good living, he should let his son do what he loves to do because he has a talent for it. When his father finally realizes the truth, Billy is surprised. In the end, with the help of his father, brother and all the people around him, Billy goes to the Royal Ballet Academy in London and becomes a very successful ballet dancer. | high881.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "In the words of a Harry Potter film"
},
"options": [
"In a letter sent to her by J.K Rowling",
"From her friends",
"In the words of a Harry Potter film",
"At the memorial for her family"
],
"question": "Where di... | J.K. Rowling had reused her magic and brought Dumbledore back to life.
A spokesperson for the author confirmed Rowling had sent a letter and a package to a Texas teenager who optimistically found strength in the words of a Harry Potter film after witnessing the murder of her family.
Fifteen-yiear-old Cassidy Stay lost both parent s and four _ to a gunman in Texas last month. Cassidy was shot in the head and survived the gunshot wound only because she played dead. Authorities had called her survival a miracle.
Cassidy had seen the unimaginable tragedy, but was still thinking about happiness. At the memorial( ) for her family, Cassidy gave a speech in front of the media saying she believed her family was "in a much better place."
Quoting the words of Dumbledore, the wise headmaster of Hogwarts, she said, "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
The same day Cassidy gave her speech, a Facebook page called "We want J.K. Rowling to meet Cassidy Stay" formed and quickly draw public attention.
The creator of the page claimed to know a friend of Cassidy's who "confirmed that J.K. Rowling did write Cassidy a personal letter under the name of 'Dumbledor'. She also sent a wand, an acceptance letter to Hogwarts with a school supply list, along with the 3rdbook with Rowling's autograph." | high9791.txt |
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