questions list | article stringlengths 9 6.44k | id stringlengths 9 14 |
|---|---|---|
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "wanted to let them feel free"
},
"options": [
"was very busy with his work",
"didn't want to eat with them",
"wanted to let them feel free",
"needed to eat with other teachers"
],
"question": "At the beginning, ... | My school has no cafeteria . Students bring their own lunches and eat in the classroom with their teachers.
At first, I didn't think I needed to be "on" during lunch, since it was technically a free time for students. However, I was surprised to learn that even in a classroom with fewer students, social segregation happened. The entire class crowded around a table just to avoid one or two other students sitting by themselves on the other side of the room. Students refer to one as the "cool" one and another as the "loser". There were only three tables.
After witnessing this, I made a new classroom rule. Every day at lunch, we would put all the tables together and everyone including me would sit around the big table. Students could sit wherever they wanted at the table. This way, no one was excluded from the group.
At first, there was much grumbling at this. But gradually the complaining stopped. Students who didn't usually talk to each other during free time started to share conversations. Students were occasionally requested to bring something for others to taste. This started a new tradition: weekly food sharing.
In other situations, students make unpleasant comments about their classmate's food, but not during these lunches. Students were careful to thank the sharer, even if they didn't like the offering. Many students tried a food they had never tried before and some cooked a family recipe with their parents for the first time.
Eating together gave us the opportunity to practice social graces . Students learned to ask about and respect each other's food choices. They also gained knowledge about their classmates' lives and cultures by tasting each other's food and practicing open-mindedness. | high24026.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Apple announces mobile payment service to replace consumers' wallet."
},
"options": [
"Apple announces mobile payment service to replace consumers' wallet.",
"Consumers can pay in cash through mobile phones.",
"Apple Inc. wil... | San Francisco(People's Daily Online)-- Apple Inc. Tuesday introduced its mobile payment service Apple Pay alongside the company's iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California.
What apple does is to replace consumers' wallet with its cell phone. Apple said it hopes to speed up the checkout process, make credit-card payments more secure and ultimately, to replace physical wallets.
With the near-field communication technology, Apple's gadgets like iPhone and Apple watch can transmit a radio signal between the device and a receiver when the two are in an inch apart. "To pay, just hold your iPhone near the contactless reader with your finger on Touch ID. You don't even have to look at the screen to know your payment information was successfully sent," Apple says on its official website.
Apple said that each transaction would be authorized with a one-time, unique number, creating a security code that it said is more secure than the one on the back of your credit card because cashiers won't see your name, card number or security code. The service will work with the three major payment networks -- American Express, MasterCard and Visa -- and Apple said that there are 220,000 merchant locations that accept these contactless payments.
When some applaud this disrupted service that will compete with Paypal and endanger other online payment companies, some others concern about its safety, especially when another retailer Home Depot confirmed a data opening yesterday and iCloud was reported exposing nude pictures of celebrities a week ago.
Leo Zheng, a technology reporter in Silicon Valley said: "When Apple attracts consumers to put all their cards into one iPhone and promised the security, Jennifer Lawrence should say something." | high7964.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "the different ideas he has"
},
"options": [
"the different sports he loves",
"the different clothes he wears and the different music he listens to",
"that he is younger than the others.",
"the different ideas he has"
... | What separates me from everyone else? The difference is not what clothes I wear or the music I listen to, but what I feel inside.
Ever since I was young, I have loved professional wrestling.I woke up every Saturday to watch my favorite "Superstars." As I grew older, I got a lot of flak for watching this "fake" sport.My peers would laugh at me for following what was called a "man's soap opera." So, _ .Like everyone else, I wanted to be associated with the cool clique.I yearned to be invited to the parties of the in-crowd and hang out with the popular kids.I became pretty successful.Although my Friday evenings were busy with parties, I would still wake up early Saturdays to watch wrestling.It wasn't until freshman year that I realized I wasn't being myself.
That year, I tried many new things and activities and made new friends.In my town, football was the sport, so I decided to play football, thinking it might give me a head start in popularity.The team started with 48 athletes.At the end, there were 14 of us left.I stuck it out not because I liked it, but because I am not a quitter.That long season taught me a lesson: I wasn't a football player.More importantly, it taught me to be myself.
After that season, I went back to being a wrestling fan.I watched it religiously, no matter what insults were thrown my way.I came across a quote: "Don't Dream It, Be It." When I read this, my friend Dan had the same idea I had.
"What if we build a wrestling ring?" we asked.We acquired the necessary wood and equipment for its construction.The following weekend, we met at his house.We saw our dream in a pile in his backyard.We worked from dawn to dusk to build our great establishment.By Sunday night, our mission was complete.Our hard work (combined with a little creativity) had paid off.We had a real ring.We decided to hold an "event." We practiced for hours, trying to improve every aspect of our wrestling ability.The date was May 24th.Our show had a start time of 9: 00 p.m.To our surprise, about one hundred family, friends and fans showed up to support us.It was the most important night of my life and a complete success.Since that time, we have held five shows with as many as two hundred and fifty people turning out.We continue to live this dream.We accomplished what we set out to do.We are now well known throughout school.When I walk down the halls, I am respected by my peers.Some are the same peers who ridiculed me for watching wrestling when I was younger.When they approach me, they often say, "Good match, Chris." I humbly say, "Thank you," knowing I did something I believed in.
As my senior year winds down, I'll remember all of my high school memories.But what will stick out most is the memory that I did something I loved, despite what everyone said or thought.I accomplished my goal ...I lived my dream. | high12580.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because he couldn't afford anything."
},
"options": [
"Because he couldn't make himself understood.",
"Because the teachers were unwilling to sell him anything.",
"Because he couldn't afford anything.",
"Because he coul... | Last year, I met a little boy to whom my heart went out. He would talk to me every single day, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. His problem was that he stuttered extremely badly when he tried to talk. It was really hard to understand what he was saying, although he loved to tell big tales!
One morning, I was talking to the teachers who ran the school store. The boy stopped by and said hello to all of us. Afterwards they told me that the boy would stop every day to ask if they would be there the next day. But of course, he never had money to buy anything.
I decided that I would get him a little something just as a surprise. So I picked out a pencil, a rubber, and a small notebook for just $1.00. I cannot describe the look on his face when I gave him the three little things. Then, without a stutter, he loudly said, "Thank you so much!" and just kept repeating, "Thank you! Thank you!" He gave me a big hug before going off to class.
I was touched to see someone appreciate something that much. As he walked off, he was showing his new stuff to other kids walking to class. I have to say that I have never spent a dollar that would me an so much to me. | high13846.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "critical"
},
"options": [
"positive",
"uninterested",
"optimistic",
"critical"
],
"question": "The author's attitude towards the use of natural resources is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
... | The word "conservation" has a thrifty meaning. To conserve is to save and protect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such a good condition that others may also share the enjoyment. Our forefathers had no idea that human population would increase faster than the supplies of raw materials: most of them, even until very recently, had the foolish idea that the treasures were "limitless" and could "last forever". Most of the citizens of earlier generations knew little or nothing about the complicated and delicate system that runs all through nature, and which means that, as in a living body, an unhealthy condition of one part will sooner or later be harmful to all the others.
Fifty years ago, nature study was not part of school work; scientific forestry was a new idea; wood was still cheap because it could be brought in any quantity from distant woodlands; soil destruction and river floods were not national problems; nobody had yet studied long-term climatic cycles in relation to proper land use; even the word "conservation" had nothing of the meaning that it has for us today.
For the sake of ourselves and those who will come after us, we must now set about correcting the mistakes of our forefathers. Conservation should be made part of everybody's daily life. To know about the water table in ground is just as important to us as a knowledge of the basic math formulas . We need to know why all watersheds need the protection of plant life and why the running current of streams and rivers must be made to give their full benefit to the soil before they finally escape to the sea. We need to be taught the duty of planting trees as well as of cutting them. We need to know the importance of big, grown trees, because _ In a word, it should be our goal to restore as much of the original beauty of nature as we can. | high895.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "They would be amazed to see the big change in her."
},
"options": [
"They would be jealous when they saw how beautiful she looked.",
"They would think of her as a goody-goody.",
"They would start to copy her new style.",
... | No quick change
I would be the first to say that I am not materialistic. My friends regard me as a goody-goody . My parents say I am conservative and modest when it comes to clothes. I don't wear bikinis, and none of my skirts or shorts end above my knees. That is my choice.
So why, why did I decide to buy that skirt? My family and I were in Target, and there it was, waiting - a skirt specifically designed not to cover anything. It was light brown and looked like something one of those anime schoolgirls would wear.
I checked my purse. The skirt cost $10. I had the money. I could buy it. I imagined walking into school and my pals' jaws dropping. Guys would ask me out, and I would be happy. I could buy it - no, I should buy it.
I showed my mother. She was surprised but said it was my decision. My sister looked on jealously.
I went into the dressing room to try it on. I was so sure that this skirt would change me, somehow make me not what I am but what I wished to be. I slid my jeans off and put it on.
Now for the decisive moment. I looked in the mirror. There I was - a girl in a Superman T-shirt and sneakers who didn't know how to make friends with others.
Of course, the skirt had not changed me. It fit me well; that wasn't the problem. It might make me look good in the eyes of today's world.
But it simply was not me. I am not a girl who wears cool clothes to fit in. My glasses fogged up as I started to cry.
I took the thing off and went back into the comfort and safety of modesty.
My mom knocked on the door. "Emily, are you okay?"
I wiped away my tears. "I'm fine." I looked in the mirror again and saw a blond skinny girl with thick glasses and a ponytail . I saw myself. | high22443.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Because Hera had taken away her ability to speak first."
},
"options": [
"Because she had lost the ability to speak.",
"Because she was too shy to speak first.",
"Because Narcissus took no notice of her.",
"Because Hera... | There was once a beautiful nymph called Echo. But Echo had one failing; she was fond of talking, and whether in chat or argument, would have the last word. As she was good company, she and Zeus became good friends. However, Zeus' wife, Hera, became jealous. She followed Zeus to the earth to find out what he was doing and Zeus asked Echo to distract Hera until he could escape. Later when Hera discovered she had been tricked, she became very angry. She turned on Echo and said, "You shall lose the use of your tongue because you cheated me. You'll have the last word, bur no longer have the power to speak first." So from that moment on, Beautiful Echo was hardly able to hold a conversation because she could only repeat the last words of those around her. She became very embarrassed and hid herself deep in the woods.
One day a handsome young man called Narcissus came into the woods. He had been hunting deer and lost his way. However, the moment Echo saw him, she fell in love with him. She followed him, wishing to tell him but unable to begin a conversation. Oh, how she wished she could speak first. Unfortunately, Narcissus was far too busy worrying about where his companions might be and how he could find his way home.
Eventually Narcissus, with Echo following behind along, came to a pool of water in the middle of the woods. Feeling thirsty, Narcissus bent down to drink. As he did so, he saw a beautiful creature in the water staring up at him. He immediately bent over and said to him, "I love you!" Echo, nearby, and seeing her chance, immediately responded ".... I love you!" But it was too late. Narcissus was already in love, with himself.
The stranger seemed to rise up closer to Narcissus who was so involved that he entirely failed to notice Echo. "I want to stay and look at this beautiful sight forever," he whispered dreamily to himself."... Forever," repeated Echo sadly. "Come here," called Narcissus to his reflection as he moved his head and the creature seemed to move away. "...Here." responded Echo. Narcissus bent back down to see his reflection more clearly. "So beautiful! I've never seen anything so beautiful!" "....So beautiful!" responded Echo truthfully.
Narcissus remained by the water refusing all Echo's silent offers of food and drink until he died. Where he had been, a flower grew in his place, as beautiful as Narcissus himself. As for Echo, from that time forward, she also didn't eat or drink till she turned to rocks and all that was left was her voice. Even now you can still hear Echo trying to attract Narcissus' attention by repeating his words and still see Narcissus as a beautiful flower growing near a pool. | high7970.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Stratford - upon - Avon"
},
"options": [
"London",
"Oxford",
"Stratford - upon - Avon",
"the school of his hometown"
],
"question": "Shakespeare was forced to run away from _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_q... | Most people heard of Shakespeare and probably know something of his plays. However, not everybody knows much about the life of this world - famous man, except perhaps that he was born in the market town of Stratford - upon - Avon and that he married a woman called Anne Hathaway. We know nothing of his school life.
Nothing certain is known of what he did between the time he left school and his leaving home for London. It is said that he was beaten and even put in prison for stealing rabbits and deer from a neighboring landowner, and because of this he was forced to leave his native place.
Whatever caused him to leave his hometown, the world can be thankful about it. When he arrived in London, he set his foot on the road to farm. It is said that he was without money or friends there at first, but that he made a little money by taking care of the horses of the gentlemen who attended the plays at the theatre. In time, he came to know the doctors in the theatre, and they found him clever. Finally he was invited to join their company. By 1592, he had become one of the three members of a famous company.
From what we know of his later life, it is clear that Shakespeare' s connection with theatre had made him a wealthy man since he wrote the plays, which attracted a good many people. Towards the end of the 16th century he bought a large property in Stratford. No less than eleven of his plays were produced after he went back there. These include the great tragedies Othello, Macbeth and King Lear.
Shakespeare died in 1616. Some years earlier he chose it gravestone . He wrote on the stone that if anyone might remove his body from his grave, he would bring bad luck on him.
It seems strange that he should have had this fear. He might have known how deeply he was respected for the genius he showed in his plays and poems. | high24032.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A Widow's Wish"
},
"options": [
"A Replaced Recording",
"Mind the Gap",
"A Widow's Wish",
"The Tube's Struggle"
],
"question": "The best title for the passage is _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
... | A widow's wish to hear her late husband's voice again has pushed London's Subway system to restore a 40-year-old recording of the subway's famous " Mind the gap" announcement.
The underground, or the tube, first opened in 1863, tracked down the voice recording by Oswald Lawrence after his widow, Margaret McCollum, told them what it meant to her.
McCollum, 65, said she used to frequently visit Embankment tube station or plan her journeys around the stop to listen to Lawrence's voice, even before his death. She was _ in November when she noticed it had been replaced by a different voice.
"Lawrence was a drama school graduate when he auditioned for a tour company. For six years after his death, I'd stay on the platform--just sit and listen to it again," she added.
When Margaret approached the tube, she was told it had a new broadcast system and it couldn't use the old recording anymore.
Nigel Holness, director of London Underground, said its staff has been so moved by McCollum's story that they dug up the recording and gave the widow a copy of the announcement on a CD for her to keep. "Tube staff is also working to restore Lawrence's announcement at the station," he added. "It is celebrating its 150thanniversary this year. The tube's 'Mind the gap' messages, voiced by various actors, have accompanied countless London commuter journeys since the 1960s. Train drivers and staff made the warnings themselves before that."
"I'm very pleased that people are interested in Oswald's old recording," Margaret said. "He was a great London transport user all his life .He would be amused, touched, and delighted to know he's back where he belonged." | high10397.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "5 years"
},
"options": [
"2 years",
"5 years",
"13 years",
"15 years"
],
"question": "According to the text, the author has taught English in China for _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
... | I started teaching English abroad when I was 22, soon after I graduated from university. I'm 35 now and have been doing it ever since. If you want to travel the world, there're a few ways to earn money while you do so. You can pick fruit, pull pints or teach English. The third one has definitely suited me best. I've taught in Russia, Argentina, Spain and Slovakia and stayed an average of two years in each country.
Our flat is in the Sanlitun area, not far from the main football stadium, and I work at various schools in the city. The demand for the English language teachers is _ .Basically, if a Chinese person wants a job in an international company, then English is a must. In Beijing there aren't enough teachers to go round. Both the Chinese government and the business world are investing heavily in getting people to speak English.
In China there's no shortage of work, though the pay can be different. If you teach English as a second language at an international school, you can earn 22,000 yuan a month, about PS2,200 or PS1,500. If you're short of cash, you can always do a bit of extra private tuition, which pays really well - about PS30 an hour.
It's a bit shock the first time you find yourself in a foreign country but the training can help. And people often ask how it's possible to teach English in a country where you don't speak the local language, but there's no such thing. In China, for example, everyone knows words like "dollar" or "I love you".
The best thing about Beijing is that you aren't going to be lonely. There's a huge expat community here, mostly based in Sanlitun and growing all the time. I don't know my way around Dublin or London very well, but I can tell you Beijing is the restaurant capital of the world. | high20254.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "through which people get advice"
},
"options": [
"that is hot",
"through which people get advice",
"whose number no one knows",
"through which callers take a short class"
],
"question": "A hot line is a telephon... | In the past,when people had problems,they went to their families or friends to get advice.Today it is possible to get advice from radio shows.TV programs or telephone hot lines,too.A hot line is a telephone line that offers a direct way of getting in touch with advicers.Most hot lines are completely anonymous --callers do not have to say their names or telephone numbers.Most hot lines are usually free,too.Callers do not have to pay for their advice or the phone calls--even if the calls are long distance.At some hot lines,the advicers are volunteers.Other hot lines pay their advicers for their work.Usually the advicers are full-job people with years of education and experience,but sometimes the advicers have only taken a short class before starting to work on the hot line.All the advicers listen to the people and help them solve their problems. | high2808.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "It would be long before he met God."
},
"options": [
"He had little chance to meet God.",
"It would be long before he met God.",
"He would run into many difficulties on the road.",
"God would greet him with the most bea... | There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with bread and a six-pack of beer and started on his journey.
When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old woman. She was sitting in the park just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old lady looked hungry ,so he offered her a chunk of bread. She gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. Her smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered her some beer. Once again she smiled at him. The boy was delighted!
They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word. As it began to grow dark, the boy realized how sad he was and he got up to leave. He turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug . She gave him her biggest smile ever.
When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?" He replied, "I had lunch with God. You know what? She's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"
Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Her son was astonished by the look of joy on her face and he asked,"Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?"She replied,"I ate bread in the park with God. You know. He's much younger than I expected." | high18913.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "November 16."
},
"options": [
"November 4.",
"November 30.",
"November 16.",
"November 7."
],
"question": "When can you see the film acted by Jackie Chan?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | It's summer movie time again. Check out our list of four films.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Release Date: November 4
Story: It's the summer before Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A dangerous murderer, Sirius Black, has escaped from the Wizards' Prison. And he was ordered to kill Harry Potter.
Around the World in 80 Days
Release Date: November 16
Story: This version of the classic novel set in 1872 focuses on Passepartout ( Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan), a Chinese thief who seeks refuge with a strange London adventurer, Phileas Fogg. Passepartout uses his martial art skills to defend Fogg from danger as he travels around the world in 80 days.
Spider-Man 2
Release Date: November 30
Story: Peter Parker is still coming to accept his dual identity as the crime superhero Spider-Man. He wants to reveal his secret identity to Mary Jane, meanwhile, his Aunt May is in trouble. This is Dr Otto Octavius who has appeared to bring her a lot of troubles.
King Arthur
Release Date: November 7
Story: King Arthur is presented as a clever ruler who manages to unite all the knights in Britain. Under the guidance of Merlin and the beautiful, brave Guinevere, Arthur will struggle to realize his dreams. | high11089.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the regular usage of medicine"
},
"options": [
"surrogate motherhood",
"unauthorized ART use",
"the regular usage of medicine",
"the illegal supply of sperm and eggs"
],
"question": "ART abuse DOSEN'T include _... | BEIJING,Feb.5,2013(Xinhua)-Chinese health authorities on Tuesday launched a campaign to fight against assisted reproductive technology (ART:) abuse.Unauthorized ART use,surrogate motherhood and the illegal collection and supply of sperm and eggs,as well as the illegal sale and abuse of ovulation induction medicine,will be targeted.
The Ministry of Health and health department of the People's Liberation Army General Logistics Department jointly announced the campaign at a conference.Both departments also ordered all of their local branches to _ permits for new organizations that wish to offer ART treatments.That is,new organizations will not appear recently.Official figures showed that at the end of 2012,China had 358 organizations authorized to conduct ART treatment.
The health ministry also delivered a brief statement of the country's current infertility rate and ART use.The infertility rate in China is now between 7 and 10 percent,the ministry said.Some 70 to 80 percent of women who are suffering from infertility can be pregnant after changing their lifestyles and receiving medical treatment.Around 20 percent of infertile couples have to resort to ART to have babies.In 2011,about 350,000 people received ART treatment and more than 60,000 infertile couples successfully had children with the help of ART,the ministry said. | high5801.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "less fortunate members of our society"
},
"options": [
"homeless and sick children",
"less fortunate members of our society",
"hungry people who have no beds to sleep in",
"friendly members of our society to help others... | This is time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents.Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.
Littleton Children's Home
We don't want your money, but children's toys, books and clothes in good condition would be very welcome.
Also, we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests.You have so much--will you share it?
Phone Sister Thomas on 55671.
Children's Hospice
We look after a small number of very sick children.This important work needs skill and love.We cannot continue without gifts of money to pay for more nursing staff.We also need story books and toys suitable for quiet games.
Please contact The Secretary, Little Children's Hospice, Newby Road.
Street Food
In the winter weather, it's no fun being homeless.It's even worse if you're hungry.We give hot food to at least fifty people every night.It's hard work, but necessary.Can you come and help? If not, can you find a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we badly need some new saucepans.Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.
Contact Street Food, c/o Mary's House, Elming Way, Littleton.Phone 27713.
Littleton Youth Club
Have you got an unwanted chair?--a record player?--a pot of paint?
Because we can use them!
We want to get to work on our meeting room!
Please phone 66231 and we'll be happy to collect anything you can give us.
Thank you!
The Night Shelter
We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go.We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street.Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money.Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.
Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton.Please make check payable to Night Shelter. | high16080.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Airplane Tours & Helicopter Tours"
},
"options": [
"West Rim -- Grand Canyon Tour",
"Hoover Dam -- AM / PM Mini Tour",
"Airplane Tours & Helicopter Tours",
"Las Vegas to Hollywood 1 Day Tour"
],
"question": "If ... | Our tours leave directly from the Las Vegas Strip, no terminals, saving up to 2 hours' time! Our prices include all fees -- including fuel and anything else you can think of; we also beat any competitor's price by 5%.
*South Rim -- Grand Canyon Luxury Coach Tour $79 Per Person
Our Grand Canyon Tour is the only luxury Motor Coach Tour that stops at Bright Angel Lodge for a full three hours, at which point you can take the free shuttle to multiple viewpoints including Mather Point, Yavapai Point ... click above for more details.
*West Rim -- Grand Canyon Tour $125 Per Person
This tour stops at Haulapai Indian Reservation of the Grand Canyon. These stops include Eagle and Guano Point. There're also extra stops along the way for shopping and smoking. This package not only includes the Grand Canyon, but a short photo stop at the Hoover Dam as well ... click above for more details.
*Airplane Tours & Helicopter Tours
These breath-taking tours take you into the skies above the Grand Canyon for a once-in-a-life-time adventure that can be shared by the whole family or by yourself. Airplane Tours starting at $164 per person, and Helicopter Tours starting at $304 per person ... click above for more details.
*Hoover Dam -- AM / PM Mini Tour $37.5 Per Person
Hoover Dam Mini Tour starts your morning or afternoon with a short drive to Lake Mead -- created by the Dam in 1935, and continues along to include the Power Plant Tour, guided by a Hoover Dam expert. A delicious lunch is included ... click above for more details.
*Las Vegas to Hollywood 1 Day Tour $185 Per Person
This tour takes you sightseeing down and around Hollywood Blvd/Beverly Hills, home of the world-famous Walk of Fame as well as Grauman's Chinese Theatre. It ends at beautiful Santa Monica Beach & Pier ... click above for more details. | high20532.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "It is fast in pace."
},
"options": [
"It is fast in pace.",
"It is slow in pace.",
"It makes us feel upset.",
"It makes us feel optimistic."
],
"question": "What can we know about Mozart's \"Flute Concerto No. 1... | A new study finds that our brains are wired to make music-color connections depending on how the music makes us feel. Mozart's "Flute Concerto No.1 in G Major" is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his "Requiem in D Minor" is linked to bluish gray, the findings revealed.
US researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, enlisted nearly 100 subjects for a study on music and color. With 37 colors, the UC Berkeley study found that people tend to pair faster-paced music in a major key with lighter, more vivid, yellow colors, whereas slower-paced music in a minor key is more likely to be teamed up with darker, grayer, bluer colors.
"Surprisingly, we can predict with 95 percent accuracy how happy or sad the colors people pick will be based on how happy or sad the music is that they are listening to," said lead author and UC Berkeley vision scientist Stephen Palmer.
In three experiments, the subjects listened to 18 classical music pieces that varied in pace (slow, medium, fast) and in major VS minor keys. In the first experiment, participants were asked to pick five of the 37 colors that best matched the music to which they were listening. Separately, they rated each piece of music on a scale of happy to sad, strong to weak, lively to dull, and calm to angry.
Next, the research team plans to study particiapants in Turkey where traditional music employs a wider range of scales than just major and minor. "We know that in Mexico and the US the responses are very similar," Palmer said. "But we don't yet know about China or Turkey." | high11937.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Negative"
},
"options": [
"Negative",
"Concerned",
"Favorable",
"Doubtful"
],
"question": "What is the author's attitude toward Furong Jiejie?",
"question_type": null
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_i... | Gone are the days when being a celebrity meant reaching the top of the social ladder. With the Internet, people now no longer need to be actors, sports stars or politicians to be famous.
You may still remember the time when Furong Jiejie, or Fengjie, appeared online. All of a sudden they were the talk of the town because of their crazy clothes and abnormal values.
But when the word wanghong, or "Internet celebrity", was named one of Yaowen Jiaozi magazine's "popular cyber words" in 2015, its meaning had changed. Those who are popular in the world of wanghong are largely famous for their heavily Photoshopped selfies and the special lifestyles they advertise on social media.
The same thing is happening overseas as well. There are many women addicted to posting photos. This has led to the rise of "Instagram Husbands", men who are willing-or most likely forced-to take photos of their wives or girlfriends for their Instagram accounts.
But what wanghong offer their fans is much more than many pretty pictures. "There is a longing for the effortless of life," commented China Youth Daily.
Though their lifestyle may seem "effortless", some wanghong take great pains to run their Taobao stores, communicate with their fans and think of ways to keep their viewership , for example.
Zhang Dayi, a famous wanghong with over 4 million followers on Sina Weibo, revealed some of her secrets for attracting fans. "Usually people look up to celebrities at a 45-degree angle. But I reduced that angle to 15 degrees, because no one likes to strain their necks too much," she said. Her social media strategies include being very kind to fans. "As soon as you let down your guard, people will start to approach," she said. | high14697.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Marie's mother gave up her job"
},
"options": [
"the family had five children",
"Marie's father had a small salary",
"Marie's mother gave up her job",
"the family was cruelly taxed by the Russians"
],
"question"... | Marie Curie, born in Sklodovka, Poland in 1876, led a hard life as a girl. Her parents, both teachers, had small salaries and were quite poor, especially after her mother stopped teaching to raise five children and take care of her poor health. Marie's mother suffered from tuberculosis and died of it when Marie was ten.
When Marie was small, she showed great interest in science. She loved to study and hoped to become a scientist when she grew up. Her parents encouraged her interest in science. Excellent as she was in her studies, she couldn't go on with the advanced education she needed because Poland was then ruled by Russia and women were not permitted to go to college.
In order to continue her education, she smoothed away many difficulties and entered Paris University. she lived a simple life and studied hard, so she graduated with the highest grades in her class.
After graduation, she was engaged in scientific research in Paris University. There she met Pierre Curie, whom she married later. Pierre joined her in her research into an unknown phenomenon radiation, which a certain scientist had declared the uranium gave off. The Curies spent several years trying their best to find the element that produced radiation. Finally they succeeded in 1902.
Marie Curie won two Nobel Prizes, one for physics in 1906, together with her husband and another scientist who had also contributed to the research, the other for chemistry herself in 1911.Marie Curie was a scientist of great achievement, and the first woman ever to be honoured in the Nobel Prize history. | high22325.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The security guards opened the door for them."
},
"options": [
"They broke into the museum.",
"They had the key to the museum.",
"They tied the guards up with tape.",
"The security guards opened the door for them."
... | Two men dressed as police officers stole about $200 million worth of art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum early this morning.
The two burglars knocked on a side door of the museum at about 1:15 am. They told the two security guards on duty that there was a disturbance in the area. The guards then made the very serious mistake of allowing the two men to go into the building. After they went in, the two burglars tied the guards up with tape.
The two men stole 11 paintings and an ancient Chinese vase. The stolen works included three paintings by Rembrandt. A maintenance worker discovered the two guards at about 7 am and called police.
One of the greatest losses was Rembrandt's works, "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee." It was a very popular attraction at the museum and was one of the most valuable works stolen.
Museum officials said that the value of the stolen art is at least 200 million dollars, and may in fact be much more. The true value of the paintings is unknown, because they have not been on the market for nearly a century. This is considered to be the biggest theft ever in the United States. Officials are waiting to see whether the burglars will
or try to sell them to a private collector.
Museum officials and police are not sure why the burglars chose certain works and not others. There are other paintings in the museum that are even more valuable than the ones that were stolen.
Special investigators are looking into the theft and the museum's security system. They believe that this is a "professional job," because the people involved were well prepared and knew what they wanted. | high15589.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "All of the above."
},
"options": [
"Macao is on the coast line.",
"Macao is near some big cities or special economic zones.",
"Macao's back is a rich delta.",
"All of the above."
],
"question": "Which is the adv... | Macao, also called Macau, is on the western side of the Pearl River entrance, at the head of which is the Chinese port of Guangdong and it stands opposite Hong Kong which is on the eastern side of the entrance. It is made of a small narrow peninsula sticking out from Guangdong province. The total area of Macao is about 21.45 square kilometers, and it is made up of three parts: Macao Peninsula, Dingbat Isle and Lehman Isle.
Between Macao Peninsula and Dingbat Isle there are two bridges which join the two parts together, and there is also a highway between the Dingbat and Lehman Isles. Therefore, two bridges and one highway make the three parts of Macao into an integrated region .
Macao faces to the vast sea and its back is the Pearl River Delta. The two big cities, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and the two special economic zones Hula and Shenzhen are its neighbors. All of this offers much advantage for its economic development.
Macao has a population of about 450, 000. This is very large against the size of the area. The average population density reaches 20, 000 per square kilometer. It is one of the densest population regions in the world. The majority of its people are Chinese, who make up 96% of the whole population. | high7541.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "always tried her best to help prevent students from dropping out of college"
},
"options": [
"received her Bachelor's Degree in Johns Hopkins School",
"spent all her time in the laboratory developing cures for illnesses",
"ca... | Whenever the word "hero" comes to me, I immediately think of three Hs: honorable, hardworking, and happy. When I think more about this word, I picture someone who has accomplished good things for people and tries to do the right thing Hattie Elizabeth Alexander is one person whom I find to be very heroic.
Hattie was born in Baltimore, Maryland on April 5, 1901. During her time at College she earned her Bachelor's Degree in Bacteriology and Physiology. These were just the first steps towards what she was finally going to be remembered for. After college Hattie attended Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and received her medical degree.
After her education, she pursued her career, and after much time and hard work, she _ reduced the number of infants dying from meningitis . Hattie was very dedicated to her work and helped at as many locations as she could. Spending substantial time in the laboratory, Hattie successfully developed a cure against the disease, which decreased the death rate to 20 percent. At the same time, she was also a teacher working with Columbia University.
She was a caring lady interested in other people's lives. When she was teaching at Columbia University, other members would talk to her about students that were failing their classes, and somehow Hattie could always find convincing reasons as to why they should not be driven away. Later, Hattie became an instructor in Pediatrics at New York City's Babies Hospital. After many honors, she became the first woman president of the American Pediatric Society in 1965. This was her last major achievement, for soon after, Hattie died of cancer on June 24, 1968.
Hattie is my hero because her positive attitude and strength helped her accomplish great things for others. She gave them her strength by developing medicines against diseased, which, by doing so, made them stronger. This is what makes Hattie Elizabeth Alexander my hero. | high15006.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "people live far from where tigers live"
},
"options": [
"making money drives some people to hunt tigers",
"tigers' food chain is being destroyed",
"the living places of tigers are disappearing",
"people live far from wh... | I've reported about tigers on the news, however, nothing could have prepared me for what I found in India. I didn't know what to expect, so when I saw my first tiger in the wild, I was shocked. What a beautiful and powerful creature it is!
But they live with a price on their heads -- a single tiger skin is worth up to PS8,000, and their bones possibly more. Another problem is that farmers need to clear a large number of areas of the forest for their cattle. This means deer are losing their living places. As a result, tigers are losing their natural prey, so they end up eating the cattle.
Tigers are not easy to live close to. I met a farmer who had been _ by one. But despite that, he told me everything had its place in the world and he had no right to kill the tiger. He was really kind.
Those who work for the Tigers Forever Project realize that to ensure their survival, tigers don't only need space. They need space away from people.
They are working to stop the conflict between tigers and people by separating them. I visited a new town. People had been moved to it from a settlement in the forest. And it really has worked. It has given tigers a better life and better opportunities for the children of the resettled people.
Only 2,500 tigers are now left in the wild in India. Three out of eight tiger sub-species have already disappeared. Tigers that once lived across Asia only survive in 7% of their original living places now. | high6887.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "first by beachgoers"
},
"options": [
"for quite a long time",
"first by beachgoers",
"to prevent swimmers drowning",
"in honor of the movie Spiderman"
],
"question": "The \"face-kini\" has been worn in Qingdao -... | Perhaps drawing inspiration from Spiderman, beachgoers in China' s eastern city of Qingdao have come up with a new way of protecting their skin from the sun. They call it the "face-kini". It was first sported by middle-aged women as a practical addition to their swimsuits, but now the face-kini has gone global.
New York-based style magazine CR Fashion Book, founded by former Vogue Paris editor Carine Roitfeld, recently published a photo shoot of models with pouting red lips, wearing face-kinis, chic swimsuits and fancy jewellery .
The transformation of what' s considered the symbol of "old woman style" in China to high fashion has amused Internet users. In two days, the subject was widely spread on the Chinese Twitter, Weibo.
"Chinese old women are at the centre of the global fashion world," said one comment. "It looks like bank robbers attacking the beach," others joked.
When it comes to avoiding the sun, it seems Chinese creativity is unlimited. Apart from the face-kini, the Chinese use special UV-blocking sun umbrellas which can be attached to bike handles.
There are also sun- blocking removable sleeves and Batman- style capes. The list goes on. On Chinese television, commercials for magic whitening creams are everywhere. White is seen as beautiful here, or as the old Chinese saying goes: "One touch of white covers 100 kinds of ugliness."
It' s a curious contrast to the fact that people in many western countries pay for tanning .
Tanning salons are just now starting to take off in big Chinese cities, where western influences are deeper.
Liu Yupu, or "China tanning boss" as he goes by on Weibo, took the sudden popularity of face- kinis with a pinch of salt. He said: "These days, if you had just been to a tanning salon in China. Your parents and close friends may call you an idiot, but you'll also get plenty of praise." But can a beautifully-tanned woman turn as many heads as the face-kini on the Qingdao beach? | high13477.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Being simple, enthusiastic and able to manage things alone."
},
"options": [
"Having eyes as clear as a fountain.",
"Not wearing so many jewels and make-up.",
"Being ignorant and native.",
"Being simple, enthusiastic an... | In white shirt, blue pants, black cloth shoes and two pigtails, Jingqiu gives off an air of great "pure beauty" in Zhang Yimou's new movieUnder the Hawthorn Tree, which tells the story of the sad romance of Jingqiu and a handsome young man named Laosan set at the end of the "cultural revolution" (1966-- 1976).
Before it was released, moviegoers foresaw what this "pure beauty" could be. Director Zhang complained of how long it had taken him to find the right girl for the part of Jingqiu -- a character so innocent. She believes that simply lying on the same bed as a man will make her pregnant.
It was 18-year-old Zhou Dongyu who stood out from the crowd. According to Zhang, Zhou has "eyes that are clear like a fountain on a mountainside". Born to an ordinary worker's family, the Shijiazhuang girl was in her final year of high school and working hard for a place in an art college.
"If you have fair skin and clear eyes, as Jingqiu does, it is easy to look pure. Girls today wear so many jewels and make-up--that's the reason Zhang was not interested," said Du Yanlai, 17, of Chengdu.
While some teenagers consider such "pure" beauty _ , others believe that it speaks of something soulful.
Purity is all about an innocence that shines through from within, thinks 16-year-old Tan Mengxi of Nanjing. "Being pure can be simple, not having complicated thoughts and being inexperienced. However, it doesn't mean an ignorant or native person. So, a person is pure in his or her nature if he or she is always enthusiastic and able to deal with difficult matters independently. This purity doesn't pass with time, "she said. | high1130.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "When a man becomes older, sperm-producing cells copy his DNA less effectively"
},
"options": [
"Genetic mutations are caused by old age and physical disorders",
"When a man becomes older, sperm-producing cells copy his DNA less eff... | Older fathers have uglier children, researchers have claimed after linking age to genetic mutations .
The finding comes weeks after leading scientists reported children born to men over the age of 45 run a higher risk of having autism and mental disorders.
With age, sperm -producing cells do not copy a man's DNA as effectively, leading to genetic mutations.
Martin Fielder, an anthropologist at Vienna University, told the Sunday Times: 'Every 16 years the mutation rate doubles. Other researchers found 25 mutations per sperm in a 20-year-old, but at age 40 it is 65 mutations. By 56, it doubles again.
The effect is very visible - someone born to a father of 22 is already 5-10 per cent more attractive than those with a 40-year-old father and the difference grows with the age gap.
In contrast, women pass on a maximum of 15 mutations to their baby, regardless of age, according to the study published in the journal Nature.
Surveying a group of six men and six women, researchers showed them each 4,018 photographs of 18-20-year-old men and 4,416 of women the same age, and asked to assess their attractiveness.
Those with older fathers were consistently considered less attractive.
However, the children of older men, though less attractive, are likely to outlive their peers with younger fathers, it is claimed.
Professor Lee Smith, a geneticist at Edinburgh University, told the Sunday Times other research found such children have longer telomeres - the caps on the end of chromosomes --- which are associated with longer life.
But the mounting research connecting parents' age with autism is cause for concern, experts warn.
Autism is an umbrella term for a range of developmental disorders that have a lifelong effect on someone's ability to interact socially and communicate openly.
In the UK, around one in 100 adults is thought to be affected by autism, mostly men, caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Researchers said men should be advised about the potential problems in order to help their personal decision-making when it came to having fathering children at older ages.
They warned that advancing paternal age faced a risk of 'numerous public health and societal problems'.
Among well-known older dads are Simon Cowell, 54, whose son was born earlier this month, and comedian Frank Skinner whose first child was born in 2012 when he was 55. | high18522.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he was always very cold"
},
"options": [
"he was wearing an invisible smile",
"he would fire them with a gun",
"he was mean with his apples",
"he was always very cold"
],
"question": "Kids were scared of Mr. Daw... | An Invisible Smile
Mr. Dawson was an old grouch, and everyone in town knew it. Kids knew not to go into his yard to pick a delicious apple. Old Dawson, they said, would come after you with his gun.
One Friday, 12-year-old Janet was going to stay all night with her friend Amy. They had to walk by Dawson's house on the way to Amy's house, but as they got close, Janet saw him sitting on his front porch and suggested they cross over to the other side of the street. Like most of the children, Janet was scared of the old man.
Amy said not to worry. Mr. Dawson wouldn't hurt anyone. Still, Janet was growing more nervous with each step closer to the old man's house. When they got close enough, Dawson looked up with his usual frown , but when he saw it was Amy, a broad smile changed his entire face as he said, "Hello Miss Amy. I see you've got a little friend with you today."
Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight and they were going to listen to music and play games. Mr. Dawson said that sounded fun, and offered them each a fresh picked apple off his tree. They gladly accepted. Mr. Dawson had the best apples in the whole town.
When they left, Janet asked Amy, "Everyone says he's the meanest man in town. How come he was so nice to us?"
Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house he wasn't very friendly and she was afraid of him, but she pretended he was wearing an invisible smile and so she always smiled back at him. It took a while, but one day he half-smiled back at her.
After some more time, he started smiling real smiles and then started talking to her. Just a "hello" at first, then more. She said he always offers her an apple now, and is always very kind.
"An invisible smile?" questioned Janet.
"Yes," answered Amy, "my grandma told me that if I pretended I wasn't afraid and pretended he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, sooner or later he would really smile. Grandma says smiles are _
If we remember what Amy's grandma said, that everyone wears an invisible smile, we too will find that We're always on the go trying to accomplish so much, aren't we? It's so easy to get caught up in everyday life that we forget how simple it can be to bring cheer to ourselves and others. Giving a smile away takes so little effort and time, let's make sure that we're not the one that others have to pretend to be wearing an invisible smile. | high5356.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They don't know their personal data enriches Facebook."
},
"options": [
"They are reluctant to give up their personal information.",
"They don't know their personal data enriches Facebook.",
"They don't identify themselves wh... | People are being lured onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing they're paying for it by giving up large amounts of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages.
Most Facebook users don't realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they're paying for Facebook because people don't really know what their personal data is worth.
The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you keep everything private. That was the great thing about facebook--you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things-- your city, your photo, your friends' names--were set, by default to be shared with everyone on the Internet.
According to Facebook's vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don't share information, they have a "less satisfying experience".
Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when they're online connecting with their friends?
The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April. Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites."I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them," Schrage admits.
I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy, it's only the beginning, which is why I'm considering deactivating my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I'm upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don't know. That's too high a price to pay. | high3727.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he didn't want to live in the house any longer"
},
"options": [
"he needed some money to support his family",
"his house was too old to live in",
"he wanted some money to buy a new one",
"he didn't want to live in the h... | Mr. Jackson was tired of living in his old house in the countryside and wanted to sell it and buy a better one. He tried to sell it for a long time, but was not successful, so at last he decided to go to an estate agent.
The agent advertised the house straight away, and a few days later, the owner saw a very beautiful photograph of his house, with a wonderful description of his garden in an expensive magazine.
Having read the advertisement through, the house owner hurried to phone the estate agent, saying, "I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but I've decided not to sell my house after all." "Why?" the agent asked in a surprised voice. "Because from the advertisement in that magazine I can see it's just the kind of house I've wanted to live in all my life." | high11260.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Paving parking lots."
},
"options": [
"Using river water.",
"Throwing batteries away.",
"Paving parking lots.",
"Throwing rubbish into lakes."
],
"question": "Which of the following is most likely to lead to les... | Using too much water or throwing rubbish into our rivers are clear ways that humans can put our water supply in danger , but we also affect our water supply in less obvious ways. You may wonder how paving a road can lead to less useable fresh water. A major part of the water we use every day is groundwater. Groundwater does not come from lakes or rivers. It comes from underground. The more roads and parking lots we pave the less water can flow into the ground to become groundwater.
Human activity is not responsible for all water shortages . Drier climates are of course more likely to have droughts than areas with more rainfall, but in any case, good management can help to make sure there is enough water to meet our basic needs.
Thinking about the way we use water every day can make a big difference, too In the United States , a family of four can use 1. 5 tons of water a day! This shows how much we depend on water to live, but there's a lot we can do to lower the number.
You can take steps to save water in your home. To start with use the same glass for your drinking water all day. Wash it only once a day. Run your dishwasher only when it is full . Help your parents fix any leaks in your home. You can even help to keep our water supply clean by recycling batteries instead of throwing them away. | high4048.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "A new type of business franchise of kids."
},
"options": [
"Children can play without parent's care.",
"The fast development of Discovery Zone.",
"A new type of business franchise of kids.",
"The disadvantages of outdoo... | Old-Fashioned Play-For Pay
Kids! Come to have a ball! Or 60,000 of them! There's a new type of business franchise that is appearing in shopping malls and neighborhood across America offering pay-per-use indoor playgrounds, which feature toys, games, guided fun and a workout that doesn't break the family bank.
As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and dirty, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe guided activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop kids' physical fitness, usually for a fee of around $ 5 an hour. "Playgrounds are dirty, not guided," says Dick Guggenheimer, owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N. Y., part of Kansas City-based chain, "We are indoors; we are padded; parents can feel their child is safe".
In order to satisfy the need of two-earner families, the new franchise stays open in the evenings, long after traditional public playgrounds have grown dark and unusable. However, these new playgrounds are not meant to be day-care centers. Parents are expected to go stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off. But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services. At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special guided programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner. If there is a problem, Mom and Dad are called.
The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-earner families and two-hour commutes , play with their kids. That, at least, is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates. | high16269.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he had read stories about vampires from the area"
},
"options": [
"it is in modern-day Romania",
"Transylvania is a mythical country",
"he wanted to tell a true story",
"he had read stories about vampires from the area"... | Published in 1896 and one of the most memorable horror stories ever written, Dracula, by Irish writer Bram Stoker,is the story of a vampire ,someone who lives on human blood. Stoker wrote the book after reading stories about Central European vampires and set his novel in Transylvania. Even today,there are readers of the book who believe that Transylvania is a mythical country,a figment of Stoker's imagination. Nothing could be further from the truth. Transylvania is part of modern-day Central European country Romania,and the country does indeed have a history of mythological vampires.
However,Romanians are always puzzled by the description of the novel's central character, Count Dracula,a tall,elegant aristocrat with impeccable manners who also happens to speak very good English. This is a world away from the images of vampires that they have grown up with. Romanian vampires are half-human creatures who live solitary lives in the forests,not aristocrats living in castles with well-stocked libraries.
So where did Stoke get the image for his Dracula? The answer becomes clearer when one learns of his relationship with a man called Henry Irving,the greatest British stage actor of his time.
Stoker was working as a civil servant in his home city of Dublin when he first met Irving. Bored with his tedious life and work, Stoker took every opportunity to visit the theatre and for a while was the drama critic for the Dublin Evening Mail. One of the reviews he wrote was of a performance of Shakespeare's play Hamlet,with Irving in the lead role.
Irving was so pleased with Stoker's review of his performance that he asked to meet him. Stoker couldn't believe his luck when one night,he was invited to a dinner party where Irving was the guest of honour. Irving entertained the assembled dinner guests with some renditions of famous poems and speeches from Shakespeare.
Stoker was already writing the first chapters of Dracula and began to base the central character on Irving,in the vain hope that if it ever became a stage play, Irving would play the central character. Sadly,Irving never did,but the two men became close friends,and in 1878 Stoker left the civil service and became Irving's manager in London. | high3041.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the width of all the hutongs is 9 feet"
},
"options": [
"the name of Hutong dates back to the Yuan Dynasty",
"the width of all the hutongs is 9 feet",
"siheyuans are lined along the two sides of the Beijing Hutongs",
"i... | The Beijing Hutong (old lane) areas have a very special and important position in the rich history and culture of Beijing. While visiting the Beijing Hutong, you can appreciate the dramatic changes that the rest of Beijing has undergone. You can see evidence of the history of Beijing, experience the old way of life and experience traditional Beijing culture.
The Beijing Hutong is made up of lanes or alleys formed by lines of pre-modern quadrangles (siheyuan), four-sided dwelling compounds or quadrangles consist of one-story courtyard houses, which make up old Beijing, and feature typical Chinese residential architecture.
Beijing road classification was once s follow: A 36-foot-wide road was called a standard, street, an 18-foot-wide one was a small street and a 9-foot-wide lane was named a hutong. In fact, the Beijing Hutongs are unclassifiable by the traditional standard, ranging from 40 centimeters to 10 feet in width. The longest hutong has more than 20 turns. It is easy to get lost in the maze of winding lanes hat is the hutong, with the gray-tiled houses and deep alleys crossing each other, all identical in appearance, with many blind hutongs or culdesacs.
Hutongs were first named as such in the Yuan Dynasty(1271-1368), with its Mongolian rulers having an influence on the Chinese language. However, siheyuan or quadrangles have probably been around much longer. The name of a hutong represents its origin, location or history. It is in the gray-tiled deep lanes that families play, travel, buy goods, gossip and connect. In beijingers'eyes, hutong means a period of history, a cordial lifestyle and even an "encyclopedia of Beijing".
When urban construction threatens the existence of these hutongs, Beijingers become worried. Beijing still has about 400 000 residential quadrangles now, mainly distribute over the East, West, Xuanwu and Chongwen districts. The municipal government has marked a number of these compounds for protection.
If you would like to have a glimpse into Beijing' Yesterday, you are highly recommended to have a short adventure trip to the Hutongs. Beijing Hutong Tour (Rickshaw Hutong, Bike Hutong and Walk Hutong) is organized by Beijing Xinhua International Tours. | high20903.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "stay indoors working during reading"
},
"options": [
"read stories to her grandchildren",
"show her DIY snowshoes to kids",
"stay indoors working during reading",
"enjoy bicycle tiding along the path"
],
"questi... | As an American artist and writer of children's books, Tasha Tudor's art and nineteenth-century
lifestyle have fascinated adults and children for decades. She received many awards and honors for her contributions to children's literature. When people talk about her creativity in artwork, she said, "I do it to support my dogs and my four children." Her great publishing record, the number of magazine stories that have been written about her over the years, and her admirers have no effects on her at all.
Much of Tasha's artwork and her reading are done in the wintertime. "I love winter. It's delightful," she says. "I don't have to go anywhere because I work at home. If I'm snowed in, I can stay this way for months." She hopes for early, deep snow to protect her garden from the hardship of the New England winter, and when it comes she puts on snowshoes when she needs to get down the mile-long dirt path that leads to the road.
Given her enjoyment of winter and her fantasy way of life, it's not surprising that Tasha's Christmas is a storybook holiday. She hangs flowers over the front door. Her tree comes from the woods, and it goes up on Christmas Eve, lit by homemade candles and decorated with her great- grandmother's collection that dates from 1850. In a place of honor on the tree are large cookies cut into the shapes of her animals.
The grandchildren and friends get presents from Tasha's old dolls; so do the animals and they have their own Christmas tree. "Of course, it's a known fact that all the animals talk on Christmas Eve," she has written. Small, handmade gifts fill a big wooden box.
At the end of each year, Tasha can look back and know that her life is perfect, that she has again ignored the twentieth century, and that the magic continues. And for the rest of us,here's a bit of advice, Tasha style: "Nowadays, people are so restless. If they took some tea and spent more time rocking on the porch in the evening listening to light music, they might enjoy life more." | high10618.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "They felt a little sad and not used to it."
},
"options": [
"They thought it necessary to have a change.",
"They accepted it without hesitation.",
"They felt a little sad and not used to it.",
"They were strongly agains... | LAST week's decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to _ Pluto _ its planetary status, held since its discovery in 1930, has made a lot of people sad. "Pluto," American science writer Dava Sobel writes in her book "The Planets", "still has an emotional hold on planethood. People love Pluto. Children identify with its smallness. Adults felt it hard to accept its isolated existence."
Many people felt sorry about Pluto's demotion . "I just cannot accept this at this time," says Liu Ming, 29, who runs a small company in prefix = st1 /Shanghai. "I was taught that 'the Nine Great Planets' formed our solar system since primary school. And now they suddenly decrease the planets to eight. This will take some time for most of us to absorb it," says Liu.
Ordinary people are simply not used to it, but for some professionals, especially the persons in charge of planetariums and educators, the change has become a real headache. The "eight instead of nine" change will affect thousands of planetariums around the world. Schools will also be greatly affected.
InChina, teachers are anxious as outdated textbooks are printed and given out to the remotest corner of the country for school children ready to start a new term soon. According to the Ministry of Education, new textbooks with changed contents will not be available until next year.
Zhao Zhiheng, a member of the Astronomy Association from Tianjin, suggested that primary and middle school teachers be trained in the improved knowledge, and that the media carry more stories to let people know about the change as soon as possible. | high17177.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "in the 1870s."
},
"options": [
"in the 1870s.",
"in Colombia",
"in British Guiana",
"in the 1960s"
],
"question": "In America, humans first found the cattle egret _",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
}... | The cattle egret has lived in American continent in recent years. Non-native species are a worldwide problem and studies are devoted to assess the damage they cause to local species populations. The cattle egret primarily lives on the grassland and feeds in close association with animals like cattle and sheep. This bird is native to Africa, southern Europe and western Asia. The cattle egret in Brazil is unlike a number of bird species that have been established and expanded to non-native areas through human assistance.
The first sight of the cattle egret in the New World were reported between 1877 and 1882, followed by sightings in British Guiana and Colombia and later expansion throughout the Americas. In Brazil, the cattle egret was first recorded in the northern region of the country in 1964, feeding along with buffalos on Marajo Island in the state of Para.
While the cattle egret is not currently a threat to native animals and birds in Brazil throughout most of its geographic distribution, it has the potential to produce bad effects, as evidenced by its occupation of island environments. For example, in the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, the cattle egret drives adult native seabirds away from their nests in producing time.
Understanding how the cattle egret settled and lived in Brazil is important for the better understanding of spreading patterns of bird populations and their interaction with the local species. Explaining the egret cattle's settling in the Americas is a challenging task due to the lack of sufficient information and reports on entrance time, location, and number of events. Comparisons between native and non-native populations can provide a 'natural' experimental way to clarify the biological and environmental factors that may contribute to range expansion and adaptation to climate change, and to find how animals respond to strange and sudden ecological and environmental pressures. | high18244.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "in 2004"
},
"options": [
"in 1980",
"in 1986",
"in 1998",
"in 2004"
],
"question": "Robinson's second novel came out _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
"answer_index":... | When Marilynne Robinson published her first novel, Housekeeping, in 1980, she was unknown in the literary world. But an early review in The New York Times ensured that the book would be noticed. "It's as if, in writing it, she broke through the ordinary human condition with all its dissatisfactions, and achieved a kind of transfiguration ," wrote Anatole Broyard, with an enthusiasm and amazement that was shared by many critics and readers. The book became a classic, and Robinson was recognized as one of the outstanding American writers of our time. Yet it would be more than twenty years before she wrote another novel.
During the period, Robinson devoted herself to writing nonfiction. Her essays and book reviews appeared in Harper's and The New York Times Book Review, and in 1989 she published Mother Country: Britain, the Welfare State, and Nuclear Pollution, criticizing severely the environmental and public health dangers caused by the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in England--and the political and moral corruption . In 1998, Robinson published a collection of her critical and theological writings, The Death of Adam: Essays on Modern Thought, which featured reassessments of such figures as Charles Darwin, John Calvin, and Friedrich Nietzsche. Aside from a single short story--"Connie Bronson," published in The Paris Review in 1986--it wasn't until 2004 that she returned to fiction with the novel Gilead, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her third novel, Home, came out this fall.
Her novels could be described as celebrations of the human--the characters in them are unforgettable creations. Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and her sister Lucille, who are cared for by their eccentric Aunt Sylvie after their mother commits suicide. Robinson writes a lot about how each of the three is changed by their new life together. Gilead is an even more close exploration of personality: the book centres on John Ames, a seventy-seven-year-old pastor who is writing an account of his life and his family history to leave to his young son after he dies. Home borrows characters from Gilead but centers on Ames's friend Reverend Robert Boughton and his troubled son Jack. Robinson returned to the same territory as Gilead because, she said, "after I write a novel or a story, I miss the characters--I feel like losing some close friends." | high5430.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "they don't develop their abilities"
},
"options": [
"they are lazy",
"they don't learn",
"they don't have the qualities mentioned",
"they don't develop their abilities"
],
"question": "Not everyone can be a lead... | Today's youth seem content to take the easy route and enjoy the ride of life. When tough situations arise, they often get annoyed and complain. How you live your teen years will have a profound influence on the rest of your life.
You must learn to use your time wisely. You may not see it now, but developing leadership characteristics at a young age is very important. As we get older, it becomes harder to overcome bad habits and replace them with good ones. Possessing leadership qualities is essential, both in this life and in the world to come. There are certain qualities that one needs to develop in order to become a leader: justice, judgment, dependability, initiative, decisiveness, tact, integrity, enthusiasm, poise, unselfishness, courage, knowledge and loyalty. You may recognize these as good qualities to have, without realizing how they apply to leadership. The more these qualities are part of your nature, the more productive and enjoyable your life will be. All of these are qualities that one must possess to one degree or another.
Contrary to popular opinion, leadership is something that is learned. No one is born a leader. We are all capable of exhibiting the leadership qualities mentioned above -- some just choose not to. Of course, not veryone can be the "top dog", _ . However, everyone does have the capacity to lead in some way -- but action is required! Understand that learning is a fact of life--learning to ride a bike, learning to drive, learning to type, learning mathematics, etc. All of these activities require action. While we are born with many different abilities, if we do not use and develop them, those abilities will never come to fruition. Youth is an excellent time to start developing leadership characteristics. Take the time to study each one in detail. Put them into practice as you interact with other people. Determine which areas you are weak in, striving to always improve. Observe the leaders, and how they handle situations and carry themselves. Also, study the lives of great leaders. The results will serve you in this life -- and beyond! | high6139.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "People of different ages give off different scents."
},
"options": [
"People of different ages give off different scents.",
"People's scent can only be changed by the bacteria on their skin.",
"People show great interest in o... | A study found that young people have a stronger and more unpleasant scent than the elderly,while elderly people's smell was the most distinctive,less intense and unpleasant. Researchers said the change in our smell is driven by the chemicals we release through our glands and the bacteria on our skin.
To test whether or not it really exists,scientists collected a series of samples from three groups of 12 to 16 donors,aged 20 to 30,45 to 55 and 75 to 95.Volunteers wore special T-shirts fitted with underarm pads as they slept for five nights,after which the pads were cut up and put in glass jars. A separate group of 41 people aged 20 to 30 was then asked to smell two jars at a time and asked which group of the donors was older,as well as rating how strong and unpleasant each smell was.
When asked to specify whether a particular sample was from a young,middle aged or old person,they were much more successful at identifying older people. Despite being the most distinctive,the older people's smell was also rated as being obviously less intense and less unpleasant than those from the other groups.
Researchers said their findings appeared to contradict people's negative ideas about the old person's smell but admitted other factors,like smelly breath or skin,could be to blame for its bad reputation.
"Similar to other animals,humans can give off body scents that allow us to identify biological age,avoid sick individuals and pick a suitable partner. Elderly people have a distinctive scent that younger people consider to be not very unpleasant. This was surprising given the popular conception of old age scent as smelly. However,it's possible that other sources of body scents,such as skin or breath,may have different qualities," said Dr Johan Lundstrom,who led the study. | high13311.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "An orchestral conductor."
},
"options": [
"A doctor.",
"A bus-driver.",
"A dentist.",
"An orchestral conductor."
],
"question": "Who is most likely to live a long life?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"... | Thousands of people in the world are a hundred years old - or more and certain parts of the world are famous for the long lives of their inhabitants: the Vilacamba Valley in Ecuador, and the home of the Hunzas in the Himalayas.
Why do so many people live to a healthy old age in certain parts of the world? What is the secret of their long lives? Three things seem to be very important: fresh air, fresh food and a simple way of life. People work near their homes in the clean mountain air instead of traveling long distances to work by bus, car or train. They do not sit all day in busy offices or factories, but work hard outdoors in the fields. They take more exercise and eat less food than people in the cities of the West. For years the Hunzas of the Himalayas did not need policemen, lawyers or doctors. There was no crime, no divorce and not much illness in their society. They were a happy, peaceful people, famous all over India for their long, healthy lives.
Do you want to live to a hundred years old? Here are some rules for success. First, live in the right place. Second, choose the right kind of job. Doctors, dentists and bus-drivers die young. Farmers, priests and orchestral conductors live much longer. If you are in the wrong kind of job, you can still improve your way of life.
An old man in the Caucasus was talking about his past life. "I was young then," he said, as he described his 87th year. His secret was: "Think young and stay young." An old woman from Missouri, the USA, gave this advice, "Drink a little whisky and some warm beer every day." An English lady just said, "Take a cold bath every morning." The shortest, simplest piece of advice came from Mr Jim Chapman, aged 103. "Just keep breathing," he told reporters. | high1656.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The US president."
},
"options": [
"A victim parent.",
"The US president.",
"A US police officer.",
"The Connecticut governor."
],
"question": "Who is the speaker likely to be?",
"question_type": "factiod_qu... | This afternoon, I spoke with Governor Daniel Malloy and FBI Director Mueller. I offered Governor Malloy my condolences on behalf of the nation, and made it clear he will have every single resource that he needs to investigate this horrible crime, care for the victims and their families.
The majority of those who died today were children--beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old. They had their entire lives ahead of them--birthdays, graduations, weddings, kids of their own. Among the fallen were also teachers--men and women who devoted their lives to helping our children fulfill their dreams.
So our hearts are broken today--for the parents and grandparents, sisters and brothers of these little children, and for the families of the adults who were lost. Our hearts are broken for the parents of the survivors as well, for as blessed as they are to have their children home tonight, they know that their children's innocence has been torn away from them too early, and there are no words that will ease their pain.
As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it's an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago--these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics.
This evening, Michelle and I will do what I know every parent in America will do, which is hug our children a little tighter and we'll tell them that we love them, and we'll remind each other how deeply we love one another. But there are families in Connecticut who cannot do that tonight. And they need all of us right now. In the hard days to come, that community needs us to be at our best as Americans. And I will do everything in my power to help.
Because while nothing can fill the space of a lost child or loved one, all of us can extend a hand to those in need--to remind them that we are there for them, that we are praying for them, that the love they felt for those they lost endures not just in their memories but also in ours. | high7227.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "are harder to find than jobs with local stations"
},
"options": [
"require experience with local stations",
"are harder to find than jobs with local stations",
"are learned through training programs",
"pay high salaries... | Radio, TV, film, and new video technology bring to mind visions of bright, exciting, high-paying careers. Many young people are attracted to wonder: Is there a place for me in the broadcast media field?
People in the business warn that the road to a successful broadcast media career can be very rocky. They point out that getting started in the field is often difficult. To begin with, competition for most broadcast jobs can be fierce. Then, once on the job, the pressure is often big. Many jobs in broadcasting require long working hours, including nights and weekends. In most cases, the salaries are not very high.
What can you do to prepare for a career in broadcast media? Getting some kind of broadcasting experience during high school or college can be extremely important. Because the field is so popular, many employers are in a position to select beginners with developed skills.
You can start by becoming familiar with media while still in high school. If there is a media resource department in your school, volunteer to do anything. If there is no media department, take photos of games and social events. Work on the drama productions or write for the school newspaper.
Many beginners in broadcasting start at small local radio or TV stations. Such stations are usually more willing than the networks to take on people with little or no experience. Here, you have a chance to be involved in many aspects of the broadcast industry and get trained on the job. | high15760.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "those who never give others friendships receive no friendship from others."
},
"options": [
"there are too many people who want to make friends.",
"those who never give others friendships receive no friendship from others.",
... | Too many people want others to be their friends, but they don't give friendship back. That is why some friendships do not last very long. To have a friend, you must learn to be one. You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules. Be honest; be generous; be understanding.
Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you do not tell the truth, people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven't been honest you may lose your friends' trust. Good friends always depend on one another to speak and act honestly.
_ means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes of course. Instead you have to learn how to share things you enjoy, like your hobbies and your interest. Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to a friend. They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them you help your friend know you better.
Sooner or later every one needs understanding and help with a problem. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve . Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend's place so you can understand the problem better.
No two friendships are ever exactly alike . But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends, you must practise honesty, generosity, and understanding. | high1642.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Their communication environment."
},
"options": [
"Their general social background.",
"Being taken to a library as early as possible.",
"Being involved in various activities.",
"Their communication environment."
],
... | A team of researchers in the UK has shown that children who were taken to the library more often and owned more books at two years old achieved higher scores in school tests when they began primary school. The research also showed that although social background has a noticeable effect on a child's readiness for school, attending pre-school and having their parents teach them a wide range of activities have a positive effect---while extended exposure to television lowers their scores.
"One message coming through loud and clear is that how a child learns in his very early years is critical for a smooth transition into the educational system," said Professor James Law. "This is a very positive message, as it gets us away from the belief that a child's educational future is pre-determined by standard measures of socio-economic disadvantage, such as income, housing, or the mother's education."
Data from the study shows that children from a positive communication environment had a better expressive vocabulary by their second birthday. These children went on to achieve higher scores in language, reading and maths tests when they entered school. In the early years, the communication environment was a better predictor of children's success with language than their general social background.
Most children develop speech and language effortlessly, but some are slow to acquire these skills and go on to struggle with literacy and academic skills throughout their schooling. This project set out to uncover what factors contributed to these problems.
Professor Sue Roulstone said, "These findings are an encouragement to all parents to provide a positive communication environment for their children from the very start of their lives. The project did identify particular aspects of the communication environment, such as having children's books around and not having the television on too much. But the main message is that, as parents, we can have an impact on how our children learn to talk by providing a range of communication experiences. And the better our children are at talking by the age of two years, the better they will do when they start school." | high7233.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Mom and Dad, Take Care of My Kid Please"
},
"options": [
"Mom and Dad, Take Care of My Kid Please",
"Double Single-child Couples",
"The Problem of the Single Child",
"A Recent Survey By Woman of China\""
],
"que... | Over 70 percent of the "double single-child couples" in China need help from their parents in taking care of their own kids, according to a recent survey.
"Women of China" magazine and a consulting company carried out a survey recently on young couples of the "single-child" generation, the Morning Post reports. The couples surveyed were around 29 and have been married for three years on average, with university education and monthly income of 4.000 yuan ($531). Among them, 43.5 percent have kids.
Results show that 71.9 percent of the young couples have help from their parents in taking care of their kids.
Grown up as the "single-child", the only child in a family since the family planning policy was adopted in 1979, this generation depends much on their parents.
The parents of the "single-child" generation focused more on their children's physical well-being rather than their attitudes and values, according to some psychologists.
The research also found that the "double single-child couples" follow a rather traditional value system.
Survey shows that 27.5 percent of them got married after dating for one to two years, 25.2 percent two to five years, and 20 percent didn't tie the knot until dating for five years. Also, 30 percent of the couples were schoolmates, while 43.8 percent were introduced by someone.
Since their marriage are based on enduring relationships, 65.2 percent of the husbands and 62.9 percent of the wives think that compromise and tolerance are necessary in their marriage. Meanwhile, 21.7 percent of the husbands and 37.1 percent of the wives support the idea that happiness is the key standard for a marriage. | high8100.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "introduce a new and easy way of instant communication"
},
"options": [
"point out the virtues and faults of Twitter",
"tell people how to use Twitter to communicate",
"give a general outline of Twitter. com",
"introduce... | Maybe you're really busy. Maybe you don't have much to say. Or maybe you're just lazy. Not a problem. This free service works by letting you broadcast a group text message to your friends' mobile phones from either your own phone, an instant message or an online form at twitter.com. All your notes are then stored and displayed on your personal profile page on the site, which includes links to your friends' Twitter pages, a thumbnail picture of your choice, and a short bio. All this is what the new service Twitter can bring you. Just remember to keep it short: posts are limited to 40 characters, and the topic is, invariably, "What are you doing?"
More often than not, it turns out, Twitter's 100,000 members--twice as many as it had just a month ago, according to Twitter business development director Biz Stone--are simply killing time. Even Presidential hopeful John Edwards is on it, although he seems to be the only one thinking about more than lunch. As I type this, Caroline is mulling over some Girl Scout cookies, Ian _ Hocking is "waiting for Jessica to arrive so we can eat!" and Hlantz is "having a nice cup of Soft Starmint tea."
The chatter about Twitter turned into a virtual roar two weeks ago during the South by Southwest Multimedia Festival in Austin, Texas, when the barebones service owned by Blogger founder Evan Williams, 34, was named the best blogging tool and attendees used it to meet up at parties. Nevertheless, Twitter has been the top term on blog search engine Technorati for the past two weeks.
Plenty of people would happily have Twitter silenced, rather than tolerate the beeping alert for yet another new text message. But I'm betting that Twitter will get a lot noisier before netizens move on to the next new thing. We cyber-junkies need a new thrill, and what is better than a service like Twitter that combines social networking, blogging and texting? And if you don't like it, well, in the words of one Twit from San Francisco, "I'm so sick to death of Twitter-haters. If you don't like it, why waste your time writing, reading, or talking about it?" | high20917.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "reveal the decrease in mental ability of young adults as well as older adults"
},
"options": [
"emphasize the importance of exercising the brain",
"analyze the difference between different age groups on the loss of memory",
"... | It is common for older people to forget things. Now an American study has found that memory starts to fail when we are young adults. People younger than thirty years of age usually do not know that they are starting to forget information. But scientists from the University of Michigan say the loss of memory has usually already started.
Researchers say people do not observe this slow reduction in mental ability until the loss affects their everyday activities.
Denise Park led the new study. She directs the Centre for Aging and Cognition at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Her team studied more than 350 men and women between the ages of twenty and ninety years. The study identified people in their middle twenties with memory problems.
She says young adults do not know they are forgetting things because their brains have more information than they need.
But she says that people in their twenties and thirties are losing memory at the same rate as people in their sixties and seventies.
Ms. Park says people between the ages of sixty and seventy may note the decrease in their mental abilities. They begin to observe that they are having more trouble remembering and learning new information.
The study found that older adults are more likely to remember false information as being true. For example, they remembered false medical claims as being true. Younger people remembered hearing the information. But they were more likely to remember that it was false.
Ms. Park is now using modern imaging equipment to study what happens in the brains of people of different ages. She is studying what parts of the brain older adults use for different activities compared to younger adults. Ms. Park says mental performance is a direct result of brain activity and brain structure. She says keeping the brain active is important. She hopes future studies will identify ways to improve the operation of our aging minds. | high11512.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "Eating foods which contain bad germs."
},
"options": [
"Growing bacteria in foods.",
"Eating foods which contain bad germs.",
"Eating foods from the fridge.",
"Eating meat."
],
"question": "What may mostly cause... | The leftovers in the fridge smelled a little unusual, but you ate them. You were so hungry that you didn't even heat them up. Later, you started to feel sick. Powerful waves of pain rumbled through your stomach. They went away, but not for long, then you even threw up.
That sounds like the case of food poisoning. No one put poison in your food, but bacteria probably grew in the food in the fridge and those bacteria made you sick. Food poisoning can be mild and last just a short time or can be more serious.
Food poisoning comes from eating foods that contain germs like bad bacteria, which are poisonous substances. Bacteria are all around us, so mild cases of food poisoning are common. You may have had mild food poisoning with diarrhea and an upset stomach --- but your mom or dad just called it a stomach bug or stomach virus.
You might think the solution is to get rid of all the bacteria, but it isn't possible and you wouldn't want to do it, even if you could. Bacteria are all around us, including food, and sometimes they can be good for you. It's confusing, but one thing is for sure ---- You can, however, learn how to avoid those bad germs in food.
Foods from animals, raw foods, and unwashed vegetables all can contain germs that cause food poisoning. The most likely source is food from animals, eggs, milk, and shellfish.
To avoid food poisoning, people need to prepare, cook, and store foods properly. | high17163.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The educational benefits of children's toys."
},
"options": [
"Why some toys are popular with children.",
"The educational benefits of children's toys.",
"How children's interests change as they grow.",
"Learning method... | Toys provide more than just fun and games for kids. Most toys provide at least some opportunity for children to learn. A good toy can develop children's senses and encourage them to communicate with others.
Toys for Babies
Babies want to learn about the world around them very much, and they have much to learn. Every new shape, color1, taste and sound is a learning experience for them.
Toys that make music are favorites of babies. Toys with different color1s are attractive to babies. They also need objects such as blocks to help them build hand-eye coordination . Giving your baby these toys will help him/her discover his/her senses.
Toys for Toddlers
Toddlers can play with more toys than they did when they were smaller. They might still enjoy some of the toys they played with as babies, and that's fine. The same blocks they played with a year or two ago can provide them with new and different educational opportunities as their knowledge expands. But they also need toys that are designed for kids of their age in mind.
Toys for Preschool Children
When children reach preschool age, it's time to start learning about letters, numbers and language skills. There are lots of toys that encourage this type of learning, from simple alphabet puzzles to high-tech electronic toys. These will introduce him/her to the things he/she will learn in school thus profiting them.
Children can learn a lot from playing. When you give your child educational toys and play with them with him/her, it gives him/her a chance to learn and have fun at the same time. | high18250.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "treat him as if he were a real person"
},
"options": [
"expect replies from him",
"made the opening of the museum possible",
"treat him as if he were a real person",
"often adapt his books into films or plays"
],
... | The opening of the Sherlock Holmes Museum to the public on March 27, 1990, was an event that should have happened several decades ago. Baker Street is, after all, one of the world's most famous streets because of its long association with the great detective.
Thousands of people all over the world write to Sherlock Holmes, they form clubs and societies in his honor, and they celebrate his anniversaries. Now it is also possible to see where and how he lived in Victorian times!
Here visitors will recognize familiar objects mentioned in the stories. You can take as many photographs as you want (the maid will be pleased to assist) and when you are ready to leave, a ride home in a horse-drawn carriage will complete your 19th century experience!
Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson lived at 221b Baker Street from about 1881 to 1904. Apartment 221b was on the first floor of a lodging house, which they rented from a Mrs Hudson. The famous study that Holmes and his friend Dr Watson shared for almost 25 years is on the first floor overlooking Baker Street.
We know from Doctor Watson's descriptions that their sitting room overlooking Baker Street was "illuminated(, ) by two broad windows" and that it was quite small.
Doctor Watson's bedroom was on the second floor next to Mrs Hudson's room and it overlooked an open yard at the back of the house. These rooms are used today for exhibits, where center stage is taken by a magnificant bronze bust of Mr Holmes. Visitors can browse through literature, paintings, photographs and newspapers of the period. Memorabilia from the adventures and a selection of letters written to and from Mr Holmes are also on display.
The museum's large and attractive souvenir shop is located on the ground floor. Here you will find a unique collection of gifts, objects of art, figures, busts, prints, books, playing cards, T-shirts, -novelties of every description available exclusively to museum visitors. | high3733.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "pets in Canada"
},
"options": [
"how to keep disease from pets",
"pets in Canada",
"how to take good care of pets",
"life of the old in Canada"
],
"question": "The passage mainly talks about_.",
"question_ty... | In Canada you can find dogs,cats,horses,etc.in almost every family.These are their pets.People love these pets and have them as their good friends.Before they keep them in their houses,they take them to animal hospitals to give them injections so that they won't carry disease.They have special animal food stores,though they can get animal food in almost every kind of store.Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food.When you visit people's houses,they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them.You will also find that almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden.All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal.They are free to come and go and nobody is allowed to kill any animal in Canada.They have a law against killing wild animals.If you killed an animal,you would be punished.If an animal happened to get run over by a car,people would be very sad about it.
People in Canada have many reasons to like animals.One of them might be:Their family ties are not as close as ours.When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own life.Then the old will feel lonely.But pets can solve this problem.They can be good friends and never leave them alone.(242) | high11274.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "They couldn't get along well."
},
"options": [
"They couldn't support the children.",
"They couldn't get along well.",
"They were both out of work.",
"They had serious economic problems."
],
"question": "Why did... | "Reconstituted" families are more and more common in the UK.
Steve and Debbie got married in 2001 and had two children,Lily and Alex.Unfortunately,Steve and Debbie's marriage didn't work out and they got divorced in 2006.The children live with Debbie.In 2008,Debbie remarried.Her new husband,Martin,has three children from his previous marriage and they visit Debbie,Martin,Lily and Alex at weekends.In addition,Debbie is pregnant with her third child.She's expecting a boy who will be a halfbrother to Lily and Alex and also to Martin's three other children.
Confused?Debbie's family arrangements might have seemed strange 30 years ago but nowadays this kind of "reconstituted" family is increasingly common in the UK.Almost half of all marriages in Britain end in divorce and over 40% of marriages are remarriages.More than 10% of all British children live with one birth parent and a stepparent--a parent who isn't their biological mother or father.The traditional "nuclear" family of two parents and their children is not so traditional any more.
What does all of this mean for parents in these "reconstituted" families?"There are difficulties and challenges," says Debbie."Different families have different routines and it can be difficult for children to move between their two families.Birthdays and holidays can be tricky.Where do the children go?Who should they spend their time with?Also,when my children are naughty it can be difficult for Martin to _ .Things that might be simple in a traditional family can be a bit more complicated."
And how about the children?Martin's eldest child,Ella,is 12."I like my two families," she says."I live with my mum but visit my dad quite often and I'm happy that my mum and dad get along OK.They're not married any more but it's good that they can still be friends." Of course divorce and separation are never easy but many families in the UK are finding ways to make family life work in new ways. | high7555.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "a newspaper"
},
"options": [
"a school magazine",
"a travel booklet",
"a newspaper",
"a textbook"
],
"question": "The passage may come from _ .",
"question_type": "cloze_questions"
},
{
"answer": ... | The largest known outbreak of the lethal Ebola virus in West Africa is prompting authorities as far away as Asia to take preventive measures, although scientists say a global spread of the disease is unlikely.
At South Korea's Incheon International airport, a major hub for air travel in Asia, quarantine inspections of arriving passengers are being enhanced. Authorities say all passengers are being recorded by an infrared camera to detect fevers because Ebola is becoming a big concern.
The incubation period of the Ebola virus is between two and 21 days, during which time an infected person might not show any signs of infection. In Hong Kong, the Center for Health Protection says public hospitals will begin to report and test all those who developed fever who, within the past 21 days, traveled to the three affected African countries.
Singapore's health ministry is urging the public there "not to be alarmed." It has issued a statement deeming Ebola to pose "a low public health risk to Singapore," in part because "there is low travel connectivity to West Africa where the current outbreak remains limited to."
Some airlines have suspended flights into the affected region. But health authorities say there is little risk of passengers contracting the virus on a flight from an infected person.Dr. Day, a tropical medicine researcher, explains Ebola is only spread through direct contact with blood, saliva and other bodily fluids.
Since March, there have been more than 1,200 confirmed Ebola cases in West Africa. This is believed to be a new strain of the virus and nearly 700 of those infected in this worst-known outbreak have died.There is no known cure for Ebola. It was first recognized in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1976. There is no approved vaccine, but at least four are under development. | high8666.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "most people's thoughts are controlled by others."
},
"options": [
"most people have a variety of thoughts.",
"we have thoughts similar to those of others.",
"other people's thoughts are more important .",
"most people's... | Who's in control of your life? Who's pulling your strings ? For the majority of us, it's other people--society, colleagues, friends, family or our religious community. We learned this way of operating when we were very young, of course. We were brainwashed. We discovered that feeling important and feeling accepted was a nice experience and so we learned to do everything we could to make other people like us. As Oscar Wilde puts it, "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry , their passions a quotation."
So when people tell us how wonderful we are, it makes us feel good. We long for this good feeling like a drug--we are addicted to it and seek it out wherever we can. Therefore, we are so eager for the approval of others that we live unhappy and limited lives, failing to do the things we really want to. Just as drug addicts and alcoholics live worsened lives to keep getting their fix , we worsen our own existence to get our own constant fix of approval.
But, just as with any drug, there is a price to pay. The price of the approval drug is freedom--the freedom to be ourselves. The truth is that we cannot control what other people think. People have their own agenda , and they come with their own baggage and, in the end, they're more interested in themselves than in you. Furthermore, if we try to live by the opinions of others, we will build our life on sinking sand. Everyone has a different way of thinking, and people change their opinions all the time. The person who tries to please everyone will only end up getting exhausted and probably pleasing no one in the process.
So how can we take back control? I think there's only one way--make a conscious decision to stop caring what other people think. We should guide ourselves by means of a set of values--not values imposed from the outside by others, but innate values which come from within. If we are driven by these values and not by the changing opinions and value systems of others, we will live a more authentic , effective, purposeful and happy life. | high6893.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Being exposed to nature was beneficial to the learning of pupils."
},
"options": [
"The cognitive abilities of children today decreased.",
"The findings of another six-year study were incorrect.",
"Being exposed to nature was... | Children today spend less time outdoors than ever before and it may be harmful not only to their physical health, but also to their cognitive development.
A year-long study, recently published in the Sciences, found that elementary school children who were exposed to more green space within or directly outside their school showed improved learning and memory. The findings reinforce that of a recent six-year study on 905 Massachusetts public elementary schools, which found that students in schools that had more "greenness" in their surroundings reported higher scores on standardized testing in English and math. "There is an expanding body of scientific evidence linking the human experience in the natural world to better physical and mental health and improved cognitive abilities," journalist Richard Louv, co-founder of the Children & Nature Network, said in an email to The Huffington Post. "An increasing number of homeschoolers, nature preschools, independent primary and secondary schools, and forward-thinking public schools are incorporating nature experience into learning."
The new study was conducted on more than 2,500 children in second, third and fourth grade at 36 primary schools in Barcelona, Spain. Researchers found that the students who attended schools with more green space showed a 5 percent improvement in the short-term memory that's critical for reasoning, learning and comprehension. But their inattentiveness decreased slightly.
Spending time outside could have a number of benefits for children beyond improved memory and attention. Another recent study found that adventurous outdoor play such as climbing, rough and tumble play, and exploring alone improves children's physical health while also help them develop creativity and social skills greatly.
Some schools are starting to take notice, creating more space for children to enjoy being in nature, including community gardens, outdoor playgrounds and small parks. | high13463.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "St. Louis and Chicago."
},
"options": [
"Missouri.",
"Chicago.",
"New York.",
"St. Louis and Chicago."
],
"question": "Where did Agnes spend her childhood?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
... | Agnes Miller was one of the earliest leaders of the Women's Liberation Movement in the United States. She was born on a farm in Missouri in 1892. Strangely enough she had a very happy life as a child. She was the only daughter and the youngest child of five. Her parents and her brothers always treated her as their favorite.
In 1896 the family moved to Chicago. Three years later they moved back to St. Louis where Agnes spent the rest of her childhood. She enjoyed her years in school and was an excellent student of mathematics. She also was quite skillful as a painter.
It was when Agnes went off to college that she first learned that women were not treated as equals. She didn't like being treated unequally but she tried not to notice it. After graduating from college she tried to get a job in her major field--physics. She soon found it was almost impossible for a woman.
Agnes spent a full year looking for a job. Finally she gave up in anger. She began writing letters of anger to various newspapers. An editor in New York liked her ideas very much. He specially liked her style. He asked her to do a series of stories on the difficulties that women had in finding a job. And there she began her great fight for equal rights for women. | high1124.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The poor situation of retirees"
},
"options": [
"Value systems",
"The poor situation of retirees",
"Economic freedom",
"Approach to consumerism"
],
"question": "What had not changed much over the many years acco... | While surfing television channels over the weekend,a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us -- from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism -- are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling?
Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years?
Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior -- India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement!
A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households' financial savings is put into a "safe" deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into "risky" assets like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation . The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point. | high22866.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because they wanted to make their main complaints known to the government."
},
"options": [
"Because they wanted the government to increase their driving allowances.",
"Because they wanted to be educated how to use the taxi-hiring ... | Thousands of taxi drivers in Shenyang, Liaoning province, reportedly blocked streets with their vehicles on Sunday in protest against unlicensed vehicles using taxi-hiring apps and apps-based car rental companies providing passenger services, including high-end cars. Although the drivers also complained about the withdrawal of the fuel subsidy by the government, their main complaint was the loss of business because of the rising number of Internet-based car services companies.
On Wednesday, news reports came that Beijing transport authorities will take measures to stop the illegal "taxi business" of private cars through the newly rising Internet apps, following the footsteps of Shenyang and Nanjing.[:Z#xx#k.Com]
It is not yet clear how the Shenyang city government will handle the issue and whether it will declare the services offered by market leaders such as Didi Dache, a taxi-hiring app provider backed by Tencent Holdings, and Kuaidi Dache illegal. But Shanghai transport regulators have set a rule, by banning Didi Zhuanche, or car services offered by Didi Dache in December.
Such regulations will cause a setback to the car-hiring companies and investors that are waiting to cash in on the potentially booming business. Just last month, Didi Dache got $700 million in funding from global investors, including Singapore state investment company Temasek Holdings, Russian investment company DST Global and Tencent. Besides, the market is uncertain that Kuaidi Dache is about to finalize its latest round of funding after getting $800 million from global investors.
Regulatory uncertainties, however, could cast a shadow on the future of the Internet-based car-hiring services, which have become popular in most of China's big cities. To be fair, these companies' business model is anything but bad. For example, Didi Zhuanche works side by side with established car rental companies to provide high-end car service mainly for businesspeople through the Internet and mobile phone apps.
Every link in this business model chain has legal companies and services. Hence, it is hard to define it as illegal and ban it. | high9578.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the school lacked teaching facilities for music"
},
"options": [
"music was a focus of learning in most schools",
"the environment was favorable to music teaching",
"the school lacked teaching facilities for music",
"su... | When Andrea Peterson landed her first teaching job, she faced the daunting task of creating a music program with almost no money for equipment or supplies in a climate where standards-based learning was the focus and music just provided a break for students and teachers. For her drive and creativity in overcoming those challenges, she's been named national teacher of the year.
Principal Waynes Kettler said he's worked with many outstanding teachers in his 22 years as an educator, but Peterson is "just that one step above anybody I've ever worked with before."
Kettler and others at Monte Cristo Elementary School talk about the ways she has introduced the learning from other classrooms into her music program and her creativity in working around things such as the lack of money for new music.
When students were reading S.E. Hinton's novel The Outsiders in their regular classroom, Peterson helped them write a 30-minute play with scenes from the book. Then they chose three Broadway tunes that focused on race, equality and social justice, the themes of the book. Peterson composed two other songs herself after classroom discussions about the play and the book. The honor means a lot to residents of Granite Foils. It's inspiring to know that people from small towns even win national honors.
As national teacher of the year, Peterson will spend the more years outside the classroom, as a national and international spokeswoman for education. She said it's essential for schools to offer classes such as art or music and physical education because for some kids one of those subjects is the only thing that attracts them to come back to school day after day. | high20081.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "get better prepared for the new term"
},
"options": [
"take part in extreme bike races",
"get a good mark in the final exam",
"get better prepared for the new term",
"finish their homework ahead of time"
],
"que... | Reading can provide lots of fun for children and teens during summer vacation. Children who read during the summer are better prepared for school when they return to classes in the fall. Public libraries throughout Wisconsin will host summer events to encourage children and young adults to include reading in their summer fun.
*All Star Readers
The Milwaukee Public Library will host its 2007 Summer Reading Club for kids from 3 to 18. Signing up starts on June 1 at all Milwaukee public libraries and bookmobile sites.
Children aged 6 to 12 are invited to become "All Star Readers" at the Milwaukee library when they sign up for the Summer Reading Club. Children can score a point by reading 10 books or 1,000 pages. When they reach the reading goal, they will win a bag full of prizes.
*Sparkey Spots the Ball
Children up to 5 years old can join the read-to-me club, "Sparkey Spots the Ball". They will receive their own reading folders to record the books read to them by parents, brothers and sisters or relatives. Once they have listened to 20 books, they will win a baseball and a coupon for McDonald's ice cream.
*X-treme Read
Teens between the age of 13 and 18 can join in their own reading program called "X-treme Read". Teens can read to win movie passes, CDs and more.
The library also plans extreme bike races by C4BMX at four libraries in June and July. Check with your local library or Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the exact dates, times, and places of the demonstrations . | high2405.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Join in skill-building activities."
},
"options": [
"Join in skill-building activities.",
"Take a self-guided tour.",
"Learn theatre performances.",
"Take adventure classes."
],
"question": "What can families do... | The State of Rhode Island has become a popular family seaside destination. In addition to beach activities and water sports, kids can participate in supervised activities at cultural centres and tourist attractions around the state.
The Kayak Centre of Rhode Island
The Kayak Centre of Rhode Island offers Oceanplay to kids, a program for children between 9 and 14 years old. The course teaches basic kayak skills and safety protocol on the waters around historic Wickford Village. The all-day program includes games and skill-building activities at all skill levels. The package includes equipment, instructions and lunch.
The Courthouse Centre for the Arts
The Courthouse Centre for the Arts offers summer camp educational workshops and fine arts programs to kids who want to learn about theatre, dance, classical music and different art mediums. Kids and families can also enjoy concerts, film screenings and theatre performances.
The Providence Children's Museum
The Providence Children's Museum hosts daily drop-in programs for kids between 5 and 11 years of age and museum adventure classes. Kids can learn how water moves in the Water Ways exhibit, listen to music and learn about plants in the Children's Garden exhibit.
The RISD Museum
The RISD Museum hosts family workshops and activities for kids between 5 and 12 years of age on alternating Sunday afternoons. Kids can learn different types of art techniques and work with different mediums in a supervised setting. Families taking a self-guided tour of the museum can see exhibits. | high19600.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "help people have a healthy life"
},
"options": [
"help people have a healthy life",
"make iphone more popular",
"help people find ways to lose weight",
"persuade people to buy iphone products"
],
"question": "60... | Worried about how many calories you will get in that piece of pizza, chocolate cake or bag of chips? A new iphone application Mealsnap may help. Users just need to take a picture of the meal with the phone, and it will give a calorie read-out almost immediately.
Mealsnap was developed by DailyBurn, a health social network that focuses on helping its users lead healthier lifestyles. It has created several other health and diet-related iphone applications. The applications gives users a quick reply. To do that, it matches the taken picture to a databank containing the calorie information of nearly 500,000 kinds of food. Users then get the range of calories for the meal that is photographed.
We started with something simple -- an apple. A couple of minutes later the application replied that it was an apple and between 64 and 96 calories. More impressive was the reply we received after sending a photo of mixed salad bowl. Mealsnap replied that the bowl contained "yellow rice with corn, boiled eggs and beans" and that the food was between 532 and 798 calories.
Mr. Smith, director of DailyBurn, said that usual calorie counting needed a long time, but that the application made it easier to know the calories in food. That's why it is so popular among those who are trying hard to lose weight.
In addition, Mealsnap can serve as a food diary. No need to write down what they've eaten, the photos will be stored. Then users can keep a visual log . Mr. Smith said: "It's like a food journal, but easier. All you do is to take the picture. The simple act of recording something can cause a psychological change that can help people on their health journey. Knowing the calorie range makes me think more about what I'm eating. | high16533.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "warn us of potential social problems in the future"
},
"options": [
"warn us of potential social problems in the future",
"predict the leading professions in the coming years",
"describe the effect of unemployment on society"... | The Age of Unreason
Charles Handy
In his book The Age of Unreason Professor Handy describes the dramatic changes that are taking place in our lives today and warns that we must adapt to these changes if we want to survive in the future.
Handy believes that in the future less than 50% of the workforce will be employed full-time by an organization. These full-time employees will be the qualified professionals, technicians, and managers who are essential to an organization. Their working lives will be a lot more demanding than today, but in return they will be well-paid and they will retire earlier. The rest of the workforce will be self-employed or will work part-time, providing organizations with the products and services they require on a contract basis. Handy forecasts a big increase in the number of working mothers in the future and believes there will be a large number of unemployed.
Handy gives us plenty of figures to worry about. He estimates that by the year 2040, one person in five will retire, and one in ten will be over seventy-five years old. There will be one retiree to every three people of working age, and even more than that in countries such as Germany and Switzerland, where the proportion will be as much as one to two. Retirees will remain healthy and active for longer than they do today and many will live to be a hundred years old, a fact which leads Handy to suggest that the term retirement will no longer be appropriate. He suggests the third age is a more appropriate description, since it will be as important a part of our lives as the first age of learning and the second age of working are for us today. | high12755.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "get money and something they can't buy with money"
},
"options": [
"get money and something they can't buy with money",
"do what they want to do at any time",
"enjoy health which makes them work hard",
"take an active p... | Happiness is important for everyone. Most people want to be happy but few know how to find happiness. Money and success don't bring lasting happiness. Happiness depends on ourselves. In other words, we make our own happiness.
Some people believe that if they are _ , they will be able to do anything they want, which means happiness. On the other hand, some people believe that holding a high position in the government is happiness. In this way, you have not only money, but also many other things which can't be bought by money. However, other people believe that having lots of money is not happiness, nor is holding a high position in the government. These people value their beliefs, or their intelligence, or their health. They think these can make them happy.
Here are a few ways to help you be happier.
The first secret of happiness is to enjoy the simple things in life. Too often, we spend so much time thinking about the future, for example, getting into college or getting a good job, that we don't enjoy the present. You should enjoy life's simple pleasures, such as reading a good book, listening to your favorite music, or spending time with close friends. People who have close friends usually enjoy happier and healthier lives.
The second secret of happiness is to be active. Many people go dancing or play sports. People can forget about their problems and only think about the activities.
Finally, many people find happiness in helping others. According to studies, people feel good when they volunteer their time to do many meaningful things for other people. If you want to feel happier, do something nice for someone. You can help a friend with his or her studies, go shopping to get food for an old neighbor, or simply help around the house.
Now maybe you know how to find happiness! | high8896.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "the cake stuck to the end of his nose according to his wife's wish."
},
"options": [
"he always enjoyed eating",
"his wife hoped that he asked for a house",
"the cake stuck to the end of his nose according to his wife's wish.... | Three wishes
A man and his wife were very poor. They kept hoping for new clothes and good food. The man enjoyed eating, and he especially liked cakes. One night an old woman came to their house and told them she would let them have three wishes. They could wish for anything they wanted.
The man had just finished eating a piece of bread for his dinner, but he was still hungry. He said, "I wish I had a big cake!"
Suddenly a cake appeared on his plate.
"You fool!" His wife cried. "You could have wished for a house full of wonderful food, but you wished for a cake. I wish that cake was on the end of your foolish nose! "
Immediately the cake stuck to the end of his nose.
Then the man and his wife started blaming each other. "It's your fault!" the man cried. "No, it's your fault!" she answered. What could they do? The cake was still stuck to the husband's nose.
"Oh!" the wife cried. "I wish none of this had ever happened!"
Immediately the cake was gone, and the man was saying, "I'm still hungry. How I wish I had some cakes! "
But of course nothing happened. | high498.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "country leader of Germany"
},
"options": [
"director of a US company",
"country leader of Germany",
"a new Barbie doll at a toy fair",
"a fashion designer of fifty years old"
],
"question": "Angela Merkel is mos... | A new Barbie doll was presented at a toy fair in Germany.It has been modelled after the German Chief Minister Angela Merkel as part of 50th birthday celebrations for the popular toy.It wears a hairstyle and a dark coat like Merkel wears.
Lim Ding Wen, a nine-year-old pupil in Singapore, wrote some programs for Apple's popular iPhone.His painting program named "Doodle Kids" has been downloaded over 40,000 times in two weeks.
Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama answered questions from some pupils in Washington.During his surprise visit, Obama told the children, "We are just tired of being in the White House"
On February 5, China declared a top level emergency in the drought-hit provinces.The drought, which has rarely been seen in prefix = st1 /China's history, has left many people without proper drinking water and is affecting large amounts of crops.
Big flames burned entire towns in southeastern Australia and some locals in their cars, making it the country's deadliest fire disaster.Officials believed arson, which means criminal act of setting fire to possessions in order to cause destruction, may be behind some of the fires.
At the beginning of February, snow storms paralyzed(...) parts of London, costing businesses millions of pounds.The snow storms are the worst Britainhas seen in 18 years. | high23588.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Right-handed people work best with the right side of their bodies"
},
"options": [
"Left-handed people are better at speaking",
"Left-handed people are believed to have stronger left halves of the brains",
"Right-handed peopl... | According to a survey, only 4% of the people in the world are left-handed. Why? One theory centers on the two halves of the brain. For example, the left half and the right half, each of which functions differently. Medical science believes that the left half of the brain dominates over the right half. The foundation of this theory is the fact that nerves from the brain cross over at neck-level to the opposite side of the body, and nerves from the other side of the brain reciprocate . The end result is that the opposite sides of the body are controlled by the opposite sides of the brain.
The dominant left half of the brain, which kindly supplies the right half of the body, theoretically makes it more skillful in reading, writing, speaking, and working, and makes most people right-handed. Lefties, however, whose right half of the brain dominates, work best with the left side of their bodies.
Theory number two focuses on the _ nature of the body. Examples of the asymmetry, which flows from head to toe, are that the right side of our faces differs slightly from the left, that our legs differ in strength, or that our feet vary in size. One aspect of this asymmetry is that for most people the right hand is stronger than the left.
There is no doubt that all exist in a "right-handed society", which produces most basics, including scissors, doorknobs, locks, screwdrivers, automobiles, buttons on clothing, and musical instruments for the 96%. Left-handed people make up for the unfairness by being members of an elite society, which includes many of the greatest geniuses, including Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. | high14324.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "has a strong preference for good timekeeping"
},
"options": [
"is tolerant of people being late",
"has missed lots of meetings",
"has trouble getting along with others",
"has a strong preference for good timekeeping"
... | They will be here in a minute, surely. I'll just stare at my shoes a little while longer to pass the time. Wish I'd brought a book. Hang on, though, what if I've got the wrong day? The wrong place? Have the clocks gone back? No, damn it, I'm off home. Whoever I'm waiting for clearly lives in a different time zone from me.
I am always 10 minutes early, so if you're 10 minutes late, I've been foot-tapping for 20 minutes. I know it's not fair to hold the first 10 against you, but I just can't help myself. I never wait more than 20 minutes beyond the meeting time we decided upon, not for anyone, ever.
OK, that's not strictly true. I have, on occasion, hung around anxiously and heart-brokenly for up to an hour, but the bitter anger that follows is never a pretty sight. If you've made me wait that long, you will wish you hadn't bothered turning up at all.
How come some people are always late and some are always on time? If I can manage to be punctual, why can't you? Because I left a hot cup of coffee at home while you sat down to roll another cigarette. Because I spilled jam on my pants and quickly wiped it off whereas you took time to change your whole outfit. Because I switched off midway through a TV series, but you had to ride out the end, didn't you? And don't even think about blaming the traffic. How do you think I got here? By flying carpet? Only carelessness or arrogance can explain a habit of lateness.
Some people are always late because they can't make realistic calculations about how long it takes to do things. There are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. Just deal with it. Painful as it may be, you have to accept that, as you've agreed to meet at eight and it's now a quarter to, you don't have time to phone your girlfriend.
Much worse, though, are those with big egos . Being late is just rude. Being late on purpose really means that you hate the person you are meeting.
Of course, there are some perfectly lovely latecomers out there. I just never wait long enough to find out. | high9550.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "they can also have a better understanding of themselves"
},
"options": [
"they will be admitted to a martial arts class for free",
"they can also have a better understanding of themselves",
"they can understand the importance... | Anyone who has ever volunteered for any cause can tell you that in the end, they felt that they gained more from the experience than they gave. This is true for most examples of reaching out to help others. We find that we gain new understanding about not only those we help, but ourselves as well. Stressing the importance of helping others in martial arts students will benefit them both inside and outside of the class.
Helping others strengthens families. Families that practice the belief of working together and helping each other prepare their children for the concept of teamwork outside of the home environment. By learning to help around the house through activities such as household jobs, baby-sitting and keeping a tidy bedroom, children learn valuable lessons that they carry with them to their future relationships.
By helping others outside of the home environment, valuable friendships can be developed. When we learn to reach out to others and give off our time and talents we find that our friendships grow, which in turn is a benefit to our lives. Martial arts training supports this by exposing students to people of various backgrounds and beliefs that gather for a common goal and to help each other. Any time a group of people are working toward a common goal, team spirit surely forms. When we help each other in the martial arts setting and in every area of our lives, a friendship is formed that promotes teamwork.
The most important thing to realize is that it does not take a lot to make a lot happen. Little things can make a big difference in the area of helping others. Simple gestures of kindness and support given frequently can build a strong base for the growth and development of each individual which leads to the success of all. | high6663.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "the things that the Eskimos could and could not do"
},
"options": [
"the way the Eskimos treated their neighbours",
"the things that the Eskimos could and could not do",
"how the Eskimos store their seal meat",
"how the... | The cold and icy land that is the Eskimo's home is a dangerous one. The Eskimo once believed that to be safe from danger he had to obey taboos . Taboos were rules that told him what he must do and must not do.
The Eskimo had taboos connected with almost everything he did. He had to keep them in mind at all times. He believed that to break one would bring disaster. For the Eskimo, it was taboo to store reindeer and seal meat together. He could not even eat them on the same day. He believed the Goddess Sedna had separated the land animals from the sea animals. He thought bringing them together would cause the hunting to be bad.
There were other taboos concerning animals. When a dead seal was brought into the house, the women had to stop working. They had to give its spirit a drink of water. If they did not, the spirit would be angered. It would keep other animals from being caught.
When the Eskimo broken a taboo, he believed a black cloud formed around his head. He had to tell the others in the village what he had done. He thought that if he did not tell his neighbors, they would catch the black cloud. Then the whole village would have bad luck. | high14442.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "children may learn information unknown to their parents"
},
"options": [
"children learn how to prepare foods from their parents",
"children will learn how to cook in the company of their parents",
"children may learn informa... | Cooking programs and classes for children seem to positively influence children's food preferences and behaviors, according to a recent review. And, although the review didn't look at long-term effects of such programs, the findings suggest that such programs might help children develop long-lasting healthy habits.
This research comes at a time when childhood obesity rates have been rising rapidly. More than one-third of adolescents in the United States were obese in 2012, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This trend has been caused, at least in part, by a significant decrease in the amount of meals that people consume at home since the 1980s, according to background information in the study.
Cooking education programs, such as Food Explorers, teach children about new healthy foods and how to prepare them. They also stress the importance of eating five fruits and vegetables every day. A volunteer parent explains a new food to the group, and the kids make something based on the lesson, such as fruit or vegetable salad. Depending on the program, kids may be sent home with information about healthy foods to bring to their parents, the review explained.
The study team reviewed eight other studies that tested different types of cooking education programs. Children in these classes were between 5 and 12 years old, according to the review. The goal of the study team was to learn more about developing an efficient program to encourage healthy food choices that last a lifetime. The study found that it is particularly important to expose kids to healthy foods on a number of occasions. This makes them feel comfortable with the new foods, which helps them build healthy habits.
The study stressed the importance of getting parents involved in their children's eating habits. Parents who are unable to enroll their kids in a cooking class can achieve similar benefits by having their kids help them while they prepare meals at home. Children are more comfortable at home, which makes them more receptive to new foods because they will make the connection to a positive experience. | high9236.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "an unforgettable trip to watch whales"
},
"options": [
"an unforgettable experience in the forest",
"an unforgettable trip to see some strange animals in the mountains",
"a long trip on the ship",
"an unforgettable trip... | I once experienced an unforgettable trip to Gloucester to see some of the world's most beautiful and exciting animals in their own habitat , the North Atlantic Ocean.
After a long trip by bus, we got on the ship. After a while, we stopped and everyone on the ship started to shout because we saw a humpback whale . It was wonderful. Sometimes, whales came so close to the ship that you thought you could easily touch them.
While we were watching the whales, a guide was giving us some information about them. She told us that we saw only two kinds of whales -- 50-foot humpback whales (singing whales) and 70-foot fin back whales (the second largest whales on earth). She also said we could easily recognize a whale by its tail because every whale has a different kind of tail just like people have different fingerprints.
They all have names, and on this trip, we saw "Salt" and "Pepper", two whales named by a biologist and a fisherman. They were swimming together all the time.
I took twenty-seven photos, but it was very hard to take them because the whales were quick and stayed on the surface of the ocean just for a short time. It was really something. It was one of the chances that a person hardly ever experiences in life, but I had that chance. | high15984.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Married with Children Paves Way to Happiness"
},
"options": [
"Children Are the Source of Happiness",
"Are You Happy Married Couple?",
"Married with Children Paves Way to Happiness",
"The Right Conditions of Having Chil... | Want to be a happy married couple? Consider having kids.
A new study found that having children boosts happiness.And the more, literally, the merrier.
But unmarried couples shouldn't expect to find greater happiness through child-raising.The study, published in the Oct.14 online edition of the Journal of Happiness Studies, suggests that having children has little or no effect on boosting happiness among couples who aren't hitched .
The findings contradict previous research that suggested that having more offspring doesn't lead to greater happiness and might even make people less satisfied with their lives.One theory behind the conclusion is that parents don't receive many rewards in return for the hard work of raising children.
The new study, however, notes that parents say children are one of the most important things in their lives, if not the most important.
The study found that life satisfaction for married people -- women especially -- goes up the more kids they have.Single, separated and co-habiting people, by contrast, report negative experiences.
"One is tempted to advance that children make people rich under the 'right conditions' -- a time in life when people feel that they are ready, or at least willing, to enter parenthood," Dr.Luis Angeles, of the University of Glasgow in Scotland, said in a news release from the journal's publisher."This time can come at very different moments for different individuals, but a likely signal of its approach may well be the act of marriage." | high8128.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "people queued up at the cash machine to benefit from the fault"
},
"options": [
"people queued up inside the store to buy things",
"people asked the police to protect the cash machine",
"people went to other cash machines to ... | Scores of people queued up to use a cash machine after it started giving out double the money requested.
The cash machine, outside a Sainsbury's store in Barham Road, Hull, attracted a big crowd of people hoping to take advantage of the fault, on Tuesday night. Police officers were eventually sent in to guard the machine and prevent anymore money from being withdrawn. The fault is thought to have affected cash machines at supermarkets across the city. It is not yet known whether the customers will have to repay the cash or how much money was taken out.
A spokeswoman for Humberside Police said, "Officers were sent to the cash machine to prevent anyone else from withdrawing anymore money. We have also tried to make contact with the owners of the machine." The spokeswoman said those who benefited from the fault could be traced and could face theft charges, but investigations would only take place if the operator made a complaint.
The cash machine is owned by a company called Payzone, a spokesman later confirmed. He said the fault was due to the machine being filled with notes of the wrong denomination . An investigation is underway into the incident and the machine had been taken out of service, he added.
The Payzone spokesman said, "The transit company which is contracted to service this ATM has filled it up with the wrong denomination of notes, meaning it is paying out double what it should have. " He could not say how much money had been taken out of the machine, or whether it would have to be paid back. It was understood that a number of cash machines in Hull owned by other companies had also been affected by this problem, he added. | high16255.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "He was a carpenter working in the church."
},
"options": [
"He was an outgoing man and held an active attitude towards life.",
"He had a large family to support.",
"He was a carpenter working in the church.",
"He was a ... | Grandpa Nybakken loved life -- especially when he could play a trick on somebody. At those times, his large Norwegian frame shook with laughter while he pretended innocent surprise, exclaiming, "Oh, forevermore!" But on a cold Saturday in downtown Chicago, Grandpa felt that God played a trick on him, and grandpa wasn't laughing.
Grandpa worked as a carpenter. On this particular day, he was building some boxes for the clothes his church was sending to an orphanage abroad. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. He remembered putting them there that morning, so he drove back to the church. His search proved fruitless.
Suddenly, he realized what had happened. The glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the boxes, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!
The Great Depression was at its height, and Grandpa had six children. He had spent twenty dollars for those glasses that very morning.
"It's not fair," he told God as he drove home in frustration. "I've been very faithful in giving of my time and money to your work, and now this."
Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on vacation in the United States.He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him, so he came to speak on Sunday night at my grandfather's small church in Chicago. Grandpa and his family sat in their usual seats among the small congregation .
"But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year."
"Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses.Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your boxes arrived.When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on the top." After a long pause, he continued, "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom-made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that!"
The people listened, happy for the amazing glasses. But the director surely must have confused their church with another, they thought, there were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.
But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realized _ had used him in an extraordinary way. | high10624.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The number of sunspots declines after coronal mass ejections."
},
"options": [
"The most fatal matter from the corona falls onto Earth.",
"The solar storm peak occurs in the middle of each cycle.",
"It takes several seconds ... | The 2012 London Olympics had enough problems to worry about. But one more has just been added - a communications blackout caused by solar storms.
After a period of calm within the Sun, scientists have detected the signs of a flesh cycle of sunspots that could peak in 2012, just in time for the arrival of the Olympic torch in London.
Now scientists believe that this peak could result in vast solar explosions that could throw billions of tons of charged matter towards the Earth, causing strong solar storms that could jam the telecommunications satellites and interact links sending five Olympic broadcast from London.
"The Sun's activity has a strong influence on the Earth. The Olympics could be in the middle of the next solar maximum which could affect the functions of communications satellites," said Professor Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
At the peak of the cycle, violent outbursts called coronalmass ejections occur in the Sun's atmosphere, throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged matter. " A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometres per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount, can disable satellites, cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications," Professor Harrison added. The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.
Next week in America, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of the solar flares and explosions as they occur.
Professor Richard Hold away, the lab's director, said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth "If we have advance warning, we'll be able to reduce the damage. _ | high2363.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "worked in a school cafeteria"
},
"options": [
"were employed by a truck company",
"were in financial difficulty",
"worked in a school cafeteria",
"lost their home"
],
"question": "According to the text,the Fusse... | A year ago August, Dave Fuss lost his job driving a truck for a small company in west Michigan.His wife,Gerrie,was still working in the local school cafeteria,but work for Dave was scarce,and the price of everything was rising.The Fusses were at risk of joining the millions of Americans who have lost their homes in recent years.Then Dave and Gerrie received a timely gift-$7,000,a legacy from their neighbors Ish and Arlene Hatch,who died in an accident."It really made a difference when we were going under financially.''says Dave.
But the Fusses weren't the only folks in Alto and the neighboring town of Lowell to receive unexpected legacy from the Hatches.Dozens of other families were touched by the Hatches'generosity.In some cases,it was a few thousand dollars;in other, it was more than $100,000.
It surprised nearly everyone that the Hatches had so much money, more than $ 3 milliorr-they were an elderly couple who lived in an old house on what was left of the family farm.
Children of the Great Depression,Ish and Arlene were known for their habit of saving. They thrived on comparison shopping and would routinely go from store to store,checking prices before making a new purchase.
Through the years,the Hatches paid for local children to attend summer camp when their Darents couldn't afford it."Ish and Arlene never asked if you needed anything,"says their friend Sand Van Weelden,"They could see things they could do to make you happier, and they would do them.
Even more extraordinary was that the Hatches had their farmland distributed.It was the Hatches' wish that their legacy-a legacy of kindness as much as one of dollars and cents----should enrich the whole community and last for generations to come.
Neighbors helping neighbors----hat was Ish and Arlene Hatch's story. | high18278.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Your friend is very happy for your getting a first prize in a match though he failed in it."
},
"options": [
"You are not happy for your friend's success because you failed in an exam.",
"Your friend is very sad because he failed i... | True real friends double your happiness and half your burdens. Basically how you would like a true real friend to be,you should be like this to your true friends. Trust and forgiveness are some ingredients of a true friend. True friendships are hard to come by. And what's more,life is short. So treasure these friends if you have already had them. If you don't continue to search,because once you have them,life becomes so much easier to live,no matter what happens. I have been through pretty rough patches and I dare say,without my friends I would not have made it.
Friendships need lots of energy and patience to maintain them. Not to mention time too. When your friend needs you,sometimes when things are not going too well on your side,it is often so easy to turn a deaf ear to their pleas. It is especially during these times,that you must find the strength in you to help your friend. And it is during these times that your friendship will be forged and made stronger.
And you must always be happy for their successes,even when things are not going too well on your side. It might be hard to do for some people but it is something that you need to learn. Think about all the sacrifices your friend has made for you and all the times when he or she was happy for you despite his or her own troubles.
Remember,true _ friends _ are _ the _ next _ best _ thing _ to _ family. They will always be your pillar of support no matter what happens. Always. | high19172.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "he intends to improve his scores"
},
"options": [
"there are striking differences between the 2 countries",
"Polish kids are better at learning",
"sports are not supported at schools in Gettysburg",
"he intends to impro... | In her new book, "The Smartest Kids in the World," Amanda Ripley, an investigative journalist, tells the story of Tom, a high-school student from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, who decides to spend his senior year in Warsaw, Poland. Poland is a surprising educational success story: in the past decade, the country raised students' test scores from significantly below average to well above it. Polish kids have now outscored(......) American kids in math and science, even though Poland spends, on average, less than half as much per student as the United States does. One of the most striking differences between the high school Tom attended in Gettysburg and the one he ends up at in Warsaw is that the latter has no football team, or, for that matter, teams of any kind.
That American high schools lavish more time and money on sports than on math is an old complaint. This is not a matter of how any given student who plays sports does in school, but of the culture and its priorities. This December, when the latest Program for International Student Assessment(PISA) results are announced, it's safe to predict that American high-school students will once again display their limited skills in math and reading, outscored not just by students in Poland but also by students in places like South Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Singapore, and Japan. Meanwhile, they will have played some very exciting football games, which will have been breathlessly written up in their hometown papers.
Why does this situation continue? Well, for one thing, kids like it. And for another, according to Ripley, parents seem to like the arrangement, too. She describes a tour she took of a school in Washington D.C., which costs thirty thousand dollars a year. The tour leader--a mother with three children in the school--was asked about the school's flaws . When she said that the math program was weak, none of the parents taking the tour reacted. When she said that the football program was weak, the parents suddenly became concerned. "Really?" one of them asked worriedly, "What do you mean?"
One of the ironies of the situation is that sports reveal what is possible. | high16241.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Many individuals also plays a very important part in advancing our understanding of oceans,such as Maury."
},
"options": [
"Humans didn't explore the oceans until the 19th century.",
"Maury first established the field of oceanograp... | Humans have observed and explored the oceans since ancient times.But it wasn't until the 19th century that the scientific study of oceans began.The first major scientific expedition,and the one that firmly established the field of oceanography,was the around-the-world voyage of H.M.S. Challenger.Setting out from England in 1872,the Challenger spent almost three and a half years gathering a wealth of information about seawater,sea life,and the ocean floor.Major oceanographic expeditions since then have included the South Atlantic voyage of the German ship Meteor in 1926 and the Deep-Sea Drilling Project from 1968 to 1983.Many individuals also have played important roles in advancing our understanding of oceans,beginning with Matthew Fontaine Maury in the mid-1800s;his work on oceanography and navigation led to a uniform system of weather reporting at sea.Since Maury's time,oceanography has progressed rapidly.Early oceanographers had to contend themselves with tossing buckets overboard to see what they might haul in.Today's oceanographers are equipped with space images,supercomputer models,and deep-sea robots that can crawl along the seafloor.As they set goals for the future,some oceanographers even dream of doing research in permanently manned stations on the bottom of the oceans. | high10630.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "the local birds are being driven out"
},
"options": [
"the local birds are being driven out",
"the government doesn't like the birds",
"they are a threat to people's health",
"people have a great fear of this kind of bi... | For 40 years, the people of London have been happy to discover in their parks a bird that seems to have made its way from the Himalayas to the capital of England. With its shocking green body, red mouth, long tail and noisy screech , the rose-ringed parakeet brought a vivid colour to parks in and around London.
However, the parakeets are no longer welcome. The government has suddenly woken up to the fact that there are many more parakeets in and around London making life harder for the local bird population. Government experts put the number of parakeets at around 30,000. They fear that if the number of parakeets keeps rising, these birds will push out local birds like wood-peckers, starlings and nuthatches from trees to build their own nests.
Not only that. According to an online report by The Independent, the parakeets will then also get control of most of the food available in the parks -- seeds, berries, fruit and nuts. The local bird population will then have a hard time staying alive. An organization called the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has asked the government to investigate what kind of a threat the parakeet brings to local birds. If the government decides that these birds are indeed a threat to local birds, steps will be taken to control the number of parakeets.
The most surprising thing about the case of the rose-ringed parakeet is that no one quite knows how the parakeets came from India and started breeding in areas around London. | high2377.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "have some physical disability"
},
"options": [
"cannot communicate with one another",
"use a formal sign language to express numbers",
"have some physical disability",
"come from a distant tribe"
],
"question": ... | A new study has found some secrets of people's understanding of large numbers.
Researchers studied a group of people who were born deaf and never learned any spoken language or a formal sign language, but they have developed a gesture system to communicate with people around them. The gestures let them express approximate amounts, but not exact numbers.
"Up to three, they're fine," says Elizabet Spaepen, a researcher at the University of Chicago and an author of the study. "But past three, they start to fall apart." In one test, Spaepen would knock her fist against a study participant's fist a certain number of times and then ask them to respond with the same number of knocks. "If I were to knock four times on their fist, they might knock on my fist five times," she says.
The finding offers a clue to just how much language affects our understanding of numbers. That has been a big question since 2004, when other researchers published data on two tribes in the Amazon whose members also lack words for big numbers. "What they have are words that mean one and two," Spaepen says, "and then they have a word to mean many."
Members of the Amazonian tribes also had trouble matching numbers larger than three or four. But some scholars felt that these earlier studies failed to prove that language was the reason. They pointed out that the tribes lived in groups that didn't use money and had no need for exact numbers.
The new research appears to answer that criticism. "It proves that the kinds of problems in understanding numbers that we found in the Amazonian tribes are not due to just the cultural or environmental circumstances," says Peter Gordon of Columbia University, one of the researchers involved in the earlier studies. | high9222.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "was published by Peter Vegso"
},
"options": [
"was published by Peter Vegso",
"was Jack and Mark's own experiences",
"encouraged people to be speakers",
"told stories that happened in kitchens"
],
"question": "T... | For years people had told our founders, motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, inspiring stories about themselves. Jack and Mark included these stories in their talks, and their audiences repeatedly asked if they had ever been published. Eventually, Jack and Mark decided to collect the best 101 stories they'd been told and put them in a book. They called itChicken Soup for the Soulbecause they wanted it to provide comfort, just like their grandmothers' cooking.
They took the book to New York, hoping to sell it to one of the big publishers, but every single one turned them down. The project appeared to have _ until they met Peter Vegso. Peter read some of the stories and loved them, so he decided to give the book a chance, becomingChicken Soup for the Soulfounding publisher.
Chicken Soup for the Soulturned into one of the most popular and loved books ever published, selling 11 million copies around the world. Today, we've published more than 250 books andChicken Soup for the Soulhas become the best-selling trade paperback book series of all time.
People have connected withChicken Soup for the Soulbooks deeply. Years ago, we started getting letters from readers asking for more, not just more books, but other things, too. Jack and Mark recognized thatChicken Soup for the Soulhad grown into something much bigger than the book series they had created. So, in 2008, William Rouhana, Amy Newmark and Robert Jacobs boughtChicken Soup for the Soulfrom them. Today, we have a line of comfort foods, including healthy and balanced pet foods. We're online now with our forums, apps and a YouTube channel. We're working hard on a newChicken Soup for the SoulTV show and a movie. Meanwhile, we are still collecting stories from our readers and the public, just like we've done since the beginning. We have new books coming out almost every month. We're always looking for ways to share happiness, inspiration and wellness through everything we do. | high14456.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because they wanted to test the power of their prayers"
},
"options": [
"Because they both wanted to live a quiet life",
"Because they couldn't get along well with each other",
"Because they wanted to test the power of their ... | A ship was damaged during a storm at sea and only two of the men aboard were able to swim to a small island. Not knowing what else to do, the two survivors decided that they should pray to God.
However, to find out whose prayers were more powerful, they agreed to divide the land between them and stay on opposite sides of the island.
The first thing they prayed for was food. The next morning, the first man saw a tree on his side of the island, and he was able to eat its fruit. But the other man's side of land remained _
After a week, the first man became lonely and decided to pray for a wife. The next day, another ship was damaged and the only survivor was a woman who swam to his side of the island. But on the other side of the island, there was nothing.
Soon the first man prayed for a house, clothes and more food. The next day, like magic, all of these things were given to him. However, the second man still had nothing.
Finally, the first man prayed for a ship so that he and his wife could leave the island, and in the morning he found a ship stopped at his side of the island.
The first man boarded the ship with his wife and decided to leave the second man on the island. As the ship was about to leave, the first man heard a voice from Heaven, "Why are you leaving your partner on the island?"
"My blessings are mine alone since I was the one who prayed for them." The first man answered. " His prayers were all unanswered so he doesn't deserve anything."
"You are mistaken!" the voice said. "He had only one prayer, which I answered. He prayed that all your prayers would be answered." | high6111.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "On July 2."
},
"options": [
"On July 2.",
"On July 3.",
"On July 6.",
"On July 8."
],
"question": "When can you watch the Chinese drum dance?",
"question_type": "factiod_questions"
},
{
"answer": {
... | Join in the holiday fun at the Powerhouse this month linked to our new exhibition, Evolution & Revolution: Chinese dress1700s to now. DON'T FORGET our other special event, the Club Med Circus School which is part of the Circus !150years of circus in Australia exhibition experience!
*Chinese Folk Dancing: Colorful Chinese dance and musical performances by The Chinese Folk Dancing School of Sydney. Dances include: the Golden stick dance and the Chinese drum dance. A feature will be the Qin dynasty Emperor's count dance .Also included is a show of face painting for Beijing opera performances.
Sunday 29 June and Wednesday 2 July in the Turbine Hall, at 11.30 am & 1.30 pm.
*Australian Chinese Children's Arts Theatre: W ell-known children's play experts from Shanghai lead this dynamic youth group. Performances include Chinese fairy tales and plays.
Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 July in the Turbine Hall, at 11.30 am & 1.30 pm.
*Chinese Youth League: A traditional performing arts group featuring performance highlights such as the Red scarf and Spring flower dances ,and a musician playing Er Hu.
Sunday 6 to Tuesday 8 July in the Turbine Hall,11.30 am to 1.30 pm.
*Kids Activity: Make a Paper Horse :Young children make a paper horse cut-out.(The horse is a frequent theme in Chinese painting, including a kind of advancement.)Suitable for ages 8~12 years.
Saturday 28 June to Tuesday 8 July in the Turbine Hall,12.00 pm to 1.00 pm.
*Club Med Circus School: Learn circus skills, including the trapeze, trampolining and magic.Note only for children over 5.There are 40 places available in each 1 hour session and these must be booked at the front desk,level 4,on the day.
Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 Julyat 11.30 am & 1.00 pm.
Enjoy unlimited free visits and many other benefits by becoming a Family member of the Powerhouse.Our family memberships cover two adults and all children under the age of 16 years at the one address.
Members receive Powerline,our monthly magazine,discounts in the shops and the restaurants,as well as free admission to the Museum.All this for as little as $50.00 a year!Call(02)9217 0600 for more details. | high12027.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "An organization concerning the protection of rare species' survival"
},
"options": [
"A union for listing animals and plants on the earth",
"A group of volunteers who are interested in wildlife",
"An organization concerning t... | Some of the planet's most precious animals and plants are disappearing, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The group, based in Switzerland, works with governments and experts to protect threatened species. On September 12, the IUCN released its Red List, a list of species at greatest risk of extinction.
The list includes 41,415 animals and plants. The IUCN says that habitat destruction, hunting and other causes threaten one in four mammals, one in eight birds and one in three amphibians .
Who is to blame?
Scientists believe that 99 percent of threatened species are at risk because of human activity. "We are losing animals and plants at a high rate," says Julia Marton-LefEevre, director general of the IUCN. "We need to change our behavior." Warmer oceans and over-fishing are changing sea life. This year for the first time corals made their appearance on the list. The gharial, a crocodile living in India and Nepal, has lost almost 60 percent of its population in the last 10 years. It is a victim of habitat destruction.
Still, the news is not all bad. Thanks to efforts made to protect it, the Mauritius echo parakeet, a bird once endangered, has seen an increase in its population. "This shows that protection methods can work," says Marton-LefEevre. "That's the message we want to send to young people."
In China the new reserve itself is part of green efforts that have seen more than 2,400 nature reserves of various kinds being set up, covering more than 15 percent of the nation's land area, official figures showed.
"The country's natural resources have benefited from conservation," said Lei Guangchun, director of the nature reserve department of Beijing Forestry University. "It is a big increase nowadays compared with other countries." Lei said.
The total areas of China's natural reserves have covered 1.38 million km2, which accounts for 15.4% of China's area, higher than both the world average of 11% and the rate in most developed countries.
Li Zhong, an official in charge of the nature reserves office with the State Forestry Administration, thought it was important to increase investment in such reserves at all levels. | high15748.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "raise awareness of the damage that climate change is causing in polar regions"
},
"options": [
"encourage young people to explore the Arctic",
"present the Arctic terrain to geography classes",
"study the cause of climate cha... | Do you want to see the effects of global warming? Then head north. Recent studies indicate that the North Pole could be underwater during the summer in less than 10 years, instead of coated in thick sea ice. But seeing the Arctic terrain up close isn't easy, unless you're handy with a dogsled. Steger is going to take all of us there.
Steger, 64, is a great polar explorer. He was the first person to make a dogsled trip to the North Pole, and is also a devoted environmentalist who was early to ring the alarm bell on global warming.
Steger is about to lead a team of six young adventurers on a 1, 400-mile, 60-day-long dogsled trip across Ellesmere Island, in the Canadian Arctic. The sea ice in that region should still be frozen. "We want to take our audience to the front lines of global warming, " says Steger. The team will be uploading videos, stories and photos to the website _ as they march along, allowing armchair adventurers and kids in classrooms to follow their progress day to day.
Steger's team will include some already-famous young explorers. Sam Branson, 22-year old, is an experienced Arctic traveler. Also on the journey will be 27-year-old Norwegian Sigrid Ekran. Last year Ekran become only the second woman in history to win Rookie of the Year for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.
What they will see may be surprising. Even Steger doesn't know exactly what to expect. Climate change has already reshaped the geography of the Arctic. "Within a decade or less, it's going to be impossible to reach the North Pole by dog team, without flotation , "says Steger. | high22682.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "Teachers' difficulties in managing student behavior."
},
"options": [
"Ways to deal with student behavior problems.",
"Importance to manage student behavior.",
"Three levels of student behavior.",
"Teachers' difficultie... | Recently a research was carried out in London,Birmingham and Leeds among teachers from different schools about student behavior management.
The majority of teachers said that behavior management is the biggest challenge they face in teaching.They are against the idea of a "one size fits all" approach to behavior management and believe that how they deal with behavior depends on their analysis of what is driving the behavior.Many teachers make the analysis in three steps.First,observe what the student is doing;then look into what drives the behavior and finally identify what is the real problem to deal with,e.g.attention seeking or being unable to follow the lessons etc..However,many teachers felt it sometimes difficult as schools did not always effectively communicate the necessary information about the students for them to do it.
The behaviors are generally divided into low,mid and high level.Teachers felt low and high level behavior was easy to analyze and deal with because low level behavior was seen as the least serious of a problem;and there is clear structure in place for dealing with high level behavior. However,there is no clear structure and effective ways to address midlevel behavior,which may cause a sense of failure in some teachers.
Teachers also felt that the laws to protect pupils have resulted in a sense of teachers having fewer rights to manage behavior.In case they deal with or be seen to deal with behavior wrongly or improperly,the results could be very serious:damage the child or teacher,especially their career. | high7569.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "has an advantage in meeting the personal needs"
},
"options": [
"isn't practical in daily life",
"relies less heavily on the use of 3-D scanners",
"can produce complicated products in larger sizes or numbers",
"has an a... | Imagine this: you get up in the morning and put on a custom printed T-shirt. Then you eat some 3-D printed food and relax on your printed sofa. Perhaps you take a ride in a printed electric car to the hospital to get a printed tooth fitted.
Though some of these things may seem impossible, they're closer to reality than you might think. The world of 3-D printing is coming to a store near you soon.
The idea of 3-D printing is to produce complicated shapes in a very personalized way. If you want to make a totally new object, you need to make a virtual design in a CAD(computer aided design)file first. Or you can use a 3-D scanner to make a digital copy of an object. Then, based on the design or copy, the 3-D printer makes paper-thin slices out of liquid, plastic, or metal and puts them together to create the object you want.
There are many areas in which 3-D printing can change our lives. One such area is health care. Researchers have developed simple 3-D printed organs, which can be used in life-saving operations. A 17-year-old boy in the US has also recently developed a brain-powered, 3-D printed replacement hand. From heart monitors to fake limbs , we can soon be living longer thanks to 3-D printed technology.
Another area that 3-D technology looks sure to change is food. Can you imagine being able to print your favorite dishes at home at the touch of a button? Even big companies are behind the trend. Hersheys, one of the largest chocolate makers in the world, recently announced that it would start producing chocolate with the help of 3-D printers. NASA, the US space agency, has reportedly spent $125,000 (767,594 yuan) developing a "3-D pizza printer".
It is not yet clear how long it will take until 3-D printers are available to everyone. But one thing is for sure: the possibilities are endless. | high12741.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Because Britain needed to run out of economic troubles."
},
"options": [
"Because English people were very rich and happy.",
"Because she needed money to fight against Argentina.",
"Because Britain needed to run out of econom... | On April 8th, 2013, the world felt sorry because of the death of former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, who died at the age of 87. Besides being the country's longest leader (1979-1990) in the 20th century, she was the first woman to lead Britain. She worked hard and did well in her work, so she was called "Iron Lady".
Whatever you think of Margaret Thatcher, the thing everyone does agree on is that she was a woman with great decisions. When she took over Britain in 1979, she led a country that was in economic trouble. She faced a lot of problems because of the poor economic position.
In order to make the country become strong again, Ms. Thatcher had to make some hard and special decisions like raising interest rates and even taxes at a time when most British people were living a hard life. In this way she led Britain to run out of economic troubles.
Early in her second term, just as things were looking a little better, she faced another problem -- a strike by the British Miners Union. Once again, the Iron Lady stood her ground to stop the longest strike in the country's history.
In 1982, Argentina said that they had owned the Falkland Islands since the 19th century. Britain, however, considered the islands to be one of their overseas dependent territories . Margaret Thatcher tried to talk about the problem with Argentines. But Argentines didn't agree with her ideas, so Ms. Thatcher did what any strong leader would do -- send in the British Army. It took 74 days, and on 14th June 1982, the Argentine army finally failed and Britain controlled the Falkland Islands again.
When Ms. Thatcher resigned in 1990, she left behind a country that was very strong. Unluckily, during the last few years of her life, something was wrong with her mind. She hardly remembered anything that was happening around her and even what she had done during her wonderful lifetime. | high9544.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "He suffers from loneliness greatly."
},
"options": [
"He was deserted by his family.",
"He found many sources of food.",
"He came to the island for a test.",
"He suffers from loneliness greatly."
],
"question": ... | The loneliest chimp in the world just got the best surprise--a hug from a new friend.Ponso has been by himself for nearly three years,finding himself alone after his wife and children died on the island where they were abandoned by a medical testing company many years ago.
For years a nearby villager named Germain has been Ponso's only company,visiting him so often to bring bananas and bread--the chimp's only source of food on the tiny island.It was clear how much Ponso missed companionship when he was recently visited by Chimpanzee Conservation Centre Director Estelle Raballand.The chimp immediately embraced Estelle Raballand in a huge hug and laughed as she reached out for him,with his smile from ear to ear.
For those who know Ponso's backstory,his immediate ease and trust in humans might be surprising.Ponso was one of 20 chimps,all between the ages of 7 to 11 years old,relocated to an island off the Ivory Coast after being used for testing by the New York Blood Centre.After the tests were completed in 2005,the lab reportedly transferred the chimps to a string of islands,occasionally dropping off food and water because there was none in the chimps' new homes.
Disease and hunger soon left only Ponso,his mate and their two children standing.But at the end of 2013 they died within days of each other and Ponso was now completely alone.
A group called SOS PONSO is trying to raise money for the poor lonely chimp,already achieving its goal of $20,000--all of which will be used for Ponso's care. | high14330.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 1,
"answer_text": "The couple lost trust between each other."
},
"options": [
"The couple let out secrets quickly.",
"The couple lost trust between each other.",
"All the couples quarreled at least once a week.",
"The couple felt comforta... | Facebook and Twitter have become a significant threat to marriage - with social media now a factor in an increasing number of divorce cases, say lawyers.
One in seven married individuals have considered divorce because of their spouse's postings of Facebook or other online sites, according to research. A similar percentage admit that they search online for evidence of their spouse's _ , while nearly one in five say they have daily quarrels because of the way their husband or wife uses social media. The research was assigned by law firm Gordon in response to an increase in the number of its clients who said that Facebook, Skype, Snapchat, Twitter or other social media sites had played a part in their divorce.
Andrew Newbury, of law firm Gordon, said: 'Social media is the new marriage. Five years ago Facebook was rarely mentioned in the context of a marriage ending, but now it has become common." Social media, specific pictures and posts on Facebook, are now being routinely raised in divorces.' The survey by Censuswide among 2011 husbands and wives, found the most common reasons for checking their spouse's social media accounts were to discover who they were talking to, who they were meeting and where they were going. A quarter of the married people said the resulting suspicions led to quarrels at least once a week, and 17 percent said such quarrels were daily events.
Arguments were caused by contact with former partners, by the sending of secret messages, and by the posting of 'inappropriate' pictures. Some 14 percent said they looked at their spouse's social media with the specific intention of detecting evidence of adultery . | high12999.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "The Japanese."
},
"options": [
"The Dutch.",
"The French.",
"The British.",
"The Japanese."
],
"question": "When someone says that an idea is interesting, who don't really mean it?",
"question_type": "factio... | So there you are on the phone, you ask a question, and suddenly there's silence. What is this, the phone's gone dead, the person you're talking to is dead? Possibly. But there could be another reason -- the other person could be Finnish, or Japanese.
According to a handy new booklet from British Telecom (BT) for business people, in countries such as Britain and Italy "conversation is a form of entertainment. There is a continuous flow of talk...". But in other countries especially Finland and Japan, "it is not only impolite to break in, but listeners will think over what has been said in silence".
It also points out that English, when spoken by foreigners, is likely to include plenty of "false friends", where word-for-word translation fails. If a Frenchman says something is "interesting", he probably means it's profitable.If he "demands" something, he's actually just asking. If an American says your proposal is "quite good", you should be pleased, because "quite" means "very". But if he tells you to "table" a proposal, then things are not good at all. Whereas an English person would understand tabling a proposal as putting an idea forward, to an American it means shelves it.
According to the booklet, British people are not "explicit" like the Americans, the Dutch, the Germans or the French. "If a Dutchman says an idea is interesting, he means that it is interesting. If an Englishman says it is interesting, you have to deduce from the way he says it whether he means it is a good or a bad idea."
The Japanese, the Russians and the Arabs on the other hand, live in the land of true dioplomatic subtlety ."If they say an idea is interesting, it may simply be out of politeness".
It is safest to stick with plain speaking whenever possible, BT advises its British readers. And whatever you do, be careful to limit the use of the famous British sense of humor. | high6677.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "Underlined books cannot give the reader enough fresh impressions."
},
"options": [
"Underlined books look old and not worth reading.",
"The lines make it difficult for the reader to concentrate.",
"Underlined books cannot giv... | A good reader becomes sooner or later a good book buyer.The sooner,the better. The reading done in a book drawn from a library can not be so pleasant at the moment nor so permanently useful as the reading done in our own copy.
A book which is worth reading is likely to be read more than once,and at each reading some idea or some statement makes such an impression that we wish to refer to it again. Some readers underline the page as they read,but I find that a page which I have underlined can not give me so many fresh impressions as one which has no marks on it.My habit is to make my own index of a book as I read.I put down the number of the page and a word or two to identify the thought or the fact which I get from it.On a second or third reading I am likely to double or triple the size of this index.This is my substitute for underlining.Most of the books in my library are so indexed that I can find quickly the passage which from time to time I wish to look up.
To use a book in this way,organizing it for continued usefulness year after year, we must,of course,do our reading in a copy which belongs to us.The books I buy are chiefly those of less expensive editions.
As I have grown older and the number of books on my shelves has increased,I appre- ciate editions which do not take much room.By careful and continuous selection I keep my librarv down to ten thousand books.This would be,of course,too large a number for any but a professional scholar or writer.But my advice to a book lover is to weed but his library at least once every two years,giving away the books which are not likely to be read again. And never never buy a book which you will not immediately read.A library bought only for looks is not literature,but indoor decoration. | high17639.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "interpreted in the brain as what must be the case."
},
"options": [
"matched to six to seven million structures called cones.",
"confused in the body's sensors of both rods and cones.",
"interpreted in the brain as what must ... | You stare at waterfall for a minute or two, and then shift your gaze to its surroundings. What you now see appears to drift upward.
These optical illusions occur because the brain is constantly matching its model of reality to signals from the body's sensors and interpreting what must be happening--that your brain must have moved, not the other; that downward motions is now normal, so a change from it must now be perceived as upward motion.
The sensors that make this magic are of two kinds. Each eye contains about 120 million rods , which provide somewhat blurry black and white vision. These are the windows of night vision; once adapted to the dark, they can detect a candle burning ten miles away.
Color vision in each eye comes from six to seven million structures called cones . Under ideal conditions, every cone can "see" the entire rainbow spectrum of visible color1s, but one type of cone is most sensitive to red, another to green, a third to blue.
Rods and cones send their messages pulsing an average 20 to 25 times per second along the optic nerve. We see an image for a fraction of a second longer than it actually appears. In movies, reels of still photographs are projected onto screens at 24 frames per second, tricking our eyes into seeing a continuous moving picture.
Like apparent motion, color1 vision is also subject to unusual effects. When day gives way to night, twilight brings what the poet T.S. Eliot called "the violet hour." A light levels fall, the rods become progressively less responsive. Rods are most sensitive to the shorter wavelengths of blue and green, and they impart a strange vividness to the garden's blue flowers.
However, look at a white shirt during the reddish light of sunset, and you'll still see it in its "true" color1--white, not red. Our eyes are constantly comparing an object against its surroundings. They therefore observe the effect of a shift in the color1 of illuminating on both, and adjust accordingly.
The eyes can distinguish several million graduations of light and shade of color1. Each waking second they flash tens of millions of pieces of information to the brain, which weaves them incessantly into a picture of the world around us.
Yet all this is done at the back of each eye by a fabric of sensors, called the retina , about as wide and as thick as a postage stamp. As the Renaissance inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci wrote in wonder, "Who would believe that so small a space could contain the images of all the universe?" | high19614.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 3,
"answer_text": "it suffers from the heavy flow of tourists."
},
"options": [
"its natural resources are untouched",
"its forests are exploited for farmland",
"it develops well in health and education",
"it suffers from the heavy flow o... | One might expect that the ever-growing demands of the tourist trade would bring nothing but good for the countries that receive the holiday-makers. Indeed, a rosy picture is painted for the long-term future of the holiday industry. Every month sees the building of a new hotel somewhere, and every month another rock-bound Pacific island is advertised as the 'last paradise on earth'.
However, the scale and speed of this growth seem set to destroy the very things tourists want to enjoy. In those countries where there was a rush to make quick money out of sea-side holidays, over-crowded beaches and the concrete jungles of endless hotels have begun to lose their appeal.
Those countries with little experience of tourism can suffer most. In recent years, Nepal set out to attract foreign visitors to fund developments in health and education. Its forests, full of wildlife and rare flowers, were offered to tourists as one more untouched paradise. In fact, the nature all too soon felt the effects of thousands of holiday-makers traveling through the forest land. Ancient tacks became major routes for the walkers, with the consequent exploitation of precious trees and plants.
Not only can the environment of a country suffer from the sudden growth of tourism. The people as well rapidly feel its effects. Farmland makes way for hotels, roads and airports; the old way of life goes. The one-time farmer is now the servant of some multi-national organization; he is no longer his own master. Once it was his back that bore the pain; now it is his smile that is exploited. No doubt he wonders whether he wasn't happier in his village working his own land.
Thankfully, the tourist industry is waking up to the responsibilities it has towards those countries that receive its customers. The protection of wildlife and the creation of national parks go hand in hand with tourist development and in fact obtain financial support from tourist companies. At the same time, tourists are being encouraged to respect not only the countryside they visit but also its people.
The way tourism is handled in the next ten years will decide its fate and that of the countries we all want to visit. Their needs and problems are more important than those of the tourist companies. Increased understanding in planning world-wide tourism can preserve the market for these companies. If not, in a few years' time the very things that attract tourists now may well have been destroyed. | high4060.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "should be tall enough"
},
"options": [
"should pay $1,000 at first",
"should write a long passage",
"should be tall enough",
"could get $10,000"
],
"question": "The person running for the Tall Clubs Internationa... | Four strange scholarships that actually exist
The scholarship for the tall
If you find yourself having to lower your head to enter doorways then you might get this unusual scholarship. If you are a boy 6'2" or taller, or a girl 5'10" or taller, then you can be in the running for the Tall Clubs International Scholarship. All you have to do is write a simple message titled "What being tall means to me," and you could get $1,000.
The scholarship for the fat
This unusual scholarship is made available to New England high school seniors who are single, overweight, and have maintain at least a 2.5 GPA. Every year two people are awarded the $500 prize. It's kind of like saying being fat and unpopular is not that bad after all.
The scholarship for the short
If you aren't tall enough for the tall scholarship, maybe you are short enough for the short one. The Billy Party Foundation offers this unusual scholarship to students who are short. One needs to be shorter then 4'10" and have a medical certificate as proof of
.
The scholarship for golf caddies
Did you know that you could get a free ride to college for being a golf caddie? Okay, it's a little harder than that, but each year the Evans Scholars Foundation covers tuition and housing for hundreds of student caddies from all over the country. Most Evans scholars go to one of the fourteen universities where the Evans Scholar Foundation owns and operates a scholarship house. | high16527.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 0,
"answer_text": "Because his temperature is a sign which can show whether he is sick or not."
},
"options": [
"Because his temperature is a sign which can show whether he is sick or not.",
"Because his temperature is always the same, no matter whet... | How Does Your Body Keep the Same Temperature?
The temperature of your body should always be the same if you are fine, no matter whether the weather is hot or cold. That is why the doctor tests your temperature with a thermometer when you are sick. Normally, your body temperature is ninety-eight point six degrees Fahrenheit . If it is higher than that, it is a sure sign that something is wrong with your body.
Your body keeps the same temperature all the time, because it balances the heat it produces and the heat it gives off. It is always burning up food and producing heat. It can produce heat faster when the body needs or give off heat faster when the body becomes too warm. Let's see how this works.
The heat of your body is given off chiefly through the skin. When you feel cold, your skin is tight and shows "goose flesh". When you feel chilly , you must jump around to keep warm. Then your muscles begin to work, burn up fuel and produce more heat. It is not pleasant to shiver so you usually prefer warming up by taking exercise, or put on more clothes to keep warm.
When you get warm, the skin is loose and soft. It is so supplied with blood that heat is given off rapidly. If you get too warm, you begin to sweat and more body heat is used in evaporating the moisture in your body. In warm weather or warm rooms, you wear less clothing, so that heat can be given off freely. You prefer less exercise because your body is warm enough, and the extra heat produced by taking too much exercise makes you uncomfortable.
Now you see why you feel differently in different kinds of weather. In summer, when it is hot, you feel tired and lazy. You do not care to work or play, but enjoy lying down and doing nothing. When you get out of doors in winter, the cold air makes you feel lively. You want to run and play. | high19827.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "get people to start thinking about global warming"
},
"options": [
"get support from the government",
"get more people involved",
"get people to start thinking about global warming",
"hold a night party for fun"
],
... | Did you turn off your lights from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on March 28? Perhaps you invited your parents and neighbors to join the worldwide event--Earth Hour?
Liao Mingyu,17,from Shenzhen Experimental School,is glad that she and a group of other students from eight high schools in the city jointly made the event even bigger by inviting more citizens to take part.
It all started with an idea to design ways of saving energy after Tree-Planting Day.The students,who are all members of the Environmental Protection Union in their own schools,decided to help raise people's awareness of global warming as the Earth Hour campaign approached.
They worked out a detailed plan to make their idea come true.They wrote to local newspapers,residents,companies and even sent an open letter of proposal to the mayor in order to get support from the government.
"From 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm on March 28,please turn off your lights to save energy and protect our Mother Earth,"the letters said.
To their great encouragement,a local newspaper published their plan and asked people to get involved .The mayor even replied to them via the city's environmental bureau to show his support."It was a surprise recognition,"said the receiver Lu WaIllin,17,from Shenzhen No 2 High Schoo1."The government's support may help our idea be heard by the public."
During the Earth Hour,the green activists saw the rewards of their work when they held a night party in a big local communtiy,Meilinyicun in Futian District.A round 1,000 residents turned off their lights and joined the party.At the party,the green activists shared advice about living eco-friendly lives.
These students have now come up with an even more ambitious plan.
"We've learned from the Internet that so far only four Chinese cities--Beijing,Shanghai,Hong Kong and Baoding in Hebei--have officially joined in Earth Hour,"Liao said."We hope that Shenzhen will become the fifth Chinese city to participate next year." | high24218.txt |
[
{
"answer": {
"answer_index": 2,
"answer_text": "study underwater artifacts"
},
"options": [
"explore water bodies",
"search for underwater life",
"study underwater artifacts",
"examine underwater environment"
],
"question": "The aim of underwater archaeology ... | When a Swedish ship that sank in 1628 was recovered from the port of Stockholm, historians and scientists were overjoyed with the chance to examine the remains of the past. The ship construction showed how ships were built and operated during the seventeenth century. In this way, artifacts, objects made by human beings, provided a picture of daily life almost 400 years ago.
Underwater archaeology-----the study of ships, aircrafts and human settlements that have sunk under large bodies of water-----is really a product of the last 50 years. The rapid growth of this new area of study has occurred because of the invention of better diving equipment. Besides the Swedish ship wreck ,underwater archaeologists have made more exciting discoveries such as the 5000-year-old boats in the Mediterranean Sea.
Underwater archaeology can provide facts about the past. In ancient ports all over the world are ships sunken in the past 6,000 years. There are also sunken settlements in seas and lakes telling of people's way of life and their systems of trade in ancient times.
Underwater archaeologists want to study these objects to add to the world's knowledge of history, but they have to fight two enemies. One enemy is treasure hunters who dive for ancient artifacts that they can sell to collectors. Once sold, these objects are lost to experts. The second enemy is dredging machines often used to repair ports. These machines destroy wrecks and artifacts or bury them deeper under sand and mud. By teaching the public about the importance of underwater "museums" of the past, archaeologists are hoping to get support for laws to protect underwater treasures. | high467.txt |
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